The Washington, D.C., National Guard was brought in to help with crowd control and security measures during the March for Our Lives rally in the nation’s capital Saturday.

The event was expected to bring in tens of thousands of protesters who are pushing for gun control measures in the wake of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting last month.

“We’re going to have thousands of visitors in our city on Saturday and many of these visitors are going to be young people. Our number one priority is keeping every person in our city safe,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a news release Tuesday.



The National Guard is at the #MarchForOurLives directing traffic and closing some roads. pic.twitter.com/7CnOHlEt85 — Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) March 24, 2018



Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School planned the rally in response to the shooting at their school, hoping to pressure lawmakers to pass stricter gun regulations.

Some Twitter users said it was ironic that protesters were being protected by armed security forces while calling for gun control.



People attending the #Marchforourlives will be protected by the DC Police, US Park Police, US Capitol Police, US Secret Service Uninformed Division, FBI Police, Metro Transit Police, and DC National Guard. All carrying guns! @Marchforourlives — Scoop Stanton (@ScoopStanton) March 24, 2018

Pretty fucking ironic that this "march for our lives" is being provided road closures by the DC Police and National Guard.

Let me know if I'm missing some detail of how its supposed to help but I can't see a way that it helps besides making all these white people feel safe. — meanbeanpeen (@kren_doldrums) March 24, 2018