Troops stationed near Washington going home

First, the U.S. Army called up members of the 82nd Airborne Division to wait outside the nation’s capital to respond to riots if needed. On Wednesday, it looked like the Pentagon would send the troops back to Fort Bragg, N.C. But Defense Secretary Mark Esper reversed the decision and told them to stay put. On Thursday, Esper reversed the reversal.

Why all the take-backs? Esper also said on Wednesday that he did not support President Donald Trump’s proposed use of the Insurrection Act to deploy the U.S. military to quell protests over last week’s death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. But he kept the troops in the area after a meeting at the White House. On Wednesday night, protests in Washington remained mostly peaceful, and the Pentagon issued orders for the soldiers to go home.

Dig deeper: Read Katie Gaultney’s report from a Dallas neighborhood wracked by rioters.