October 8, 2024

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Maine National Guard sleeping in motels, not parking garages

Maine Countrywide Guard reassures Mainers they are Alright right after experiences and visuals surfaced of troopers in DC relocated to a close by parking garage to rest.

WASHINGTON, D.C., United states of america — Additional than 175 Maine Countrywide Guard soldiers are in our nation’s funds supplying aid to Capitol Police and D.C. authorities throughout inauguration 7 days. They are among the all around 26,000 Nationwide Guard associates that came to shield the cash in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection and threats over Joe Biden’s inauguration. 

Wednesday’s ceremonies arrived and went with out a hitch, but hundreds of soldiers keep on being in the metropolis even though preparations to head property are created. The Maine Nationwide Guard public affairs officer instructed Information Center Maine Friday that there at present isn’t a firm return day, and the strategies are nevertheless currently being created “most probable next week someday,” they mentioned.

“The Top secret Company is the direct agency for the inaugural and all the Nationwide Guard support is ultimately in guidance of them,” the officer claimed. “As they evaluate the scenario, they’ll communicate to the lead Nationwide Guard components how a lot protection they think really should remain, and Soldiers will start off to be phased again to their home station.”

The Washington Put up and Politico claimed Thursday that hundreds of people remaining Guard troops have been pressured out of areas of the U.S. Capitol they had been applying for rest breaks and had been relocated to a nearby garage.

Relevant: Experiences: Hundreds of troops assigned to Capitol moved to parking garage with 1 toilet

An unidentified Guardsman explained to Politico troops—as lots of as 5,000—had access to one rest room with two stalls, no net reception and just one electrical outlet. Temperatures fell into the reduced 40’s Thursday night.

The experiences brought about outrage throughout the country and among politicians. 

“This is outrageous, shameful, and unbelievably disrespectful to the guys and females holding the U.S. Capitol safe and safe,” tweeted Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. “We will need it set and we require answers on how it happened.”

The Maine Nationwide Guard certain Mainers their soldiers in D.C. ended up not among the team relocated and described the misunderstanding.

“We are alright!” they wrote in a write-up on Fb Friday night. 

“The Capitol Law enforcement and Countrywide Guard have coordinated their initiatives to assure that Soldiers and Airmen stationed at the Capitol Complicated have an acceptable area in which they may consider on-obligation breaks in the course of their shift,” they spelled out in the article. “At 1 level, some Soldiers ended up requested to relocate their break place thanks to improved foot targeted traffic in a selected region, but that challenge has been fixed.”

They ongoing to explain that when off-duty, services users in Washington are being housed in lodge rooms or other at ease lodging.

“Thank you for examining up on us!” they wrote. 

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Information Center Maine’s Roslyn Flaherty and The Connected Push contributed to this report.