Probably dependant on where assigned and duties. I saw some walking the Mall around the monuments and they weren't armed. Probably there for the tourists. I know that homeless camps were cleared in other parts of town and those guys were probably armed or had an armed overwatch.

Well if Hegseth gave the order then they are armed. Probably wanted to play nice but not an option.

My sister was a student at Kent at the time. Things were getting ugly. On the 3rd Dad told me to go get her and bring her home. Which I did. I was not ill equipped to do just that. Kent was not Oberlin, the majority of locals would defend their property and themselves