The storm on the US Capitol has still not come to an end. Different representations of the military add to the controversy.
Washington DC – The US remains calm after storming the US Capitol in January. There is controversy in the capital as to why National Guard forces did not respond immediately to the riots. According to an internal report by the US Army, which supposedly reconstructs what had happened, the Guard were unprepared. Their former leadership now strongly rejects this and claims that the report is “pure fiction”.
Since the Pentagon first had to approve the deployment of the National Guard at the US Capitol, the US Army is often blamed for the delayed reaction. However, if one believes the internal report of the military, which is available on the news platform politico.com, the reasons lie with the National Guard themselves and the Capitol Police.
Storm on the US Capitol: Former commander contradicts army report
According to the army report, one of the reasons for the late arrival of the National Guard was that the Capitol police on site did not clearly formulate what kind of support was needed. Earl Matthews, who was an attorney for the National Guard in Washington DC at the time of the riot, contradicts this account. According to him, the police knew exactly what mission the guard should carry out, as politico.com writes.
The former commander of the National Guard, William Walker, also contradicts the military’s account of the events on January 6th. He said the report described several conversations with him that never took place. Among other things, it is about the time it took Walker to get the National Guard ready. According to politico.com, the report states that the commander spoke of 20 minutes. However, he claimed to the news platform that he did not have to prepare his troops at all because they were already equipped and ready for action.
USA: Controversy over rioting at the Capitol is coming to a head
The list of different representations is long, with both the US Army and the former leaders of the National Guard rejecting as much guilt as possible. For an anonymous employee in the US Department of Defense, this is normal in the event of a violent use. According to politico.com, he said that it is difficult to get the full picture if you haven’t been there. From the point of view of the former public prosecutor Sol Wisenberg, however, the disagreement should not remain without consequences. He calls for an investigation into the controversy by the US Department of Justice.
There’s news related to January 6th elsewhere as well: Leaked chat messages suggest Donald Trump was involved in planning the storm on the Capitol. (vbu)
