An internal draft note received by the Post states that the US military should not be required to assist law enforcement with traffic and crowd control unless more than 100,000 protesters are expected in the National Mall that day, the newspaper reported. . The Post did not report on the date of the draft note.
In a letter dated Dec. 31, City Mayor Muriel Bowser on January 5 and 6 asked for support and staff from the DC National Guard.
Eventually, the Army approved the mission, but the memo underscores the reluctance before the day among some within the Pentagon’s top ranks to involve the Army in security on January 6th.
Col. Army spokeswoman Cathy Wilkinson said in a statement to CNN that the Department of Defense provided 340 members of the DC National Guard to assist with the closure of the street and crowd control as requested.
“It is clear that the mayor’s request has been approved and supported,” Wilkinson told the newspaper. “The draft note was not signed or approved.”
She added that it was “customary” for military personnel to “provide options for senior leaders of the army to inform their decision-making process.”
Two Army officials told CNN the memorandum was an option provided by a staff member that was not approved or signed by Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy.
The unsigned memorandum argued that the DC government’s request should be denied because a federal agency has not yet been identified to conduct the preparations and the day of the operations and that law enforcement is ‘much better suited’, reports the Post.
The Post reported that the Army’s army strengthened its position during the discussions in the Pentagon the weekend before January 6, citing four sources familiar with the deliberations.
In the run-up to January 6, there was a reluctance to deploy the National Guard troops for the time being to protect the Capitol, as the Pentagon leadership made several calls from congressional lawmakers to assure them that the military would not be there that day. not.
The concern stemmed from fears that the military would play a role in the outcome of the election and that then-President Donald Trump would politicize the military in an attempt to keep himself in office by the outcome of the November election. to invalidate. .
Although the top defense officials made it very clear that the military did not play a role in determining the outcome of the election, the concern was a major factor in planning considerations for supporting the National Guard, the official added. .