Gov. Murphy Says New Jersey's National Guard Troops Returning From Washington
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS/AP) -- New Jersey's 85 National Guard troops dispatched to Washington, D.C., to help guard national monuments amid nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd will return home this weekend, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday. New Jersey was one of a handful of states that authorized National Guard members to go to the capital earlier this week as protests continued to sweep across the district. The troops will return to New Jersey at 9 a.m. Saturday, the Democratic governor said.
He said their deployment was always planned to be short term.
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The New Jersey troops were from the 508th Military Police Company based in Teaneck, according to the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
The troops were dispatched to Washington on Monday, officials said, just ahead of President Donald Trump's walk from the White House to a historic Episcopal church nearby and following the forceful clearing of protesters crowding the square between the two buildings.
Murphy said New Jersey's troops were not involved in clearing protesters, but just guarding monuments.
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Floyd died last month in Minneapolis while in police custody. Video showed Floyd, who is black, on the ground with a white police officer's knee on his neck.
Charges against Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin have been upgraded to second-degree unintentional murder in the death of Floyd after kneeling on his neck for several minutes while placing him in custody. Three other officers, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J Alexander Kueng, all face aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder, as well as aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
