YOU CAN'T DO THAT
Guns for Hire?: GOP Governor Accused of ‘Renting’ Out South Dakota’s National Guard Troops as For-Profit ‘Mercenaries’

It may be called South Dakota but the “Mount Rushmore State” is pretty far up in the northern United States. And yet Governor Kristi Noem, a Trump-loving far right Republican, is sending her National Guard troops to patrol the border: the Southern Border, in Texas.
The capitol of South Dakota, Pierre, is over 1100 miles from Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s capital city of Austin, about a 17 hour drive according to Google, if you don’t stop to eat or sleep.
Gov. Noem is sending her National Guard troops down to the Lone Star State to help out Gov. Abbott with the “ongoing violations of state and federal law by illegal aliens crossing the unsecured border,” she has just announced.
Who’s paying for these soldiers?
In a statement Noem says “private donations,” the source of which she does not disclose. Nor does she say where the funds are going.
“The Biden Administration has failed in the most basic duty of the federal government: keeping the American people safe,” Governor Noem’s statement reads.. “The border is a national security crisis that requires the kind of sustained response only the National Guard can provide. We should not be making our own communities less safe by sending our police or Highway Patrol to fix a long-term problem President Biden’s Administration seems unable or unwilling to solve. My message to Texas is this: help is on the way.”
“The deployment will be paid for by a private donation.”
Many are furious that the governor has turned U.S. troops into “a mercenary force.”
Paid for by a private donation?
So she is turning the SD National Guard into kind of a mercenary force? https://t.co/P9dQi7uMR4
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) June 29, 2021
As a fmr director of the MO National Guard it’s concerning that this “deployment is being paid for by a private donation”.
The Guard isnt designed to be “for rent”.
If not activated by the Feds & operating in another state who is picking up the cost & what is the scope? https://t.co/SuP4ph2iUH
— Gregg Favre (@GreggFavre) June 29, 2021
“Paid for by private donation” is another way of saying mercenary https://t.co/TnDdnEaAzZ
— Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) June 29, 2021
So Gov. Noem is renting out South Dakota’s National Guard to private donors now?
“The deployment is to be paid for by a private donation, Noem’s office said …”
— Kaili Joy Gray (@KailiJoy) June 29, 2021
“The deployment will be paid for by a private donation.”
Kristi Noem just turned her state’s citizen into a private, for-hire security force, which she will then send out of state over the summer. https://t.co/0oAnz2NN0G
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) June 29, 2021
Ah the Mexican border crisis of South Dakota. Good to know Gov. Kristi Noem will accept private donations to use troops for political pageantry. pic.twitter.com/CrHzd55jWL
— 💀DeathMetalViking💀 (@DeathMetalV) June 29, 2021
Private donations to fund sham AZ audit, run border wall scams ala Steve Bannon, and now deploy troops? Do I see a trend here? Really, what’s going on?
— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) June 29, 2021
Anonymous private donations paying for domestic military deployments. What could go wrong? https://t.co/iBQZnvxHjF
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) June 29, 2021
Guns for hire? Then I guess they can be used against us….. https://t.co/3IYolKsxGO
— Debi in NC 🌊😷🦋 (@ncdeb6) June 29, 2021
Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license
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