What the h*ll is going on?

So I open my mailbox this morning to find an email from a friend with a link from the Army Times in it Army Times stating that the army is bringing home an infantry brigade to deal with, wait for it,

civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.  ...referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and non lethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.  The package includes equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets.

Yes, this could be a completely innocent thing, but to me it sounds somewhat ominous. The timing seems way to close to the elections.

Comments?