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The Army Criminal Investigations Command informed the DC National Guard of its investigation on Tuesday, and those within range on March 11 gave their statements to investigators on Thursday, one of the people said. They filled nearly a dozen pages with questions about their whereabouts and memories. Chris Gray, a spokesperson for the Army Criminal Investigations Command, confirmed that the command was investigating the missing rifle.
DC National Guard officials began questioning members of the Guard stationed at the Capitol shortly after discovering the rifle was missing. But the incident was not resolved, so it was then brought up the Criminal Investigations Command, known as the CID – an indication that more resources were needed to find the weapon and that the military is investigating potential criminal activity.
The incident also comes as the Pentagon, under the leadership of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, is leading an effort to eradicate extremism within the military.
The Department of Defense does not take these incidents lightly. A commander and sergeant major were fired last year after their infantry battalion lost two rifles during a training exercise in December 2019 at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was still investigating the missing rifles a year later.
Thousands of National Guard soldiers were sent to Washington across the country after the January 6 riot. Troops patrolled the area and erected tall fences to extend the security perimeter – some of which have recently been dismantled.
While no significant additional threats have emerged since January 6, the Pentagon approved a request by Capitol Police in early March to keep approximately 2,300 National Guard troops in Washington for the mission, or roughly. half of the number previously deployed there. Over the next two months, the ministry said it would work with law enforcement to reduce the presence of troops “as conditions permit.”
News of the missing rifle comes as the Pentagon is already under fire from lawmakers for allegedly slowing down the Capitol Police’s request for additional National Guard support as the situation unfolded on January 6. The National Guard, which was recently appointed as House Sergeant-at-Arms, said senior officials took hours to approve the request, fearing the optics of National Guard troops approaching Capitol Hill “would ignite The rioters.
Pentagon officials are disputing this account, saying former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller acted swiftly to meet the request, but acknowledged that the approval may not have passed quickly to Walker.
Still, Walker testified that a faster response from the Guard could have helped prevent the situation from escalating.
“We could have helped expand the perimeter and fend off the crowd,” Walker said.
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