National Guard General: Pentagon Waited Over Three Hours To Approve Sending Troops To Capitol [VIDEO]

Politico reports:

Senior Pentagon officials took more than three hours to approve sending National Guard troops to the Capitol as it was being violently breached on Jan. 6, even as troops were loaded on buses and ready to go, the commanding general of the D.C. National Guard testified Wednesday.

William Walker told senators that senior Pentagon leaders did not approve then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund’s “frantic” request until three hours and 19 minutes after Sund’s initial plea. Walker said he received Sund’s call for aid at 1:49 p.m. and raced to send the request to senior Pentagon officials.

The Washington Post reports:

Walker described the Pentagon’s restrictions as “unusual,” noting that he didn’t have such limitations last summer, when the D.C. Guard was tasked with responding to local racial justice protests after the police killing of George Floyd.

Walker, who previously detailed the restrictions placed on him ahead of Jan. 6 in an interview with The Washington Post, told lawmakers that had he not been operating under those limitations, he could have sent about 150 soldiers to the Capitol hours earlier — and got them there within 20 minutes of being asked.

It’s becoming clear. DOD withheld the National Guard on Jan.6. due to optics. Question: Was General Flynn(Mike Flynn’s brother)acting on his own or was he given an order by the Commander-in-Crime?

— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) March 3, 2021

The Major General in charge of the National Guard in DC has testified that troops WERE held back on Jan. 6, and it was due to “optics.” What optics were they waiting on? The optics of Mike Pence’s lifeless body swinging from a gallows? Anything else, to allow for martial law?

— Duty To Warn ? (@duty2warn) March 3, 2021

The commanding general of the D.C. National Guard told Congress that the Department of Defense took more than three hours to approve deploying the Guard during the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6. https://t.co/9Ac9oKECX5

— NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) March 3, 2021

Maj. Gen. William Walker, commanding general of the D.C. National Guard, says he “alerted the Army Senior Leadership” of a “frantic” and “dire” plea for aid to the Capitol at 1:49pm on January 6.

Says he didn’t hear back until “5:08pm, about three hours and 19 minutes later.” pic.twitter.com/oCSePN6FLc

— The Recount (@therecount) March 3, 2021