Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund described a “frustrating connection” with a U.S. Army officer while desperately trying to get the Pentagon to send aid to police who were outnumbered on Capitol Hill by a crowd of Trump supporters. last Wednesday.
“I needed boots on the ground, immediate assistance right there, helping to form police lines to help protect the foundation of the United States Capitol building,” Sund said in a brief interview outside his home, his first comments on camera . “They were more concerned with optics.” The Army is tasked with approving the sending of the National Guard in Washington, DC
On Wednesday, while protesters pushed police and smashed windows to force their way into the Capitol, Congress was evacuated at 1 pm while Congress debated whether to count Arizona ballot papers.
Connected to Sund were DC Chief of Police Robert J. Contee III and Lieutenant General Walter Piatt, the Army’s chief of staff, among others. The Army, Sund said, “was concerned with providing national guards to form a line,” suggesting that it was cautious in presenting the appearance of a military response. Sund told the Washington Post, which first reported details of the conversation, that Piatt had said in the call: “I don’t like the image of the National Guard positioning itself on a police line with the Capitol in the background.”
Sund suggested that the Army would have preferred to replace the officers at “external traffic posts” with National Guard troops and drag the police to the Capitol perimeter.
Piatt categorically denied that he had made the comments attributed to him about the appearance of the guards on the Capitol. “I did not make the statement or any comment similar to what was assigned to me by Chief Sund in the Washington Post article,” he told CBS News in a statement.
Piatt also said that as soon as Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy received a “specific request for assistance from the Capitol … he rushed to the office of the acting Secretary of Defense to request approval.”
According to the Pentagon’s schedule, the order to send the guard was given 40 minutes after the call with Sund began.
Sund told a handful of reporters that all available Capitol police were on duty last Wednesday – about 1,400 to 1,500 – but said they were quickly overrun by 8,000 to 12,000 Trump supporters who invaded the Capitol.
“As soon as they reached the west gate, I knew it was different from any other crowd we had ever seen. They hit the gate. They immediately destroyed it,” said Sund. “They started fighting with the officers and hitting them with the fence we were trying to protect the Capitol with. That’s when I heard things were going badly quickly.”
The poorly outdated forces of the Capitol were attacked by rioters.
“These officers were fighting. They fought for hours to protect the Capitol,” said Sund. “I saw policemen being hit by fire extinguishers, … poles. These people came with baseball bats, metal poles that were playing against the police repeatedly,” Sund told reporters. He added: “When you think about it, you had 50 to 60 policemen who were injured as a result. I never saw anything like that.”
Sund, who announced his resignation as chief the day after the attack, said the police “expected a major event” and noted that events in November and December occurred without incident. But this was different. “We didn’t expect to be in a tumultuous crowd like that.” Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman took over on Friday.
Two days before the attack, Sund said he warned Major General William Walker, head of the DC National Guard, that he might be calling for help. Sund also said he talked to the House and Senate arms sergeants about putting the National Guard on “emergency preparedness”.
While most members of Congress were grateful to the Capitol Police for protecting them from physical harm, some, like the Whip of the House majority Jim Clyburn, who said his unidentified position was the target, have raised accusations that some within Capitol Building may have been complicit in letting protesters in.
“You know I’m sure it will be fully investigated,” said Sund. “But the Capitol Police Department is there to protect the nation’s Capitol and our legislative body.”
Asked about those who suspect that the Capitol Police allowed protesters to pass through the gates, Sund defended them. “These officers take their mission very seriously, extremely seriously to support and defend the building, to support and defend the legislative body, the leadership,” he said. “I don’t think there is any truth to that.”
On Monday night, Congressman Tim Ryan told reporters that two Capitol police officers were suspended and one of them was arrested. One of the officers posed for selfies with the rioters inside the Capitol, while another put on a MAGA cap and showed the rioters the location. He said there are also at least 10 to 15 investigations underway on Capitol Police.
Ryan said the Capitol Police is investigating anyone who “could have facilitated it on a large or small level anyway” and is trying to end investigations expeditiously in order to prepare for the inauguration in just nine days .
David Martin and Rebecca Kaplan contributed to the report.