The Trump administration is deploying National Guard troops to cities across the country, with San Francisco being the most recent consideration, according to Politico. As these deployments continue and citizens prepare for the No Kings protest Oct. 18, Americans may be wondering whether their city is next.
University of Wisconsin Ambrose-Hesseltine professor of U.S. military history and retired U.S. Army Reserve Colonel John Hall said it is unlikely troops will be sent to Madison, Wisconsin, as the federal government is limited in its capacity to deploy the National Guard in the way it has thus far.
“Part of the design here is to produce spectacles and rhetoric that he [President Trump] thinks will return political dividends to him and his party,” Hall said. “Wisconsin is not likely to figure into his calculations as being worth the effort.”
Trump seems to think deploying the National Guard makes him appear tough on crime and immigration enforcement, Hall said. Trump seeks to hurt his political opponents’ image, such as Gov. Gavin Newsom and Gov. JB Pritzker, according to Hall.
Regarding the upcoming No Kings protest, capacity and states’ willingness still remain an issue for the Trump administration since the protests will be nationwide, Hall said.
“If these protests are largely peaceful and it looks like the government is being more provocative than the protesters, then the administration’s calculation on why this is worthwhile could completely change,” Hall said. “On the other hand, if there is a visible outrageous episode of lawlessness in any city that accompanies these protests, that could provide the pretext for mobilization of guard forces to support civil authorities.”
In the event that National Guard troops were to be deployed to Madison, it would likely look similar to how it does in cities currently experiencing National Guard deployment, according to Hall. Hall said that the troops’ mission has been limited and they are not supposed to be performing law enforcement functions, only supporting existing law enforcement.
Hall said that the UW student population includes National Guard members. The National Guard is the militia of the state, with the governor as the commander-in-chief. Most guard members join for the purpose of serving their own communities, Hall said.
“There is only a tiny minority of national guard troops that actually relish the prospect of these kinds of deployments,” Hall said. “The overwhelming majority of them, if not all of them, joined the guard because they enjoy the respect and esteem of their fellow citizens who they joined in order to serve.”
