The National Guard and state forces responded at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday after pro-Trump protesters stormed the building during the counting of votes at the Electoral College.
The Washington DC National Guard force of around 1,100 was deployed to help federal law enforcement curb the insurrection, according to Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman. The Justice Department will lead the federal law enforcement response, said Hoffman.
Acting defense secretary Chris Miller said he coordinated with Vice President Mike Pence and congressional leaders to activate the National Guard and assist officers in resuming the Capitol. He did not mention any contact with President Donald Trump.
“We are prepared to provide additional support as needed and appropriate, as requested by local authorities,” he said in a statement on Wednesday. “Our people have sworn to defend the constitution and our democratic form of government and will act accordingly.”
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam also said he would send his state’s National Guard along with 200 state soldiers to the Capitol. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan added that he told the Maryland National Guard to send a force to the federal legislature.
Both Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser and Mayor Nancy Pelosi’s office asked the National Guard to respond, two sources told NBC.
Trump supporters are in the armored vehicle of the U.S. Capitol Police while others take over the Capitol steps on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, while Congress works to certify the votes of the electoral college.
Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
Earlier this week, Miller approved a request by Bowser to send 340 National Guard forces to the city to support local officials during scheduled pro-Trump demonstrations across the nation’s capital, according to Hoffman. The Miller-approved mission directed unarmed members of the National Guard to help direct traffic and support local police in crowd control.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the guard was “on the way with other federal protection services” Wednesday afternoon. Deputy Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Told NBC News that she spoke with Joint Chiefs of Staff President Mark Milley. She said that by sending the National Guard, the government plans to “bring the Capitol complex back into control with as little bloodshed as possible.”
Protesters spurred on by Trump’s calls to reverse the 2020 presidential election entered the Capitol with relative ease on Wednesday afternoon, despite efforts by the U.S. Capitol Police to prevent an increase towards the plenary of the legislature. Pictures of reporters on Capitol Hill at one point showed officers in an armed standoff behind a barricade as protesters tried to enter the Chamber of Deputies.
The breach forced lawmakers, some of whom had to wear gas masks to travel through clouds of tear gas, to evacuate to safe locations. While the government was trying to regain control of the Capitol, an FBI combat team was among the forces entering the building, according to a video from NBC News.
The violation of the Capitol stopped the Congressional formal count of President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory over Trump. Dozens of Republicans in Congress, supported by the president, have begun to challenge state results based on unfounded allegations of widespread fraud.
Trump spoke to his supporters on Wednesday and once again lied that he had won the election before they reached the Capitol. As rioters invaded the building, Trump tweeted, “No violence!”
He later told his supporters to “go home” – even while reiterating the electoral lies that led them to surround the Capitol.
Democrats and many Republicans urged Trump to end the siege.
“I ask this crowd to step back and allow the work of democracy to continue,” said Biden on Wednesday afternoon.
In a joint statement, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., And Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., asked Trump “to demand that all protesters leave the US Capitol and the Capitol immediately. “
Former law and defense officials also questioned how Trump supporters invaded the Capitol when the federal government learned for weeks that rebels could attack Washington.
“I think it’s the most shocking security breach imaginable to put the United States Congress at physical risk in an occupied Chamber of Congress because they were not prepared to deal with it,” Ret. General Barry McCaffrey said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell”.
On Sunday, the country’s ten living defense secretaries wrote a sinister warning that the US military should have no role in determining the outcome of an American election.
“Each of us has taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. We do not swear to an individual or a party,” wrote Defense Secretaries Mark Esper, James Mattis, Ash Carter, Chuck Hagel , Leon Panetta, Dick Cheney, William Cohen, Robert Gates, William Perry and Donald Rumsfeld in an opinion article published on Sunday in The Washington Post.
Former defense secretaries, who have collectively oversaw US military forces for nearly 50 years, have argued that “the time to question the results” of the US presidential election has passed.
“Our elections took place. Recounts and audits were carried out. The appropriate disputes were dealt with by the courts. The governors certified the results. And the polling station voted. The time to question the results has passed; the time for formal counting of the polling station votes. , as prescribed in the Constitution and the statute, have arrived, “wrote the former defense secretaries, including two who served under Trump.
The secretaries called on Trump’s Secretary of Defense Miller, as well as political appointees and public officials, to “refrain from any political actions that would undermine the election results or hinder the success of the new team.”
– Kevin Stankiewicz of CNBC contributed to this report
This story is developing. Please check again for updates.
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