Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, director of the Army General Staff, discussed Monday the story of former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund of how and when the National Guard was deployed to help riot police. Capitol on Wednesday, saying it did not back down against deployment calls.
The top army official contradicted what Sund said The Washington Post occurred at a conference call between officials. Piatt said that “as soon as” army secretary Ryan McCarthyRyan McCarthy: The Capitol Police Chief who accuses House and Senate security officials of obstructing efforts to summon the National Guard: WaPo 25 domestic terrorism investigations were opened after the assault on the ‘DC Capitol Mayor, urge DHS to step up security measures around MORE inauguration he received a request from the Capitol police to deploy the national guard, “ran to the office of the acting Secretary of Defense to ask for approval.”
The former Capitol police chief had said Piatt told him he could not immediately recommend McCarthy to authorize the deployment as pro-Trump riot police stormed the building.
Citing Sund and four call officials, the Post reported that Piatt had said he did not “like the image of the National Guard having a police line with the Capitol in the background.”
“I did not make the statement or any comment similar to what Chief Sund has attributed to me in the Washington Post article, but I would note that even in his account he made it clear that neither I nor anyone else [the Department of Defense], denied the deployment of the requested personnel, “Piatt said in a statement Monday.
Instead, Piatt said he stayed on the phone while McCarthy met with Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, “and made it clear to conference attendees that I was not the approval authority, but Secretary McCarthy was working on approval. “
Piatt said he worked with call participants to develop a deployment plan.
“This included options to relieve law enforcement across the city so that these assets could help with law enforcement actions at the Capitol or use the National Guard to establish a perimeter at the Capitol to provide authorities with an environment. safe where to conduct clearing operations, “he said. “In the end, the National Guard was deployed to set the perimeter at the Capitol.”
Piatt said permission to activate the National Guard occurred “approximately forty minutes after initiating this call,” although the first National Guard personnel did not arrive at the scene until 5:40 p.m. late, after four of the five deaths had already occurred in the midst of the riot.
Sund, here resigned amid pressure from the legislature the day after the riots, he had told the Post that Piatt had said he would prefer the National Guard to take places in DC to allow DC police to respond to the Capitol.
The newspaper said four other officials, including the mayor of DC Muriel Bowser
Muriel Bowser: 25 domestic terrorism investigations open after assault on Capitol police warned by FBI and NYPD police about risk of violence in Capitol: report DC mayor calls on DHS for increased security measures around the inauguration MORE (D) supported Sund’s account of the call.
Bowser told the Post that Sund had “made it perfectly clear that they needed extraordinary help, including the National Guard. There was some concern on the part of the military about what it looked like to have armed military personnel on Capitol grounds.”
Disagreement over the National Guard’s call and authorization comes as lawmakers and others try to reconcile what happened Wednesday before and during the riots at the Capitol, which were intended to upset the president-elect’s assertion by Congress. Joe Biden
Joe Biden: Capitol police chief accuses House and Senate security officials of thwarting efforts to convene the National Guard: WaPo PGA announces plans to move the 2022 championship to Trump’s property.the victory.
During his interview with the Post, Sund said his attempt to implicate the National Guard before Wednesday was thwarted by House and Senate security officials, including House Sergeant Paul Irving. and Senate Sergeant-General Michael Stenger, who have both given up on the aftermath.