Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt is not planning to deploy members of the Oklahoma National Guard to Washington, DC, his spokesperson said.
Abegail Cave told The Oklahoman on Monday, Aug. 18, that Stitt has no current plans to join at least three of his fellow Republican governors in sending National Guard troops to the nation's capital. Their orders come after President Donald Trump began deploying hundreds of National Guard troops to crack down on what he describes as emergency levels of crime in DC.
The governors of West Virginia, South Carolina and Ohio announced they would deploy troops to the capital Saturday, Aug. 16, to support Trump's efforts.
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Trump moved to seize control of the city's Metropolitan Police Department, though his administration later backed down from a complete takeover in the face of a legal challenge.
Mayor Muriel Bowser has countered that crime is down in DC after it temporarily rose in 2023. The U.S. attorney's office said in January that crime for the city is at its lowest in 30 years.
Stitt has joined other Republican governors in the past in deploying National Guard troops. In 2023, he sent at least 50 troops from the Oklahoma National Guard to help secure the Mexican border for 30 days, heeding a request from Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. Oklahoma spent $544,000 from a state disaster fund on that effort.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Some states are sending National Guard troops to DC. Will Oklahoma?
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