Maybe I'm being paranoid but he claims to want a civilian force independent of the federal government, or as he says "not encumbered by the federal government" because he wants full control over them for his own purposes. What makes me even more nervous is how many proud boys and oath keepers would apply - and what if that's who makes up the majority or all of the ranks? What happens if he want to use them during the next election at polling places?

Again, maybe I'm being paranoid, but this reeks of fascism...

CNN seems to be a little confused. A State Guard like what we've had for many years in California is literally a military force. There's no such thing as a "civilian military" force. State Guard personnel are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

While this makes me very nervous, and I question the motives... we already have things like the state police, which are independent of the FBI.

And the stated purpose is for emergencies like hurricanes (and pandemics). Well, if you were Florida, would you want to be dependent on federal response to a hurricane? (Look at the federal response to the last several major hurricanes before answering.)

And if you want a different response to Covid than the federal strategy, when the feds seem determined to try to force their approach down everybody's throat, then you may need something different for that, too. (Whether that's the right response is a separate question.)

Defense industry is looking for new customers. Heard they have warlord week.

vaguely reminds me of praetorian guards. they always worked out well, didn't they? /s