COLUMBUS – Gov. Mike DeWine has activated several hundred National Guard troops in preparation for what the FBI identified as massive armed protests planned to take place in Columbus and every state capital in the country leading up to Inauguration Day.
“We’re very concerned,” DeWine told reporters.
The Republican governor authorized 580 National Guard soldiers and airmen to conduct training and be prepared from Thursday through Jan. 21 in case they are called upon to police the armed riots authorities say are planned at the U.S. Capitol and the Ohio Statehouse by supporters of President Donald Trump who object to the results of the November election, when Trump was defeated by Joe Biden.
“The goal is peace,” DeWine said. “The goal is protection of property and of people.”
DeWine described violent Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in a deadly riot Jan. 6 as “well-prepared” and “highly sophisticated.”
DeWine is falling in line with several other governors who received a warning from the FBI on Monday to prepare for potentially dangerous riots at capitols in all 50 states.
Despite the fact that DeWine served as honorary co-chair of the president’s reelection campaign in Ohio and defended his right to legally challenge the election results, DeWine criticized Trump for fanning the flames of violence following the Capitol breach.
DeWine called up National Guard troops in Columbus and Cleveland last summer at the request of mayors Andrew Ginther and Frank Jackson during destructive protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.
Republican Sen. Rob Portman called on Trump to issue a call for calm and unity.
“I call on President Trump to address the nation and explicitly urge his supporters to remain peaceful and refrain from violence. If our nation experiences additional violence and destruction at the hands of his supporters in Washington DC and state capitols around the country, and he does not directly and unambiguously speak out now when threats are known, he will bear responsibility,” Portman said in a statement released by his office Tuesday.