National Guard troops activated across the country in response to "civil unrest" were filmed and photographed kneeling, laying down riot shields, and chanting along with those protesting racial injustices -- actions that could be interpreted as protesting in uniform. While the Army "does not want to punish its soldiers," Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy said there will be "very hard, uncomfortable conversations" about everything that has happened in recent weeks.
More than 42,000 Guard troops were activated to support law enforcement in response to protests and demonstrations over racial injustices sparked by the death of George Floyd. McCarthy recognized that these activations were fraught with complicated emotions and difficulty. Still, troops are not permitted to protest in uniform.
"We're not allowed really to protest in uniform, but you see the emotions in the country ... We are a reflection of the country. We're Americans," he said. "It's a very complex and difficult time."
After the fact, McCarthy explained, there will need to be a lot of "talk."
"A lot of this is we're going to talk to each other -- we're going to have very hard, uncomfortable conversations," McCarthy said. "We're going to listen to each other, and we want to just make sure everybody understands, we don't want to protest in uniform."
The thousands of Guard troops from other states who deployed to DC are leaving
While protests across the country continue, the need for military augmentation seems to have passed. The close to 4,000 Guard troops deployed to Washington, D.C. last week all returned back to their home states at the beginning of this week.
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Reach Elizabeth Howe on Twitter @ECBHowe.
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