Former Capitol Police Chief Says 6 Requests for National Guard Aid Denied Before Riot
House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving said he wasn’t comfortable with the “optics” of formally declaring an emergency ahead of the demonstration, former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said.
Two days before a riot led to the U.S. Capitol building being breached, Chief Steven Sund of the Capitol Police requested National Guard assistance.
Sund, who has since resigned his post, told the
Washington Post his supervisors were reluctant to take formal steps to put the Guard on call even as police intelligence suggested that the crowd President Trump had invited to Washington to protest his defeat probably would be much larger than earlier demonstrations.
House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving said he wasn’t comfortable with the “optics” of formally declaring an emergency ahead of the demonstration, Sund said. Meanwhile, Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger suggested that Sund should informally seek out his Guard contacts, asking them to “lean forward” and be on alert in case Capitol Police needed their help.