US National Guard members deployed to Washington, DC, started carrying their sidearms on Sunday, a spokesperson for the Joint Task Force carrying out the mission told CNN. This follows a directive by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week that authorized members of the National Guard,

The National Guard said in a statement that the troops from D.C. and six other states will carry their service weapons — M17 pistols and M4 carbine rifles — under rules that "allow use of force only as a last resort and solely in response to an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm.