Healey: Pulling National Guard into American cities ‘disrespectful to men and women in the Guard’
Gov. Maura Healey calls the recent activation of the National Guard to Washington, D.C., a form of political theater that is "disrespectful to the men and women in the Guard."
Speaking with reporters Monday after a housing event in Revere, Healey said National Guard members from around the country are being pulled from their families and jobs as police officers and firefighters to head to the nation's capital for a non-critical mission.
"Here we are at the start of hurricane season," said Healey, who is commander in chief of the National Guard in Massachusetts. "It doesn't make any sense to take guardsmen away from their states and send them elsewhere where local law enforcement is well equipped to deal with things."
More than two weeks ago, President Donald Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington, D.C., taking over the city's police department and activating hundreds of National Guard members. The declaration came even as local law enforcement officials there said the move was unlawful and pointed to falling crime statistics in the city.
On Monday, Trump issued a second executive order announcing additional steps he was taking to tackle "the crime emergency in the District of Columbia." That order asked the Secretary of Defense to designate members of the National Guard in all 50 states as a "quick reaction force" to deploy nationwide to subdue civil disturbances.
Reached for comment Tuesday, the Pentagon said it was reviewing Trump's executive order that calls for the creation of quick reaction force in the National Guard.
Healey's press secretary, Karissa Hand, said the governor's office was also reviewing Trump's order when asked questions about it Tuesday.
In an accompanying fact sheet to Monday's executive order, the Trump administration cited the death of Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, a Granby native, as an example of the District of Columbia's inability to ensure public safety.
Tarpinian-Jachym, who interned with the office of U.S. Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kansas, was a bystander when he was struck by gunfire in June.
Healey said the National Guard responds to natural disasters and completes overseas missions. It isn't trained to patrol cities like the District of Columbia, she said.
Rather, Healey said Trump's use of the guard comes at a time when he's cut funding to National Guard by 40% and also pulled back on funding local law enforcement and victim services.
Asked if she has a contingency plan in place if National Guard members from red states are sent to Massachusetts, Healey said the state is prepared, but she would not want to see that occur.
"That would just be terribly disrespectful to states, terribly disrespectful to members of the Guard, frankly, who aren't trained for these kinds of operations," Healey said. "They're not trained to be on the ground like that in D.C. They're trained for other things. Let them do their work."
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