National Guard re-admitted Capitol complex after lawmakers erupted banning them from parking garage

National Guard re-admitted Capitol complex after lawmakers erupted banning them from parking garage

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The guard will now be allowed to rest in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, the warden said.

The change comes after thousands of national guards were moved to a parking garage after being told they could no longer use space in the U.S. Capitol complex, including areas such as the cafeteria of a Senate office building, as a rest area, several guards told CNN. .

Prior to Thursday morning, several areas throughout the Capitol complex were designated as authorized rest areas where members of the guard could take breaks from their shifts protecting Capitol. By Thursday morning, the guards had cleared all the areas and removed their name.

“We honestly just feel betrayed,” a warden told CNN earlier on Thursday, noting that a day earlier congressmen had gathered for photos with the various units of the National Guards coming to Washington to secure security around the inauguration. support. “After everything went smoothly, we were considered useless and banished to a corner of a parking garage.”

The news about the guards’ situation, first reported by Politico, quickly provoked outrage from lawmakers who tweeted their concerns about the situation.

Senator Mike Lee, a Republican in Utah, wrote: “I was very upset about this story, but I was in touch with the Utah National Guard and they were taken care of. I and my staff are investigating what happened here and will continue to rectify the situation. ”

Sen. Illinois Democrat Tammy Duckworth tweeted: “Just a few calls were made and was informed Capitol Police have apologized to the guards and they will be allowed back into the complex tonight. I will continue to make sure they. “

And Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat from Arizona, tweeted, “This is outrageous, shameful, and incredibly disrespectful to the men and women who keep the U.S. Capitol safe. We need to fix it and we need answers on how it happened. “

Photos provided to CNN showed guards sitting or lying in areas cordoned off with caution tape. Some apparently slept by resting against concrete pillars in the garage, just a few feet from parked cars. There was one outlet and one bathroom with two stalls for 5,000 troops, one warden told CNN. Although many of the troops in the photos wear masks, some are not, who according to the security guard are against guidance and a serious Covid risk, calling it ‘completely unacceptable’.

‘Our guideline is that if you do not eat or drink, you should wear a mask. “We only had a few in my unit that were positive for Covid, and they only keep us full of precautionary tapes in small areas,” the guard said. “And it’s the only authorized resting place.”

Acting Arms Sergeant Tim Blodgett said in a statement Thursday night that he would continue to monitor the working and living conditions of the guard.

About 25,000 National Guard troops have been called up from all 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia because of the greater security concerns surrounding the inauguration of President Joe Biden. Many used the cafe of the Dirksen Senate office building, just northwest of the Capitol, as a resting place to relax, charge phones, and access wireless internet. But on Thursday afternoon, the guards who spoke to CNN said they could no longer use the cafeteria and could only rest in the parking garage of the nearby Thurgood Marshall Judicial Center.

The National Guard Bureau said earlier Thursday that the resettlement of the troop is temporary because Congress is in session.

“The National Guard continues to assist and support the U.S. Capitol Police. As Congress is in session and greater foot traffic and business is done, the Capitol Police have asked the troops to relocate. They are temporarily on the Thurgood “Marshall judicial center relocated. The garage with heating and toilet facilities. We remain a mobile and flexible force to provide for the safety and security of the Capitol and its surrounding areas,” the National Guard Bureau said in a statement. .

U.S. Capitol police on Thursday night did not address the situation of the guards directly in a statement, but rather set out their understanding of the amount of “rest time” the campus does not get.

“Recently, the department requested that the troops’ schedules be changed so that they do not work more than 8-hour shifts to allow more rest time after the inauguration of the campus,” the statement read. “The guard is reviewing the request so that logistics and schedules can be adjusted.”

A week earlier, photos of the National Guard troops resting in the Rotunda of the Capitol also caused a stir. A spokesman for the Guard made it clear that the troops were not sleeping on duty but were resting between shifts.

“To be clear, this is not where they go when they are not on duty. Being present is the first step in ensuring the safety of our citizens and the Capitol of our country. Our security personnel work in shifts and rest when they can while others are waiting, ” a Guard spokesman said.

The Bureau said earlier Thursday that most of the 25,000 national guards brought to Washington to help secure the city through the inauguration will be sent home within five to ten days. About 15,000 troops will return home ‘as soon as possible’, although the planning and the process to start moving it may take a few days.

There are some agencies asking for ongoing support, the National Guard Bureau said, and there are expected to be about 7,000 guards left by the end of the month.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of Senator Kyrsten Sinema.

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