About 1,000 National Guard members have been activated in Massachusetts, but there isn’t a clear reason why.
Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, signed the order on Aug. 28, although no immediate reason was provided for the deployment of the National Guard.
“Governor Baker today signed an order activating up to 1,000 members of the Massachusetts National Guard in the event that municipal leaders require their assistance. National Guard personnel are deployed only at the request of, and in coordination with, the communities seeking support,” said a state public safety spokesman, according to the Boston Herald.
The activation started Aug. 28 under the order of the top state National Guard officer, according to the governor.
The deployment is to “provide necessary assistance to State and local civilian authorities and/or special duty and emergency assistance for the preservation of life and property, preservation of order, and to afford protection to persons,” the governor’s order stated.
There were no known major protests in Massachusetts over the weekend.
According to the Boston Herald, a protest was planned outside the Massachusetts State House over Baker’s order that all schoolchildren receive a flu vaccine by the end of the year. The Department of Public Health announced on Aug. 19 that students must get the vaccine by Dec. 31 in order to attend a school unless they are medically or religiously exempt.
The order comes in the midst of the CCP virus pandemic, as well as protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the police shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake. Several nights of rioting, looting, arson, and violence erupted in the wake of the incident, while NBA and MLB players attempted to boycott playing games.
Days later, rumors were spread after a black male shot himself in the head in Minneapolis on Aug. 26, triggering looting incidents across the city. In Portland, Oregon, reports indicated that a supporter of President Donald Trump was shot amid clashes with far-left agitators and Black Lives Matter protesters.
Wisconsin’s Democrat Gov. Tony Evers announced on Aug. 26 the authorization of 500 members of the Wisconsin National Guard to support law enforcement in Kenosha. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, also a Democrat, authorized the state’s National Guard to be deployed in Wisconsin on Aug. 27.
Massachusetts called in the National Guard earlier in the summer following demonstrations and unrest, with businesses in Boston being looted and a police car being destroyed. The protests occurred about a week after the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
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