‘Precautionary’: Washington activated National Guard in response to DHS warning

The potential for turmoil following the presidential election has National Guard troops standing at the ready in both Washington and Oregon.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee initially activated Washington National Guard members Friday, asking them to be on standby in case they’re needed to support local law enforcement and the Washington State Patrol (WSP) during election week.

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This is a “purely precautionary measure,” the governor’s office said. It’s being taken in response to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) nationwide warnings regarding threats to election infrastructure.

“DHS is strongly warning states about the potential for unrest following the election,” Karina Shagren, a National Guard Public Affairs representative with the Washington Military Department, said. “The governor, in a purely proactive step, put some members of the Washington National Guard on active duty, just in the event that they are necessary for the next four days.”

It is also a response to other recent activities in southwestern Washington, including an arson that set a ballot box ablaze in Vancouver. No arrest has been made in the case regarding ballot box arsons.

Members of the National Guard will be on standby for four days. The activation began Monday and will end just after midnight on Thursday.

“There’s no intelligence to suggest that that’s going to happen in Washington State,” Shagren said. “It’s a pretty broad warning, but to be prudent and to prepare, we’re just putting some members on state active duty now so they’re easily accessible if needed.”

In the correspondence, Gov. Inslee said the action was being taken “to ensure we are fully prepared to respond” to any potential civil unrest or violence.

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“Our state depends on these skilled individuals for critical support to protect the public health, safety and welfare, to include support necessary to protect vital infrastructure related to carrying out free and fair elections and to respond to any unrest related to the 2024 general election,” Inslee wrote.

Gov. Inslee gave Adjutant General Gent Welsh the authority to determine how many members of the National Guard will be activated. Brigadier General Welsh, who has 36 years of experience with the military, commands approximately 8,000 soldiers and airmen of the Washington National Guard. He was appointed to Adjutant General in June by Inslee.

“I don’t recall a time in recent memory where we’ve been activated prior to a general election,” Shagren added. “We did activate several members, actually 100 members of the Washington National Guard, following the Jan. 6 insurrection, they supported WSP down in Olympia at the state’s capitol.”

Contributing: Heather Bosch and Tom Brock, KIRO Newsradio; 

Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.