Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo late last week authorizing National Guard troops deployed in Washington, D.C., to carry weapons if their mission requires it. The memo, according to one official, was addressed to the chief of the National Guard Bureau and the Secretary of the Army.

National Guard troops on duty in President Trump’s crackdown in Washington, D.C., began carrying weapons in the capital Sunday evening, according to a spokesman for the National Guard task force. Several members of the Guard from South Carolina were seen late Sunday outside Washington’s Union Station with firearms holstered to their hips.

The exact number of troops who would carry their weapons was fluid, but they will either carry M17 pistols or M4 rifles, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.