Fact check: Have there been instances where the President unilaterally deployed the National Guard to the US Capitol in the past?

1. Summary of the results

Yes, there have been multiple instances where Presidents have unilaterally deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C., including the U.S. Capitol area. The most significant historical precedent occurred in 1968 when President Lyndon B. Johnson deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C. following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. to address civil unrest and riots ^[1].

More recently, President Trump has deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C. on multiple occasions, with sources confirming this represents the second time Trump has used the National Guard since taking office ^[2]. The deployment involved troops from several states, including West Virginia, South Carolina, and Ohio ^[3]. Additionally, the National Guard was deployed to Washington, D.C. in 2021 to support federal and district authorities during President Biden's inauguration ^[4].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question lacks several crucial pieces of context that emerge from the analyses:

• Legal authority questions: The deployment raises significant questions about the scope of Section 502(f) of Title 32 of the U.S. Code and whether it allows presidents to unilaterally deploy the National Guard for domestic law enforcement activities ^[5]. Legal experts suggest that deploying unfederalized National Guard troops into a nonconsenting state would be unlawful ^[5].
• Contradictory crime data: While Trump's deployment was justified by claims of lawlessness, crime in D.C. is actually at a 30-year low ^[6], and police data shows that crime in D.C. has fallen in recent years ^[2].
• Historical context differences: The current deployment is atypical as it is not in response to collective unrest or a large-scale event, unlike historical precedents such as the 1968 riots, Los Angeles in 1992, or Newark in 1967 ^[7].
• Operational concerns: Senator Chris Van Hollen has characterized the deployment as an "abuse of power" and noted that the National Guard's mission in D.C. does not require them to be armed, making armed deployment particularly troubling ^[8].

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question, while factually neutral, omits critical context that could lead to incomplete understanding:

• The question doesn't distinguish between emergency deployments during actual crises (like the 1968 riots) versus deployments during periods of relative calm with contradictory crime statistics ^{[6] [2]}.
• It fails to address the legal controversies surrounding presidential authority to make such deployments unilaterally, particularly when city officials and local data contradict the stated justifications ^[2].
• The framing doesn't acknowledge that Trump's threat to federalize the city represents an escalation that could undermine the city's autonomy ^[2], making this deployment qualitatively different from historical precedents.
• The question doesn't mention that critics, including Senator Chris Van Hollen, view recent deployments as potential abuses of power rather than legitimate exercises of presidential authority ^[8].