UPDATE: National Guard officials have announced that a different hotel has been identified and soldiers will relocate there at some point on Friday.
Original story:
WASHINGTON D.C. — The Utah National Guard released a statement Friday morning after learning that 200 of its service members are among the 1,200 service members whose temporary housing in Washington D.C. is unresolved.
"The Utah National Guard has been supporting civil authorities with our top priority of protecting lives as well as preserving property and critical infrastructure in our nation's capital. Last night, we were informed that our service members would be relocated from their hotel rooms. At this time, their housing situation has not been resolved. The District of Columbia’s National Guard is working diligently to resolve the matter," the statement said.
According to U.S. Senator Mike Lee's office, Utah National Guard specialists finished an all-night Thursday shift at 3 a.m. Friday, and they were forced out of their hotels by 11 a.m. They have another shift scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday.
Sen. Lee called the situation "unacceptable."
"These brave men and women have risked their lives protecting DC for three days. Rioting, looting, arson, and vandalism have all disappeared [because] these soldiers served. And now they are being kicked to the curb by an ungrateful mayor. This must be stopped," Sen. Lee said on Twitter.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser has spoken out against the military presence in the district, and she called on President Trump to "withdraw all extraordinary federal law enforcement military presence" in a letter dated Thursday.
Conn Carroll, a spokesman for Sen. Lee, said the eviction of National Guard members is a political move on Bowser's part, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
