Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics National Guard member arrested for drawing weapon A member of the Georgia National Guard deployed in Washington, D.C., as part of a task force to fight crime, has been arrested for pulling a gun on a fellow Guard member in an alleged dispute over regulation haircuts. National National Guard member accused of drawing gun on fellow soldier in D.C. September 9, 20265:05 AM ET By
Ava Berger
Members of the National Guard walk past the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool before the March on Washington, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, in Washington. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP hide caption
A member of the National Guard was arrested earlier this month in Washington, D.C., on felony charges for allegedly pointing his gun at a fellow guard member during a dispute over regulation hairstyles.
According to an arrest affidavit filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, during the argument, Zion Mitchell, 21, a National Guard member from Georgia, drew his service weapon and pointed it at another soldier.
National Guard deployments In candid interviews, National Guard members speak out about D.C. deployment The female guard member, who had the gun pointed at her, stated to detectives that she believed the firearm was loaded since all National Guard firearms are "generally loaded."
Mitchell has been charged with two felonies: assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence or dangerous crime. During a preliminary hearing on Sept. 4, he was ordered held without bond in a D.C. jail "due to the nature of the crimes," according to a court docket.
Mitchell's lawyer and the D.C. Joint Task Force, the law enforcement collaboration behind the guard's deployment, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The arrest affidavit said that on Aug. 25, several guard members were sitting in a black van during a patrol break outside of a Popeyes restaurant. Mitchell and a female guard member were arguing about whether their hairstyles were following army regulations.
Mitchell, who was sitting in the third row of the van, and the female guard member, who was sitting in the front seat, got into an increasingly heated exchange. According to the affidavit, the woman in the argument said that "Mitchell stated something to the effect of 'I would slap the Jackson 5 out of you.'" After more back-and-forths, the female guard member, who was not identified in court documents, responded: "shut the f*** up."
Though the woman in the front seat did not see Mitchell pull his gun out, she said she heard a "holster click" and witnesses inside the van stated they saw it raised. The female guard member then left the van and went inside Popeyes.
National Guard deployments Armed troops have patrolled D.C. for 1 year now. It's challenging democratic norms Mitchell initially told detectives that he was in a "playful argument" with the female guard member when "he pulled a pistol magazine out of his vest pocket and pointed it at her."
Mitchell later recanted that version of events and according to the affidavit he told detectives that "during the argument, he did pull out his pistol and point it in the direction of [the female guard member], but that the pistol was pointed at a roughly 45 degree angle downward and not pointed towards her head."
The National Guard was deployed to Washington, D.C., by President Trump as part of an anti-crime initiative more than a year ago. Their deployment was extended to the end of his term.
Some guard members who are no longer a part of the mission told NPR in August that they worry that Trump's unprecedented use of the military in domestic matters is damaging the National Guard's reputation with the American public.
A previous version of this story referred to the weapon that a National Guard member allegedly pointed at another as a service revolver. The arrest affidavit does not specify the type of firearm.
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