Trump Didn't Send National Guard to Kenosha
The Claim
U.S. President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to Kenosha, Wisconsin, following a series of protests and destruction.
News posted on
Emerging story
During Trump’s September 1, 2020 remarks in Kenosha, he took credit for the decision to bring the National Guard to address the protests: “This ended within an hour, as soon as we announced we were coming, and then they saw we were here. This ended immediately, and it should be that way all over.”
Users on social media shared the claim. Many commended Trump for deploying the National Guard.
Misbar’s Analysis
After Jacob Blake, a black man, was shot by two police officers, the city of Kenosha exploded with protests against law enforcement. Protestors and would-be defenders of the city's institutions both flooded in and Kenosha became a live battleground.
The situation quickly spiraled out of the hands of control with riots, looting, and conflict between the two sides. Events hit a low when an armed teenage vigilante from out of town shot three protestors, killing two of them.
By this point President Trump, a vehement opposer of Black Lives Matter protests, was calling for the National Guard to come in and take control of the situation.
However, despite the claim, Trump did not in fact deploy the National Guard. The National Guard is a mostly localized force that is rarely deployed from federal level. That burden fell on Governor of Wisconsin Tony Evers. He may have been influenced by Trump, but ultimately the decision was his to make. Trump was responsible for deploying agents from the FBI and ATF, whose numbers were significantly smaller than those of the National Guard.
