After spending days in the cold to secure the United States capital deadly siege two weeks ago, National Guard citizens were asked to leave the Capitol building and move to a nearby parking garage to rest during their shifts. The decision quickly condemned lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who called the move “outrageous.”
Several pressed to reverse it. And that was, late Thursday night.
The guard issued a statement saying, ‘Brig. Genl. Janeen Birckhead, commander of the inauguration task force, confirmed that the troops were out of the garage and back in the Capitol building, as approved by the USCP (US Capitol Police) Watch Commander and the troops would take it. their breaks forward near Emancipation Hall. ‘
One of the lawmakers who expressed outrage, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois, tweeted, “Update: troops are all out of the garage now. Now I can go to sleep.”
On Thursday around 3 p.m., police in the Capitol asked the National Guard to resettle the soldiers who used Capitol corridors and open spaces during their shifts, Maj. Matt Murphy, spokesman for the National Guard Bureau, told CBS News.
“As Congress is in session and there is more foot traffic and business being done, Capitol police have asked the troops to relocate,” Murphy said. “They have been temporarily relocated to the Thurgood Marshall Judicial Center garage with heat and toilet facilities.”
About 3,500 members of the National Guard were moved out of the Capitol, but not all were in the parking garage at the same time. During their duty shifts, members are knocked in by garage to warm up and take a breather, and they have hotel rooms to sleep in when their shifts are over.
Some guards expressed their displeasure over the move from their rest area to a parking garage. While the garage has heat and lights, there are only a few toilets and limited cell phone and internet service and power points.
U.S. Capitol police confirmed Friday that they will investigate.
Politico first reported the move, and lawmakers called for the fight.
“This is outrageous, shameful and incredibly disrespectful to the men and women who keep the American Capitol safe,” said Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat from Arizona. “We need to fix it and we need answers on how it happened.”
South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott also said on Twitter:
Duckworth calls it ‘unreal’ and adds that she cannot believe that the same brave servants who have asked us for the past two weeks to protect our Capitol and our Constitution would be improperly ordered to evacuate the building. . They can use my office. ‘
Murphy told CBS News: “They had to go somewhere, is my understanding. There will always be a disturbed feather, some people will not like. The troops continue. They are still performing their mission duties and that’s what they are doing. ‘
Police in the Capitol said in a statement earlier Thursday night that the department appreciates the integral support of the U.S. National Guard to help secure the Capitol complex leading up to the inauguration ceremony. ”
The department said it had recently requested that the shifts of guard members be shortened to allow for more rest time off-campus.