Mississippi National Guard members deployed to Washington, D.C.

Mississippi National Guard members have been deployed to Washington, D.C. to help keep the nation’s capital secure during the inauguration Wednesday of Joseph Biden to the presidency.

The 100 Mississippi guard troops from Clinton’s 114th Military Police Company join about 20,000 other men and women patrolling D.C.’s streets in the wake of a violent insurgency into the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6. Five people lost their lives when Donald Trump’s supporters attempted to stop a joint session of Congress from certifying the states’ electoral votes, which Biden won 306-232.

On Jan. 13, the U.S. House of Representatives impeached Trump for “incitement of insurrection” in connection with the Jan. 6 violence. He is the only U.S. president and the only federal officeholder to be impeached twice.

The Mississippi National Guard troopers going to D.C. recently returned from a deployment in Kuwait.

“I just told them look have your antennas up and always be looking around you in this environment you’re going into and be aware of your surroundings,” Gen. Janson Durr Boyles told WJTV. “They’ve been in the Middle East doing some difficult missions and been in dangerous situations, so they are mentally prepared.”

The FBI has warned that inauguration day protests at state capitol buildings could become violent. Mississippi National Guard members are on standby to help protect the Magnolia State’s capitol building, if necessary.