Gov. Baker Explains Why He Activated Massachusetts National Guard
BOSTON (CBS) – Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said he activated members of the National Guard over the weekend as a precaution at the request of local communities where demonstrations were anticipated.
Baker activated 1,000 members of the National Guard Friday night, but had not specified why until his Tuesday press briefing.
The governor said there were 45-50 events of various kinds that had been posted on social media at the end of last week. Baker said some had "very big numbers in terms of the anticipated attendance."
"We heard from a number of municipal officials who asked us if we would have people available to support them if those events turned out to be bigger than what they would be able to manage on their own," Baker said. "And we did what we always do, which is we put out a message that we were activating accordingly, and then basically stayed place, unless and until we heard from local officials."
Members of the National Guard were not needed, and their activation was ended on Monday.
"The great thing about this is, everybody came out, they did their thing, their voices were heard. We didn't hear from any municipal officials and after we didn't hear from them, we deactivated them," said Baker.