The District of Columbia National Guard commander said he could not immediately send troops to help law enforcement officials on Jan. 6 because the U.S. Capitol was under siege because of its authority to do so without additional signatures by the Pentagon. was taken away. .
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“All military commanders normally have immediate response authorities to protect property, lives and in my case federal functions – federal property and life,” Major General William Walker said in an interview with the Washington Post. “But in this case, I did not have that authority.”
Instead, when he received the initial call from the Chief of Police in the Capitol and warned that an uprising was about to take place, Walker had to wait for the all-clarity of then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and then-Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, before ordering troops to the Capitol building to help local law enforcement officers who were overrun by a crowd of Trump supporters who stormed the building.
Walker told the point of sale that if he had not had to go through an extra round of permits, members of the National Guard could have been at the scene “With all deliberate speed – I mean, they’re right down the street.”
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Instead, the national guard took more than an hour to arrive. Major law enforcement buyers from several local and federal agencies are now under investigation for their apparent lack of preparation and the delayed response to the riot earlier this month that left five people, including one Capitol police officer, dead.
Walker, McCarthy and other top officials briefed the Home Remuneration Committee on Tuesday as Congress predicted an in-depth investigation into the security shortcomings of that day.
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Additional protocols were placed on the National Guard to restrict the dismissal of troops as an immediate response after the military reserve force received widespread criticism in June for the deployment of members on behalf of then-President Donald Trump to civilians in Washington, DC. protest against the death of George Floyd, despite pressure from local law enforcement officials, who felt the move was unnecessary.