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Capitol Chief: Nat'l Guard Should Stay 03/05 06:03
Worried about continuing threats, the acting chief of the U.S. Capitol
Police has appealed to congressional leaders to use their influence to keep
National Guard troops at the Capitol, two months after the law enforcement
breakdowns of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Worried about continuing threats, the acting chief of the
U.S. Capitol Police has appealed to congressional leaders to use their
influence to keep National Guard troops at the Capitol, two months after the
law enforcement breakdowns of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection.
Yogananda Pittman told the leaders Thursday in a letter obtained by The
Associated Press that the board that oversees her department has so far
declined to extend an emergency declaration required by the Pentagon to keep
Guardsmen who have assisted Capitol officers since the riot.
Pittman said she needed the leaders' assistance with the three-member
Capitol Police Board, which reports to them. She said the board has sent her a
list of actions it wants her to implement, though she said it was unclear
whether the points were orders or just recommendations.
The letter underscored the confusion over how best to secure the Capitol
after a dismal lack of protection in January and biting criticism for law
enforcement's handling of the invasion.
And it came came as authorities spent the day on high alert, primed for a
"possible plot" by a militia group to storm the building again, two months
after Trump supporters smashed through windows and doors in an insurrection
meant to halt the certification of Joe Biden's presidential victory.
The list in the letter to lawmakers included a partial removal of the
imposing fence encircling the Capitol grounds starting Monday and a drawdown of
the Guard to 900 troops from the current 5,200 remaining in Washington.
Police want to keep the fence indefinitely. In her letter, Pittman said she
would ask for a drawdown of the deployment "based on the threat environment and
physical and operational security capabilities."
Earlier Thursday, The Associated Press reported the Pentagon was reviewing a
Capitol Police request to keep up to 2,200 Guardsmen at the Capitol another 60
days. A statement from the police said Pittman had formally made the
recommendation to the Pentagon.
A similar dispute had erupted between the Capitol Police and its board
before Jan. 6 and even as rioters were storming the building. The Capitol
Police Board, comprised of the House and Senate sergeants at arms and the
architect of the Capitol, is charged with oversight of the police force.
Steven Sund, the now-former Capitol Police chief, has testified to Congress
that he wanted to request the Guard two days before the invasion following
reports that white supremacist and far-right groups would target the building
to disrupt the certification of Biden's election victory over outgoing
President Donald Trump. Paul Irving, who served on the Capitol Police Board as
House sergeant-at-arms, denied that Sund asked him to call the Guard.
Sund has testified that he asked repeatedly for the Guard to be called as
rioters stormed the building, breaking police lines and running over officers
unequipped to hold them off. He ultimately called the commanding general of the
D.C. National Guard just before 2 p.m., who in turn testified that the request
for help was delayed by the Defense Department. The request was not approved
until after 5 p.m., as hundreds of rioters marauded through the building and
left without being arrested.
Five people died in the riot, including a Capitol Police officer and a Trump
supporter shot by police.
On Thursday, despite the warnings of new trouble, there were no signs of
disturbance at the heavily secured building. Nor was there evidence of any
large group heading to Washington.
The most recent threat appeared to be connected to a far-right conspiracy
theory, mainly promoted by supporters of QAnon, that former Trump would rise
again to power on March 4 and that thousands would come to Washington to try to
remove Democrats from office. March 4 was the original presidential
inauguration day until 1933, when it was moved to Jan. 20.
But Trump was miles away in Florida. In Washington, on one of the warmest
days in weeks, the National Mall was almost deserted, save for joggers,
journalists, and a handful of tourists trying to take photos of the Capitol
dome through the fencing.
Online chatter identified by authorities included discussions among members
of the Three Percenters, an anti-government militia group, concerning possible
plots against the Capitol on Thursday, according to two law enforcement
officials who were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of
anonymity. Members of the Three Percenters were among the extremists who
stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
But federal agents found no significant increases in the number of hotel
rooms being rented in Washington, or in flights to the area, car rental
reservations or buses being chartered. Online chatter about the day on
extremist sites was declining.
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, was briefed by law enforcement about the
possible threat and said lawmakers were braced for whatever might come.
"We have the razor wire, we have the National Guard. We didn't have that
January 6. So I feel very confident in the security," he said.
But those measures aren't permanent. Some states have threatened to pull
their Guardsmen amid reports that some troops had been made to take rest breaks
in parking garages or served spoiled food. Other Guardsmen have said they have
been given good meals with accommodations for those on vegan or halal diets.
In Michigan, which sent 1,000 troops, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said
she did "not have any intention of agreeing to an extension of this deployment."
Meanwhile, Trump continues to promote lies that the election was stolen from
him through mass voter fraud, even though such claims have been rejected by
judges and Trump's former attorney general. He repeatedly told those lies on
social media and in a charged speech on Jan. 6 in which he implored thousands
of supporters to "fight like hell." Many of those supporters eventually walked
to the Capitol grounds and overran officers to breach the building.
Trump was impeached by the House on a c harge of incitement of insurrection
but was acquitted by the Senate. So far, about 300 people have been charged
with federal crimes for their roles in the riot.
Trump's election rhetoric continues to be echoed by many national and local
Republicans posting online messages about voter fraud and questioning the
legitimacy of Biden's victory.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki cited "a years-long trend of false
narratives fueling violence."
"On the specifics of today's threats, the FBI and DHS have warned that the
threat of domestic violent extremism, particularly racially motivated and
anti-government extremists, did not begin or end on January 6 and we have been
vigilant day in and day out," she said Thursday.
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