Baker Activates 1,000 MA National Guard Members

Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday signed an executive order activating up to 1,000 members members of the Massachusetts National Guard to help communities with potential large-scale events.

"Governor Baker today signed an order activating up to 1,000 members of the Massachusetts National Guard in the event that municipal leaders require assistance to protect opportunities to exercise first amendment rights and to maintain public safety during large scale events," the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security said in a statement. "National Guard personnel are deployed only at the request of, and in coordination with, the communities seeking support."

The activation comes one day after a grand jury in Louisville, Ky., indicted a former police officer involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor. The officer was not charged in direct connection with Taylor's death, nor were two other officers involved in the botched raid.

Baker activated 1,000 National Guard members late last month in the aftermath of the Jacob Blake shooting. They were never deployed.