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The troops are set to join the combined 25,000 U.S. Secret Service, Capitol police, and D.C. police at the U.S Capitol for the swearing in of President-elect Joe Biden, Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday.
This addition will bring the total number of PNG members supporting operations in Washington, D.C., to approximately 2,000, Wolf said.
For Trump’s inauguration in 2016, there were only about 8,000 members of security, The Guardian reports.
Federal officials have yet to provide a reason why this year's inauguration needs such a massive security presence.
Pennsylvania has the second-largest National Guard in the country with approximately 19,000 members located in more than 80 armories and readiness centers statewide.
“We cannot allow a recurrence” of the kind of violence seen at the US Capitol insurrection last week," Vox reports citing Matt Miller, the agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Washington field office.
National Guard members from every U.S. state and territory will be sent to Washington DC supporting the inauguration.
"The National Guard has a long and proud history of inauguration support," Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau said during an inauguration security briefing with Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 14.
"The forefathers of today's National Guard were present for the inauguration of George Washington, and we have been part of every inauguration since."
Wolf believes this will "help ensure the safe and peaceful inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden."
"The Pennsylvania Guard has the trained resources needed to respond to concurrent missions within our commonwealth, across our nation, and overseas, Wolf said.
"I am thankful for their selfless service, as well as the sacrifices of our service members’ families and their employers, especially during these unprecedented times in our nation’s history," the governor said.
As of Jan. 14, there were nearly 7,000 National Guard members surrounding the U.S Capitol.
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