CLEVELAND, Ohio – Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser sent a letter Friday to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine requesting he pull all Ohio National Guard troops out of the nation’s capital.
DeWine, a Republican, sent 100 Ohio National Guard troops to Washington at the request of U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to aid in the federal government’s response to ongoing protests. Bowser, a Democrat, has been a vocal critic of Republican President Donald Trump ramping up federal law enforcement in Washington following Trump’s order to tear gas peaceful protesters and clergy to clear the way for a staged photo at a historic church.
“I commend the guardsmen and women from Ohio for rapidly mobilizing to answer the President's request,” Bowser wrote in the letter. “However, as we have increasingly seen in recent days their presence is unnecessary and may be counterproductive to ensuring the protests remain peaceful.”
Bowser’s letter to DeWine came on the heels of another she sent to Trump requesting he remove federal law enforcement from the city.
“Furthermore, I continue to be concerned that unidentified federal personnel patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C., pose both safety and national security risks,” Bowser wrote in the letter to Trump. “The deployment of federal law enforcement personnel and equipment are inflaming demonstrators and adding to the grievances of those who, by and large, are peacefully protesting for change and for reforms to the racist and broken systems that are killing Black Americans.”
Read the letter to DeWine below:
Mayor Bowser Letter to Gove... by srichardson on Scribd
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