Jay Nixon fires back against claim National Guards were kept out of Ferguson Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon drew fire from Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder for calling in the guard but then never deploying them into the riot zone Nixon fired back Tuesday, calling the accusation 'false and absurd' Kinder had pointed fingers at Attorney General Eric Holder and the Obama administration, saying they pressured Nixon to show restraintÂ 'I cannot imagine any other reason why the governor who mobilized the National Guard would not have them in [Ferguson] to stop this'Â Guardsmen were deployed to other St. Louis suburbs Monday night but only arrived in Ferguson on Tuesday morning to survey the wreckage Nixon dodged a question about whether or not guard troops were on Ferguson's main streets before the chaos eruptedÂ Missouri Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon forcefully pushed back Tuesday against his Republican Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder, saying it's 'false and absurd' to suggest he failed to deploy National Guard troops Monday in downtown Ferguson, Missouri because the Obama administration intervened. 'Politics has nothing to do with what anyone up here is doing,' Nixon insisted, referring to police commanders standing behind hi, during a mid-afternoon press conference. 'Politics has not one bit to do with the tasks at hand ... with the seriousness of this mission,' he said.Â Kinder had accused the Obama administration on Monday night of pressuring Nixon into keeping militarized guardsmen out of the riot zone as buildings in Ferguson burned, police cars were set alight and gunfire pierced the night's chaos. Nixon also dodged a question on Tuesday about whether or not guardsmen were positioned in downtown Ferguson before chaos erupted.Â Â 'Politics has not one bit to do with the tasks at hand,' Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon insisted when confronted with questions about whether the federal government had leaned on him to keep National Guard troops out of downtown Ferguson Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder said Monday night that the only reason National Guard troops were kept out of Ferguson was pressure from the Obama administration OUT OF DANGER: National Guard troops were stationed everywhere but Ferguson's central business district on Monday Nixon officially mobilized the Missouri National Guard a week ago but their duties on Monday were restricted to keeping the peace at a courthouse, patrolling the outskirts of town and preventing disturbances in other suburbs. Only Tuesday morning did the guard's camouflaged humvees roll down West Florissant Avenue where rioters had looted, torched and smashed countless businesses â€" and fired weapons in the direction of first responders. Nixon sidestepped a reporter's request to comment on whether Guard troops were present on West Florissant Avenue, Ferguson's main commercial street, before the grand jury decision was announced Monday night. He said, however, that 700 guardsmen were deployed Monday to 100 locations â€" mostly command posts â€" so that other law enforcement personnel were freed up to manage riots. Nixon added that Tuesday night's deployment had been upped to 2,200.Â Kinder, however, was apoplectic on Monday. Nixon 'declared a State of Emergency almost a week ago and mobilized the National Guard,' he told a Fox News Channel audience. Then they were kept away at the crucial time while Ferguson burned. We know they were kept away because they did not come in and stop that from the get-go. They were deployed in other parts of the St. Louis region,' he said. Why were they not in there at the first sign of an overturned police car or a smashed police car window with a show of force that would have stopped this? The lawlessness began after a grand jury declined after a grand jury declined to indict a white police officer in the shooting death of a black teen who attacked him. OUT OF SIGHT: This National Guard humvee was photographed in Clayton, Missouri on Tuesday â€" 13 miles away from Ferguson â€" near the county courthouse where grad jurors made their decision OUT OF FERGUSON: These guardsmen were posted in nearby Dellwood, Missouri on Tuesday but never ventured into the urban war zone 'A NATION OF COWARDS': Attorney General Eric Holder (left) visited Ferguson's city center in late August but reportedly pressured Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon to keep the National Guard from following suitÂ Rioters burned buildings, fired guns at police officers and firefighters, looted and set police cars ablaze. 'Here's my question that the governor must answer,' Kinder demanded: 'Is the reason that the national guard was not in there because the Obama administration and the Holder Justice Department leaned on you to keep them out?' I cannot imagine any other reason why the governor who mobilized the National Guard would not have them in [downtown Ferguson] to stop this before it started. Kinder is a Republican. Nixon is a Democrat. In Missouri the two offices are elected separately. The Obama Department of Justice, led by outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder, expressed frustration a week ago after Nixon held a press conference to announce that he had called the guard up to active duty. A top Holder aide called Nixon's office to relay the message, according to The Washington Post.Â Â 'Instead of de-escalating the situation, the governor escalated it,' a DOJ official told the Post.Â He sent the wrong message. The tone of the press conference was counterproductive. Guardsmen kept watch outside a shopping mall on Tuesday PROTECTING THE SYSTEM: Members of Missouri National Guard patrolled outside the Buzz Westfall Justice Center before the announcement of the grand jury decision Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon buckled to pressure from Washington and kept his state's National Guard unit on the sidelines, according to the lieutenant governor As his town descended into burning chaos, Ferguson Mayor James Knowles grew angry at the absence of National Guard troops. He told reporters that he could not reach state government officials to get help. 'I've called every number that I've got ... All I've been able to do is leave messages,'Â he told KTVI-TV2 in St. Louis. They were deployed at other parts of the St. Louis region ... Why were they not in [Ferguson] at the first sign of an overturned police car or a smashed police car window with a show of force that would have stopped this? 'Iâ€™ve requested the National Guard troops to come out from the command post to help restore order along the business district,' he insisted. We have not seen that. Itâ€™s my understanding that the commanders out on the street have requested this, and those calls have gone unheeded at this point. ... We need to have the governor step up, give us the resources that heâ€™s promised from the beginning.'Â