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BREAKING: National Guard Activated in Three States (So Far)

November 4, 2024
by The Times Of America

We’ve been reporting for weeks that this could happen — was even likely to happen.  Three states have activated their National Guard units, allegedly in preparation for expected unrest associated with the election.

I know that many of our readers are parents with kids, or even grandkids.  I would highly advise you to prepare in advance of what could potentially be a rough time period ahead of us.  (I know I’m probably preaching to the choir here, but I’m sure there are folks out there who haven’t taken any steps towards preparedness, so it’s worth repeating.)

Can we say definitively that major trouble is about to break out across parts of the United States?  No — certainly not.  But all the signs are there for the potential.  According to a CNN report from today Washington state, Oregon, and Nevada are all preparing for “civil unrest” in the coming days.  As a father of four, I am doing the same; and I would highly suggest you do as well if you haven’t already.

Ahead of potential civil unrest due to Tuesday’s presidential election, the National Guard is on standby as a precaution in several states, including Washington state and Oregon, where hundreds of ballots were damaged or destroyed after at least three ballot drop boxes were recently set on fire, officials say.

Almost all the ballots set ablaze on Monday were in a drop box in Vancouver, Washington, while most ballots in a drop box in Portland, Oregon, survived a fire set the same day, election officials said. The incidents are believed to be connected to a third fire on October 8, also in Vancouver. Portland police released a physical description of a suspect but said they’ve not identified him.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee addressed the ballot box fires in a news release Friday announcing the National Guard being placed on standby, saying, “The southwest region of Washington state has already experienced specific instances of election-related unrest.”

Inslee did not disclose how many troops would be activated on Tuesday, but said they will be available to support law enforcement from Monday to Thursday, according to the news release.

The US Department of Homeland Security has warned that threats to “election infrastructure” remain high, Inslee added.

“Based upon general and specific information and concerns regarding the potential for violence or other unlawful activity related to the 2024 general election, I want to ensure we are fully prepared to respond to any potential additional civil unrest,” Inslee said.

In Oregon, Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement Friday the National Guard is standing ready as political leaders call for peaceful protests, according to CNN affiliate KTVZ.

According to a story in The Hill, the Washington state National Guard will be activated from Monday through Thursday, according to the current orders.

“This is a purely precautionary measure taken in response to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s nationwide warnings regarding threats to election infrastructure and other recent activities that have occurred in southwestern Washington,” the release read.

In a letter activating the National Guard, Inslee cited recent instances of election-related unrest leading up to election day.

Still, some national security experts told The Hill last week that a repeat of election violence to the scale of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection is unlikely.

Amy Cooter, an expert at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism of the Middlebury Institute, said that while the threat of election violence is a concern, the conditions for it appear to be lower than in late 2020. Though, the situation could change quickly, she said.

“These landscapes are so volatile that [the assessment] today could dramatically change based on something that happens later,” she had told The Hill. “But as of right now, I am most concerned with sort of small outbreaks of violence, not like we saw at January 6.”

I’m not psychic, but I bet I can guess what most of our readers picked out of that excerpt from The Hill’s reporting.  How many times did they reference January 6th, 2021 in that story?  In my view we have been “seeded” for months now to expect election violence — creating the perfect pretense to “send in the troops”; for our own good, of course.

One of the first stories I covered as a writer for WLT Report was about Joe Biden standing in front of the press and saying exactly that in response to a question.  Here’s that clip.

Are the activations of National Guard troops simply prudent decision making in a volatile election year?  I would like to think so.  The problem is I’ve seen to much to the contrary to allow me to rest comfortably upon that benign (though I’m afraid, naïve) assumption.

There are certainly a lot of variables at play right now; likely a lot of things playing out behind the scenes that we may not be fully privy to seeing at the moment.  Proceed with caution, friends.  At the very least, prudence demands preparation.

If all goes smoothly… well, I’ll be shocked, to say the least.  But if it doesn’t to some degree, and these National Guard troops are more than the simple prudence of those in positions of responsibility — it isn’t just better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war… it’s also better to have more on hand than you need than not enough in a crisis.  Walk wisely and prayerfully this week — and we’ll see what God has in store for the good ole’ U. S. of A. as things develop.

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