Esper sends active troops home

Defense Secretary Mark Esper has ordered hundreds of active-duty troops to return to their home bases after they were brought to the Washington, DC area this week to potentially respond to mass protests, according to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy.

"We've had four peaceful days in a row, projecting a fifth," he told reporters at the Pentagon today.

McCarthy said the decision to put 1,600 active-duty soldiers on heightened alert outside the Washington area on Monday was the result of violent protests last weekend. Esper, he said, has given a "vocal order" for the soldiers to return to their bases at Ft. Drum, NY, and Ft. Bragg, NC.

McCarthy said a large demonstration is planned to take place in Washington tomorrow and that a small, active-duty unit known as the "Old Guard" based in Arlington, VA, will remain on alert.

McCarthy acknowledged that having active troops stationed around Washington this week has caused "a tremendous amount of tension."

The Army secretary also said he continues to investigate an incident involving a low-flying helicopter that was allegedly used to disperse and intimidate protestors.

McCarthy said he has had no reports of National Guard units having been involved in violent altercations with protestors.

Washington, among many other U.S. cities, has been beset by mass protests for days over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police officers.

McCarthy said the Army and National Guard want to "enable" peaceful demonstrations.

"We just don't want anybody to get hurt," he said.