Requests for backup were turned down days before riot: Former US capitol police chief
Monday, 11 January 2021 (17:24 IST)
Moscow: Former US Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said in an interview with the Washington Post newspaper that his numerous calls for the National Guard to be placed on standby in case of violent protests were dismissed days before the Capitol Hill riot.
On Thursday, Sund submitted his letter of resignation, a day after the Capitol Building was besieged by President Donald Trump’s supporters trying to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election victory.
According to the outgoing police chief, there were a total of six requests for the backup, one of which was rejected by the director of the Army Staff, lieutenant general Walter E. Piatt.
“I don’t like the visual of the National Guard standing a police line with the Capitol in the background,” Sund quoted Piatt as responding.
The chief of staff for Washington, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, confirmed to the Washington Post that Sund had kept on pleading for help.
“Literally, this guy is on the phone, I mean, crying out for help. It’s burned in my memories,” Bowser said, as quoted by the media outlet.
On January 6, thousands of Trump supporters violently stormed the US Capitol building, attacking police with metal pipes and chemical irritants, damaging property, seizing the inauguration stage and occupying the rotunda. The attack came after Trump urged his supporters to keep fighting to overturn the election results. Following the developments, the outgoing president has been blocked on all major social media platforms, while Democratic lawmakers are starting a process to remove him from office. (UNI)
