Ex-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund is starting to offer details regarding the Capitol Hill riots last week. During a recent interview with The Washington Post, Sund contradicted claims that he denied assistance from the National Guard prior to January 6. Instead, Sund argued that he made six requests for National Guard assistance before and during the riots.
"If we would have had the National Guard we could have held them at bay longer, until more officers from our partner agencies could arrive," Sund said.
Going further, Sund claimed that House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving could have declared an emergency ahead of the riots, but opted not to due to the "optics" of doing so. Irving along with Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger was pushed to resign from their positions following the incident.
Sund is not the only one who was reportedly denied support from the National Guard during the Capitol Hill riots. Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser was unable to deploy the District of Columbia's National Guard initially. Under current law, Bowser must receive approval from the White House before troops are deployed. This law also affects nearby states. Before Maryland Governor Larry Hogan can deploy National Guard troops into the nation's capital, troops have to already be deployed within the city.
"However we were repeatedly denied approval to do so," Hogan said.
"Under federal law the Mayor of the District of Columbia does not have authority over the Guard, and we must receive approval from the Secretary of Defense before we're able to send the Maryland National Guard across the border into the federal city into the District of Columbia."
Moving forward, National Guard troops will be deployed en masse. More than 10,000 troops are expected to be in the nation's capital as President-Elect Joe Biden is inaugurated.
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