National Guard military police stopped passengers at Metro Center station on Wednesday, Aug. 19, after what soldiers described as an active bomb threat, briefly shutting down Red Line boarding at one of the District's busiest transit hubs.
A rider who exited the Orange Line at approximately 11:22 a.m. reported being blocked from reaching the Red Line platform by soldiers in the mezzanine. The rider, who shared the account with PoPville, said the military was "casually saying we couldn't come close to board the next red line train."
WMATA confirmed the disruption in a service alert, stating that Red Line trains were temporarily bypassing Metro Center due to a police investigation and that riders should expect delays in both directions. PoPville updated its post at approximately 12:07 p.m. to note that WMATA had issued an all-clear and trains were no longer bypassing the station.
The disruption appeared to last under an hour based on the timeline of rider reports and WMATA updates.
No agency has explained what happened. Neither WMATA Transit Police, the Metropolitan Police Department nor the National Guard task force has released a statement about what triggered the threat, whether a suspicious package was found or how the situation was resolved.
Rider raises concerns about response
The rider who reported the incident questioned how the response was managed, noting that trains continued to stop at Metro Center even as soldiers warned of a bomb threat upstairs. The rider texted Metro Transit Police during the incident and received only a response that there was "an open investigation."
"If there is a threat, maybe we should not have been allowed to get off at metro center at all," the rider wrote.
National Guard's role at Metro stations
The soldiers at Metro Center are part of a broader deployment of approximately 4,500 National Guard troops in Washington, according to Reuters. That force outnumbers the city's 3,200 police officers.
The troops, deployed since August 2025, have been deputized as U.S. Marshals but have limited law-enforcement power. The Defense Department has described their work as "presence patrols" meant to deter crime rather than respond to it. Under their authority, soldiers can detain suspects but must call police to make a formal arrest.
The deployment is projected to cost $1.4 billion through 2029, according to Reuters. Mayor Muriel Bowser has called the arrangement "problematic."
Wednesday's incident marks one of the more visible security responses involving the Guard at a transit station since the deployment began. WMATA has not announced any changes to station security protocols.
