A Georgia National Guard member deployed to Washington, D.C., was arrested and charged with felony assault after allegedly drawing a handgun on a fellow Guard member during an argument over whether their haircuts met Army grooming regulations.
Zion Mitchell, 21, was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm while committing a crime of violence, both felonies, in connection with an August 25 incident. According to the arrest warrant, Mitchell and a female fellow guardsman were sitting together in a van during a break when they began arguing over whether their hairstyles complied with Army regulations. The woman told investigators she heard what she believed was Mitchell’s holster clicking open and thought he intended to draw his weapon on her.
Mitchell is a member of the roughly 531-person Georgia National Guard contingent deployed to Washington as part of the Trump administration’s task force aimed at reducing crime in the capital, the second-largest state contingent among the guard units currently stationed there. He was arrested earlier this month in connection with the incident.
The arrest comes as thousands of National Guard members from Washington and more than twenty states remain deployed in the district on an open-ended mission that has already cost well over a billion dollars and drawn scrutiny over troop conduct and rules of engagement. Guard leadership has not released additional comment on Mitchell’s case beyond confirming the charges.
The incident adds to a string of episodes involving Guard members on the D.C. mission that have prompted questions from lawmakers about oversight of the deployment, though officials have not indicated any change to the mission’s scope as a result of this case.
