Are upwards of 30 states on alert with their National Guard activated or commanders told to move to a prepared footing? No, this is missing context: "The National Guard is currently supporting COVID missions in 46 states and territories," a National Guard spokesman told Lead Stories. The National Guard is activated in those states but is not "on alert" for a military movement. The claim that the commanders have been told "to move to a prepared footing" is not a military term that the National Guard is aware of.
The claim appeared as a blog post published by conspiracy theorist Simon Parkes on January 9, 2022, titled "Upwards Of 30 US States On Alert..." (archived here), which opened:
Upwards of 30 US states have either activated their National Guard or told commanders to move to a prepared footing.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Upwards Of 30 US States On Alert...
Upwards of 30 US states have either activated their National Guard or told commanders to move to a prepared footing.
The blog post had an image of the U.S. Capitol building with a shadowed image of unidentifiable soldiers. There was only one sentence in the post.
The post seems to imply that there is a threat to the nation or an ominous military maneuver about to happen. However, the National Guard spokesperson told Lead Stories via email on January 10, 2022, that troops are activated to help support COVID-19 missions in 46 states and territories. As of that date, Alabama, the District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Nebraska and South Dakota do not have National Guard troops assisting with COVID relief.
In addition, the National Guard said five states have troops aiding with natural disaster response including California and Colorado for wildfire assistance, Kentucky due to recent tornadoes, Louisiana for help with Hurricane Ida relief and Virginia for the recent winter storm.
