DeSantis shows leadership in rejecting Biden’s security theater request

In preparation for State of the Union, Washington has gone all in on security theater; reinstalling fences around the U.S. Capitol, prepositioning out of state law enforcement (including the NYPD) and National Guard assets numbering approximately 700 unarmed troops, according to Newsweek. National Guard Humvees can be seen positioned around the Capitol, and ram barriers have been deployed.

While the State Of The Union address is typically a moment of heightened alert around the national capital region, the showy posture, security fencing, and deployment of Guard troops is a relatively new and troubling development.

One state whose National Guard will not be participating is Florida. Earlier this week Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that he had rejected a Biden administration request last week to mobilize members of the Florida National Guard. The governor’s press secretary Christina Pushaw later told the Washington Examiner that the guard “should never be misused for political purposes,” and highlighted the controversy over the deployment of that National Guard to Washington D.C. in the aftermath of the January 6^th incident, in which guardsmen were forced to sleep on the ground, and without proper supplies.

The Biden administration claims the extensive security is necessary due to the expected arrival of a U.S. trucker convoy, modeled on the Canadian “Freedom Convoy,” which staged a long-term protest in the Canadian capital of Ottawa.

That protest, which called for the end of Canada’s extensive COVID-19 measures, was broken up by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s invocation of Canada’s Emergencies Act, and led to scenes of mounted police attacking and trampling Canadian protesters and attacks on journalists. The Trudeau government also enacted the warrantless seizure of assets, and blocking of financial accounts for those who donated to the protest, as well as the targeted arrest, and detention without bail, of protest leaders.  Despite the heavy-handed response, the protests in Canada were effective in causing provincial governments to remove or modify COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other harsh measures.

There is presently little evidence to suggest that a U.S.-based trucker protest would reach either the size or scale of the Canadian effort, which was in any case a peaceful protest. Instead, the Biden administration’s posture is reminiscent of the National Guard deployment conducted immediately following January 6^th. Based on alleged intelligence about threats which never materialized, that deployment cost the National Guard over $520 million, and severely hampered other Guard operations until the U.S. Congress appropriated funds for reimbursement.

In response to Governor DeSantis’ effort, journalists and others on social media called for the federal government to punish Florida by refusing to provide FEMA aid for the upcoming hurricane season. But FEMA has already denied Florida funding for January tornados, hampered the state’s ability to acquire monoclonal antibodies treatments for COVID-19 and taken other actions which might be perceived as political, given an ongoing war of words between the Florida Governor and President Biden.

Questions over the status and role of the National Guard are only going to increase in the near-term. Oklahoma and Texas are currently battling with the federal government over the status of the National Guard as it relates to COVID-19 vaccination mandates.

Governor DeSantis should be praised for this display of leadership, and other governors should consider enacting similar policies. Governors must carefully husband the limited resources available to them for addressing security and emergency management issues, particularly while the present administration in Washington seems insistent on utilizing state resources for politicized public displays, seeking to intimidate potential 1^st amendment protests.

Ron DeSantis by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0