Washington, D.C
Alaska National Guard says planned deployment to Washington DC pushed to May
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Officials with the Alaska National Guard said plans to deploy a trained rapid response force this month to support federal authorities in Washington D.C. has been pushed back to May, according to Corinne Smith with the Alaska Beacon.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy in November approved the U.S. Secretary of the Army’s request for 100 service members to deploy to the nation’s capital as part of a joint federal task force this month. The effort is part of a national directive by the Pentagon to all 50 states to prepare National Guard service members to train for “civil disturbance operations.”
By email on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Alaska National Guard said the timeline has been extended.
“The Alaska National Guard remains in contact with the Pentagon, through the National Guard Bureau, and continues to move through the established processes to support Joint Task Force-District of Columbia,” said Dana Rosso, a public affairs officer with the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which houses the Army and Air National Guard divisions.
“The current activation timeline has been refined to May 2026,” he wrote.
As of January, there were roughly 2,700 National Guard members stationed in Washington D.C., which the Trump administration has said is to help drive down crime. Service members are expected to be stationed there through the end of the year. On Tuesday, an additional District of Columbia Army National Guard brigade was activated “to coordinate military support to civil authorities and protect critical infrastructure in the nation’s capital.”
A spokesperson for Dunleavy’s office declined to comment on the extended timeline on Wednesday.
At the time the request was announced, Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe, Adjutant General of the Alaska National Guard and Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, said in a letter to lawmakers that 100 service members were in training for the mission to be “aligned with nation-level requirements.”
“The team will consist of Alaska Army and Air National Guard personnel trained in mission sets that may include site security, roadblocks and checkpoints, civil disturbance control, critical infrastructure protection, and personnel security,” Saxe wrote.
But the process for how the deployment was formally requested and approved has raised questions from lawmakers.
Rosso said by email Thursday the request was made by phone call.
“The request for activation of the Alaska National Guard to support Joint Task Force – DC came via phone call to Governor Mike Dunleavy from the Secretary of the Army following the President’s Executive Orders from August 2025,” he wrote.
Dunleavy’s office could not find a written copy of the U.S. Secretary of Defense that requested the deployment, a spokesperson for the governor’s office said Wednesday.
Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage and co-chair of the Joint Armed Services Committee, is a veteran of the Alaska National Guard and was among lawmakers that raised concerns in November when the announcement was made. He questioned the legality of the directive in an interview on Wednesday.
“Until they get something in writing, then there’s no actual deployment to prepare for,” Gray said.
“I think it’s a big misuse of the American taxpayer dollar to fly any soldiers from Alaska to D.C. for what we know is a trash pickup mission in many ways, and it’s a waste,” he added. “It’s just a waste of taxpayer dollars. So I hope that it continues to get pushed off indefinitely and that it never happens.”
Editor’s note: This story was republished with permission from the Alaska Beacon.
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Washington, D.C
Correspondents’ dinner attack suspect Cole Allen being held inside D.C. jail complex, source says
Cole Allen, the California man charged in the attack at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner over the weekend, is being detained at the Correctional Treatment Facility at the D.C. jail complex, a law enforcement source confirmed to CBS News. This is the same facility that previously housed many Jan. 6 defendants and is a newer facility than the main jail.
The CTF, operated by the D.C. Department of Corrections, holds men, women and juveniles charged as adults.
Allen, 31, is charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump and two firearms-related offenses stemming from the shooting on Saturday night. He has not yet entered a plea to the charges.
Allen is being held in a restrictive cell in medical isolation, which is standard protocol, the law enforcement source said. Corrections protocol requires that Allen be held under suicide watch for the first 72 hours in a green suicide smock while he is assessed. A lawyer for Allen told the court Thursday that he is being held in a “safe cell” under 24-hour lockdown.
Also, according to the source, a D.C. correctional officer is posted outside Allen’s cell door 24/7 while he is under observation. During this period, he is under strict observation with no access to outside materials. Allen is brought finger foods on a tray and is not allowed utensils, the source said. He’s allowed to shower every 72 hours. Allen is also allowed religious materials in his cell, such as a Bible or Quran. He has not requested any religious materials, according to the source.
The D.C. Department of Corrections says on its website that the facility consists of five separate, multi-story buildings situated immediately adjacent to each other, so the facility presents as one large structure. Housing units within the CTF range from 16 to 48 cells with a maximum capacity of 96 beds per unit. It is a separate structure from D.C.’s main jail.
The U.S. Marshals Service, which manages federal pretrial detainees, has a contract with the D.C. Department of Corrections, the law enforcement source said. The U.S. Marshals Service says on its website that it has contracts with approximately 1,200 state and local governments to rent jail space to house more than 63,000 pretrial detainees.
The U.S. Marshals said it doesn’t release detention locations for high-profile prisoners due to security concerns.
CBS News has reached out to the D.C. Department of Corrections.
Allen has been compliant since his arrival, the law enforcement source said.
During an appearance in federal court Thursday, Allen’s attorneys told the judge that he agreed to remain detained in the lead-up to his trial. A preliminary hearing is set for May 11.
His attorneys had argued in a filing Wednesday that Allen was “gainfully employed” as a tutor, is a “devout Christian” who “dutifully” attends church and is an “active participant” in his religious community. They said he has no criminal history and is college-educated, and that those factors weigh in favor of release.
After telling the judge that Allen instead agreed to remain detained, his attorney, Tezira Abe, asked the judge to order the jail to lift his lockdown restrictions. The judge said she did not have the authority to override the judgment of the jail but would accept briefs on the matter.
WASHINGTON (7News) — D.C. Fire and EMS crews are responding early Thursday morning to a boat fire at James Creek Marina in Southwest D.C.
Around 5 a.m., crews said they were called to the marina in the 2100 block of 2nd Street SW, where one boat was found fully engulfed in flames.
D.C. Fire and EMS crews are responding early Thursday morning, April 30, 2026, to a boat fire at James Creek Marina in Southwest D.C. (DC Fire and EMS)
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Firefighters launched a two-pronged attack, using both land-based units and two fireboats to bring the blaze under control.
D.C. Fire and EMS crews are responding early Thursday morning, April 30, 2026, to a boat fire at James Creek Marina in Southwest D.C. (DC Fire and EMS)
Authorities said the fire also caused damage to neighboring boats on both sides of the vessel.
No injuries were reported.
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The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Washington, D.C
Suspect in D.C. gala shooting made ‘jarring’ transformation after leading Christian student group
As a clearer timeline emerges leading up to the chaotic shooting at a Washington, D.C., hotel where a gunman tried to assassinate President Donald Trump, the depiction of the suspect as an extremist harboring hate for Christians quickly took shape. But those who knew Cole Tomas Allen in college a decade ago say they saw the opposite: a faithful Christian who pushed a strict interpretation of the Bible.
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