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The District of Columbia National Guard commander said he was unable to immediately send troops to assist law enforcement officials on Jan.6 as the U.S. Capitol was under siege as its power to do so without further approval had been taken away by the Pentagon. .
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“All military commanders normally have immediate response authority to protect federal property, life and, in my case, federal functions – federal property and life,” Major General William Walker said in an interview with the Washington Post. “But in this case, I didn’t have that authority.”
Instead, when he got the initial call from the Capitol Police Chief to warn him that an insurgency was about to happen, Walker had to wait for the green light from the Secretary of the Army. then Ryan McCarthy and Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller before commanding troops. to the Capitol building to assist local law enforcement who were overwhelmed by a mob of Trump supporters storming the building.
Walker told the outlet that if he hadn’t been forced to go through an additional round of clearances, members of the National Guard could have been at the scene “With all deliberate speed – I mean, they’re right on the street. “
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Instead, the National Guard took over an hour to show up. Senior law enforcement officials from several local and federal agencies are now being watched for their apparent lack of preparedness and delayed response to the riot earlier this month that left five people dead – including a Capitol Police officer -.
Walker, McCarthy and other senior officials briefed the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday as Congress prepared for a full investigation into the day’s security deficiencies.
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Additional protocols were placed on the National Guard to limit its discharge of troops as an immediate response after the military reserve force drew widespread criticism in June for deploying members at the behest of then-President Donald Trump to control the citizens of Washington, DC, who were protesting the death of George Floyd, despite the refusal of local law enforcement, who felt the decision was unnecessary.
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