2 National Guardsmen Struck By Lightning During Washington DC Protest

In a freak occurrence during Wednesday night’s protests, two National Guardsmen were badly injured after being struck by lightning near the White House, officials said early Friday. The two service members were struck shortly after midnight within the Lafayette Park perimeter, where protests over the death of George Floyd continued for a seventh day (note: it was the ninth day of demonstrations in Minneapolis).

Both officers were taken to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Video of the aftermath went viral.

Shortly after midnight, #DCsBravest received a call for a report of 2 military personnel suffering the effects of a nearby lighting strike within the Lafayette Park perimeter. Both were transported with non life threatening injuries. pic.twitter.com/JvwRIHk74k

— DC Fire and EMS #StayHomeDC (@dcfireems) June 5, 2020

Despite the heavy rain and flood warnings, a core group of protesters returned Thursday night despite the weather after Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser rescinded a planned curfew after there were zero arrests the night before.

The DC area saw some pretty intense lightning during last night’s storm.

INSANE Video from our @wusa9 SkyCam WOOOOOW #lightning #WashingtonMonument pic.twitter.com/iYmwDwDUMO

— Ryan Sprouse (@RSprouseNews) June 5, 2020

Probably not an ideal time to be standing outside carrying a bunch of metal.