The Texas National Guard may deploy to Fort Worth, other cities on Election Day
The Texas National Guard will deploy troops to major cities, including Fort Worth, to provide Election Day security, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
Up to 1,000 troops could be deployed as early as this weekend for post-election support of law enforcement in the case of unrest on Nov 3, Maj. Gen. James K. “Red” Brown, chief of staff for the guard’s commander, told the Express-News.
Troops were being sent “as we did previously to deter any civil disturbance at sites in various cities within Texas,” Brown said.
Texas Guard spokesperson Brandon Jones told the paper he had few details but that troops could be sent to Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Fort Worth. Plans call for troops at the state Capitol and the Alamo, he said.
“We’re going to guard buildings just like we did during the George Floyd protests earlier this year,” Jones told the Express-News. “We are not going anywhere near polling locations. That has not been requested.”
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price did not have conversations with state officials about the National Guard move, a city spokeswoman said.
Further questions about election day security in Fort Worth were referred to the police department. A department spokesman said they planned for “normal” patrols on Election Day and had so far not received reports of unrest related to the election.
Heider Garcia, Tarrant County Election Administrator, said he had no knowledge of the National Guard coming to Tarrant County.
San Antonio officials told the Express-News they were not consulted and didn’t think the deployment was necessary.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson’s office told the Morning News the mayor was also not aware of the plans to deploy troops there. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said the county wasn’t contacted by Gov. Greg Abbott, and Dallas County officials weren’t expecting any unrest during or after the election, according to the paper.
“We’re going to proceed as normal and declare a winner when all the votes are counted, and it’s really as simple as that,” Jenkins told the Morning News. “We have no indication and no intelligence that this will be anything but a peaceful election.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 10:26 AM.
