Gov. Baker activates National Guard, doesn’t give a reason
A statement released by Baker’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security said National Guard personnel would only be deployed if their presence was requested by municipal leaders.
Governor Charlie Baker on Friday activated up to 1,000 members of the Massachusetts National Guard to provide “necessary assistance to State and local civilian authorities,” but did not specify a reason for the move.
A statement released by Baker’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security said National Guard personnel would only be deployed if their presence was requested by municipal leaders. The office noted the role the National Guard has played in helping the state respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and cope with weather-related incidents like blizzards and tornadoes.
Baker’s office didn’t immediately respond Saturday to a request for comment.
Baker activated the National Guard on May 31 after a peaceful series of rallies to protest the death of George Floyd, who was Black, at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer turned violent. That night, some demonstrators in Boston torched a police cruiser, damaged vehicles, and looted stores in the Back Bay and Downtown Crossing.
Demonstrations against racial injustice and racist policing have continued throughout the summer in Massachusetts and across the country. The Wisconsin city of Kenosha is the latest US community to experience widespread protests after a police officer there shot and paralyzed Jacob Blake, a Black man, on Aug. 23.
On Tuesday, Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, a white resident of Antioch, Ill., allegedly killed two men and seriously wounded a third during demonstrations in Kenosha.
On Friday, thousands of protesters gathered in Washington at the Lincoln Memorial for an event aimed at rekindling the spirit of the 1963 March on Washington in which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.
The same day, several Boston-based racial justice organizations demonstrated outside the State House and demanded police accountability, an end to mass incarceration, housing affordability and pandemic rent moratoriums, and media coverage that accurately reflects Black communities and activism in Massachusetts.
Baker’s order said the additional personnel will remain on state active duty until further notice from Major General Gary W. Keefe, the force’s adjutant general, and that more members could be activated.
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