- The Associated Press obtained an internal Pentagon document on the Capitol riot on January 6.
- According to the office, Vice President Mike Pence has made an urgent appeal to the acting secretary of defense.
- “Clean up the Capitol,” Pence said after the mob spent hours in the building.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
After a group of former President Donald Trump’s supporters violated the US Capitol on January 6, forcing lawmakers to evacuate and kill several people, questions lingered over the timeline of events.
Some of these details emerged in an internal document of the Department of Defense obtained by the Associated Press.
Vice President Mike Pence, who was in the building when the riots began in Capitol, made an urgent call amid the chaos.
“Clean up the Capitol,” Pence told acting defense minister Christopher Miller. Pence was in a “safe place” when he made the call, but the Capitol had been overrun by rioters for two hours.
Associated Press compiled the timeline of the siege based on the document and previously known details.
Read more: Donald Trump is legally threatened in several areas. Here are the lawyers in his corner.
According to the statement, the timeline shows ‘the inaction by then-President Donald Trump’ and ‘shows’ that the intelligence errors, tactical mistakes and bureaucratic delays were obscured by the government’s failure to understand the extent and intensity of a violent uprising. own citizens. ‘
Pence was at the Capitol on January 6 to oversee the counting of election college votes and to confirm the victory of President Joe Biden. Trump urged his supporters to come to Washington, DC, to stop the stealing, a reference to his unfounded allegations of widespread voter fraud.
Before the siege, Trump addressed a crowd of his supporters and told them to march to the Capitol. He also opposed Pence for not blocking the election of the Electoral College, despite the fact that the Vice President was largely ceremonial.
Some of the rioters were caught on video singing ‘Hang Mike Pence’.
“Mike Pence did not have the courage to do what needed to be done to protect our country and our Constitution,” Trump tweeted as his supporters closed the Senate Hall, minutes after Pence was evacuated at about 2:13 p.m.
An hour later, Trump tweeted again, urging his supporter who had already raided the building and attacked police officers to “remain peaceful.”
According to the Associated Press, Pence called on Miller to clear the Capitol.
At 4:17 p.m., Trump first encouraged his supporters to leave and tweeted a video of himself repeating false statements about the election, saying, “go home, and go home in peace.”
The Capitol was only declared safe at 20:00, and law enforcers are heavily criticized for its reaction to the day’s events.
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