A couple of observations for consideration:
From the excerpt: “Initially, a small group of the guardsmen deployed in the city had been carrying guns while standing outside monuments, but the bulk of the forces, such as those working with federal park police at Lafayette Square in front of the White House, didn’t carry firearms out of caution.”
It is not uncommon for the NG not to carrying firearms when they are on their lines for crowd control. Those “in the mix” have not been carry firearms.
Next: Almost every other person in DC is some kind of federal agent or cop. There will be plenty of armed folks there if, God forbid, they are needed.
Also: AG Barr is leading the protest response. It would hard to imagine that he would not have been informed and agreed.
Finally: Would this be the first time a media outlet would try to drive a wedge or foment dissension within the Administration by the way it presents a story?
Everything you said is true. Reporting these kind of stories are meant to damage Trump. No one retracts the lies after they’ve been told.
Hey! Stop that truth telling. This is all about fomenting chaos and exposing government assets to terrorists who are both organized and have had practice cracking fed heads.