According to ABC News Los Angeles and other American media reports, a Hummer SUV of the U.S. National Guard was stolen in the suburbs of Los Angeles on the 15th.
At present, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a reward for stolen vehicles. Regarding the whereabouts of the car, many American netizens think of Washington, D.C., which is currently heavily guarded.
According to the U.S. military, the stolen vehicle belongs to the 40th Brigade Support Battalion of the U.S. National Guard and was stolen from the National Guard armory.
In the announcement, the U.S. military released the official logo and license plate number of the car. More importantly, the SUV has been specially upgraded, equipped with bulletproof and collision armor, and has been certified as a combat vehicle of the U.S. military.
The military vehicle is valued at about $120,000, and the FBI currently offers a reward of $10,000 for finding and returning the car.
In addition to the concerns caused by the theft of the military vehicle itself, another sensitive point in this case is the current situation in the United States.
Since the riots in the U.S. Capitol, about 25,000 U.S. soldiers have entered the capital Washington, D.C., to be on alert, and it is the U.S. National Guard responsible for this task.
Therefore, some netizens speculated whether the stolen National Guard military vehicle would be used to infiltrate the cordon area for sabotage after forging the number plate.
In response to this speculation, an FBI spokesman said: “There is no evidence that the case is related to this (shocking the capital), but no possibility has been ruled out.”
Other netizens expressed incredibleness about the occurrence of this case.
Regarding the FBI’s offer to find the car, someone asked: Is there no tracking equipment on this military vehicle?
Another netizen was curious: “Why can this specially modified heavy military vehicle be stolen from the base? Did it be done by insiders?
Some netizens also doubted the National Guard on its mission.
CNN reporter Josh Campbell just retweeted a tweet about the National Guard stationed on the guard’s alert in the capital. One netizen asked in the comment area: “I’m glad to hear that, but the question is, have they found the military vehicle lost near Los Angeles?”
These comments of netizens are related to the frequent loss of equipment by the U.S. military and disciplined forces.
According to the Atlantic Monthly in 2014, several police stations in the United States lost a large amount of police equipment in the five years from 2009 to 2014. In addition to rifles, Hummer SUVs were one of the main stolen materials.
In 1997, the U.S. Department of Defense launched the “1033 Project” to replenish police equipment.
According to the audit data of the project, a total of 184 state and municipal police stations in the United States were suspended from obtaining new materials from the project due to the loss of military-grade equipment.
Due to the frequent occurrence of similar cases, the relevant departments and the public in the United States question whether these weapons and equipment should still be authorized for the use of grassroots police.
In addition to the police, the Army Times reported in 2018 that a Hummer was also stolen by the National Guard that year.
A man who claimed to “want to experience camp life” broke into the base and stole a Hummer while the guard was not prepared. He was arrested when he crashed the base fence and tried to escape.
