Missouri National Guard sending 300 troops to D.C.

Missouri National Guard Adjutant Gen. Levon Cumpton speaks Wednesday during a COVID-19 briefing, as Gov. Mike Parson looks on.
Missouri National Guard Adjutant Gen. Levon Cumpton speaks Wednesday during a COVID-19 briefing, as Gov. Mike Parson looks on.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The leader of the Missouri National Guard said 300 troops will head to Washington, D.C., on Thursday to help local law enforcement with civil unrest.

Adjutant General Levon Cumpton said the District of Columbia National Guard requested Missouri's help and will pay any related expenses.

Protests in the nation's capital have been violent at times. The protests are in response to the death in Minnesota of a black man, George Floyd, who died after a white police officer pressed his knee to Floyd's neck for several minutes, as well as police brutality of other African Americans and other issues of structural racism.

So far, Indiana has sent about 300 National Guard troops to D.C., Tennessee has sent about 1,000 and South Carolina has sent more than 400.

Cumpton said the troops would assist law enforcement and guard infrastructure - as has been the role of Guard members deployed in Missouri - and would supplement the D.C. National Guard's efforts as mutual aid.

Approximately 1,000 National Guard members are mobilized across the state to support the Missouri Highway Patrol and other law enforcement in responding to civil unrest in Missouri and about another 1,000 Guard members `responding to the pandemic, Cumpton said.

"When you see a Guardsman, please know that we care about you, we care about each other, we care about our collective freedom to demonstrate peacefully, and we care about protecting life and property," he said.