Following the death of four U.S. Marines and the shooting of a sailor in Chattanooga, Tenn., Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) and Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) have instructed the military leaders in their states to use their discretion in arming full-time military members.
On Thursday (July 17), Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez attacked to recruiting centers in Chattanooga, killing the Marines, which included Staff Sgt. David Wyatt of Russellville, Ark. Abdulazeez was killed in a shootout with police officers.
Wyatt, 37, was a veteran of two tours in Afghanistan and one tour in Iraq. He was married with two small children.
"Our hearts break at the news of another senseless act of violence and terror, this time out of Chattanooga,” Hutchinson said in a statement issued Friday. “Our prayers go out to all the families of the victims, especially the family of Staff Sgt. David Wyatt of Russellville, one of Arkansas’s own.”
Continuing, Hutchinson said: “I want to join in those who are calling for greater security at our recruiting stations and military installations. We’ve had numerous instances of attacks. Clearly they are a target, and for us to have unarmed military personnel makes no sense, which is why I am directing Major General Mark Berry to arm full-time personnel as he deems necessary at military installations.”
In Oklahoma, Fallin authorized Oklahoma’s adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Robbie Asher, to arm full-time personnel at installations like the military facilities that were attacked in Chattanooga.
“Four unarmed Marines were killed in what appears to be a domestic terrorist attack,” said Fallin. “It is painful enough when we lose members of our armed forces when they are sent in harm’s way, but it is unfathomable that they should be vulnerable for attack in our own communities. For that reason, I want to make sure that our National Guardsmen are authorized to arm themselves at our military facilities.”
Fallin’s order allows Asher to arm certain full-time personnel in military installations throughout Oklahoma with weaponry as he deems necessary “to adequately provide for security of the facilities and their occupants.” Such installations shall include, but not be limited to, military recruiting offices.