Pentagon restricted commander of D.C. Guard ahead of Capitol riot

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
Julia Davis
@JuliaDavisNews
The commander of the D.C. National Guard said the Pentagon restricted his authority ahead of the riot at the U.S. Capitol, requiring higher level sign-off to respond that cost time as the events that day spiraled out of control.

Pentagon restricted commander of D.C. Guard ahead of Capitol riot
Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, who commands the D.C. Guard, said he was prohibited from taking actions without higher level sign-off on Jan. 6.
washingtonpost.com
9:24 AM · Jan 26, 2021

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/dc-guard-capitol-riots-william-walker-pentagon/2021/01/26/98879f44-5f69-11eb-ac8f-4ae05557196e_story.html


The commander of the D.C. National Guard said the Pentagon restricted his authority ahead of the riot at the U.S. Capitol, requiring higher level sign-off to respond that cost time as the events that day spiraled out of control.

Local commanders typically have the power to take military action on their own to save lives or prevent significant property damage in an urgent situation when there isn’t enough time to obtain approval from headquarters.

But Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, the commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard, said the Pentagon essentially took that power and other authorities away from him ahead of a pro-Trump protest on Jan. 6. That meant he couldn’t immediately roll out troops when he received a panicked phone call from the Capitol Police chief warning that rioters were about to enter the U.S. Capitol.

“All military commanders normally have immediate response authority to protect property, life, and in my case, federal functions — federal property and life,” Walker said in an interview. “But in this instance I did not have that authority.”

Walker and former Army secretary Ryan C. McCarthy are set to brief the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday behind closed doors about the events, the beginning of what is likely to become a robust congressional inquiry into the preparations for a rally that devolved into a riot at the Capitol, leaving five people dead and representing a significant security failure.

*snip*

[SheltieLover]

1. Who at Pentagon???

[soothsayer]

5. Kash Patel and that other traitor he installed in December I bet

Lock them up!

[SheltieLover]

9. Yes, lock them up!

Ty, ND!

[2Gingersnaps]

25. tRump purged people on two civilian advisory boards in December

and replaced them with the likes of Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie who were both campaign managers. Neither served in the military or had any defense industry experience. That didn't stink to high Heaven. Kash Patel and Michael Ellis both were staffers for Devin Nunes, speaking of stinking. Michael Ellis was forced into the position of General Counsel at NSA by acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller after a meeting with tRump. Ellis has since been put on administrative leave. So, yeah, lock 'em up!

[SoonerPride]

6. Michael Flynn's brother.

I'm not kidding.

[SheltieLover]

10. No doubt!

[soothsayer]

12. Right! The one they lied about being in the room

Lock. Them. Up!

[uponit7771]

16. This would send shock waves throughout the military, do you have proof? I don't doubt it ...

... but a flag officer denying troops would be dangerous especially one tied to the other Flynn.

[SoonerPride]

19. Here is your proof

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/21/politics/michael-flynn-brother-capitol-hill-riot/index.html

Washington (CNN)The Army is now acknowledging that Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, the brother of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, was in the room for one of the key January 6 phone calls in which DC government and US Capitol Police were asking for National Guard troops to quell the unfolding violence at the US Capitol.

The decision-making has come under scrutiny as city and Capitol Police officials have alleged that the Pentagon was slow to respond, while the Pentagon and Army maintain they never denied or delayed requests for the National Guard.

In official timelines released by the Department of Defense in the wake of the riot, Charles Flynn, the deputy chief of staff of the Army, was not listed as participating in any of the calls that day about mobilizing the National Guard to respond to the riot.

The Washington Post was the first to report Flynn's participation in the call.

[dalton99a]

26. +1

[uponit7771]

30. Damn, ... just damn. Flag officers tied up in the stupid of the Trump admin. This is just beyond ...

... stupid to find CO's ANY WHERE AROUND THIS SHIT !!

The US military will have to be cleaned out too.

[UpInArms]

2. I want someone to start naming names ... now!

But Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, the commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard, said the Pentagon essentially took that power and other authorities away from him ahead of a pro-Trump protest on Jan. 6. That meant he couldn’t immediately roll out troops when he received a panicked phone call from the Capitol Police chief warning that rioters were about to enter the U.S. Capitol.

“All military commanders normally have immediate response authority to protect property, life, and in my case, federal functions — federal property and life,” Walker said in an interview. “But in this instance I did not have that authority.”

[SheltieLover]

13. Like saying the building took his power

[uponit7771]

17. +1,

[Cetacea]

3. Investigate every person that Trump installed after the election..

especially at the Pentagon.

[brush]

11. Yep, trump's phone records should be checked.

[sarcasmo]

4. Gen. Walker would be my first witness of the Impeachment Trial.

[SheltieLover]

14. Absofuckingloutely!

[malaise]

7. Let me make this pellucidly clear

The coup plans involved the one term twice-impeached fascist and tools from a variety of agencies as well as his trusted criminals.

Truth will out and it will be much worse than we're hearing from M$Greedia.

[panader0]

8. Virginia National Guard were put on hold too I believe.

[SunSeeker]

22. Yes, and the Maryland National Guard couldn't get approval either, causing a 90 minute delay.

Even though Steny Hoyer was calling Gov. Hogan from the safe room he was sheltering in because the Capitol was overrun!

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/01/08/maryland-governor-describes-delayed-permission-to-send-national-guard/

[uponit7771]

31. Someone in the pentagon better speak up now, military being in anyway involved in this his horrid

[Bradshaw3]

15. I'm sure all the pre-riot moves by dump at the DoD were just a coincidence

Shouldn't be necessary but here it is:

[dsp3000]

18. Will the new SecDef be able to do anything about these traitors at the pentagon?

nt

[SunSeeker]

23. They should court martial all those traitors!

[LudwigPastorius]

20. The story is behind a paywall.

Does the Major General get any more specific than "the Pentagon" in describing his orders?

...because, if it didn't come from one of Trump's last-minute appointees, there needs to be more people fired than just them.

[judesedit]

21. He should have sent them in anyway in this instance if it was the norm

He knew what Dump was up to firing the experienced leaders and putting in his lemmings. He would now be called a hero.

[CaptainTruth]

24. To prevent Trump from using "his" troops?

I saw reports early on that because the DC Guard is under POTUS' command there was high-level concern that Trump might try to use them to *help* the insurrection, rather than put it down, so additional control measures were put in place.

Remember when Trump used troops to gas peaceful protesters so he could get a photo-op holding a bible? There was concern he would give orders directly to the local commander to bring in the Guard in a way that only made the situation worse, & the Pentagon wanted to make sure that didn't happen.

Not sure if it's true, & we may never know for sure, just sharing what I heard.

[ffr]

27. Willfully, people died, and it was designed to allow mass murder.

You cannot sugarcoat how sinister what they did is. All these individuals must be punished severely, stripped of rank, and if it goes up to T----, which he was designed to benefit from, he should fall into that same category as head of our military, Command in Chief.

[ad121rome]

28. Anyone surprised?

This goes straight to the top. Trump commanded it. He cost 5 lives at the Capitol. Guilty as charged.

[BobTheSubgenius]

29. A major general can't be trusted in a situation where you really need him?

WTF??? This is, if not THE most worrying part about the riots, it is certainly the second.

And I still think it's #1.

[Duppers]

32. K & R

The pile of premeditated corruption is deep!