With Congress scheduled to meet on January 6, 2021, to certify the results of the Electoral College, Trump announced plans for a rally ahead of the event to continue his protest on the validity of several states' election results. Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser requested on December 31, 2020, for District of Columbia National Guard troops be deployed to support local police during the anticipated demonstrations. She wrote in her request that the guardspeople would not be armed, and that they would be primarily responsible for "crowd management" and traffic direction, allowing police to focus on security concerns.