Amid reports that there are concerns of an insider attack on President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, twelve members of the National Guard have been removed from inaugural security duties.
Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, said two Guard members were removed over concerns that they may be linked to extremist groups. The other ten were removed due to questionable behavior that was uncovered during a vetting process.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Hokanson said, “All I would say with those two individuals… is inappropriate comments or texts that were put out there. And as we stated, just out of an abundance of caution, we want to make sure that there’s no issues at all and that those properly get looked into.”
Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman was asked if the two Guard members threatened Biden or Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. He said, “We have an ongoing investigation into it.”
“I will share that the comments were inappropriate, and the individuals have been removed. And the appropriate authorities will continue to investigate,” he added.
Watch the video below:
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Rath Hoffman on whether he can rule out threats from removed Nat'l Guard members to Biden/Harris:
— The Recount (@therecount) January 19, 2021
“I will share that the comments were inappropriate, and the individuals have been removed.” pic.twitter.com/VjhqwTj8rI
Biden is slated to take the oath of office at the Capitol on January 20.
After protesters breached the Capitol’s security on January 6, security in Washington, D.C., has been ramped up ahead of the inauguration in a way not seen in recent years.
There are now roughly 25,000 National Guard members deployed in Washington, D.C., to assist with security for the inauguration, and the Capitol has been surrounded by unscalable fencing.
Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller said on Monday that law enforcement officials are vetting all 25,000 Guard members involved in inaugural security.
“While we have no intelligence indicating an insider threat, we are leaving no stone unturned in securing the capital,” Miller said in a statement as he added that “this type of vetting often takes place by law enforcement for significant security events.”