DC National Guard commander says Pentagon restricted his authority before riot
Rebecca Kheel 18 hrs ago
Pentagon officials restricted the commander of D.C. National Guard's authorities ahead of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, the commander told The Washington Post in an interview published Tuesday.
Normally, a local commander would be able to make decisions on taking military action in an emergency when headquarters approval could take too much time.
But Maj. Gen. William Walker, the commanding general of the D.C. National Guard, told the Post the Pentagon took that power away from him ahead of the Capitol riot, which meant he could not immediately deploy troops when the Capitol Police chief called asking for help as rioters were about to breach the building.
"All military commanders normally have immediate response authority to protect property, life, and in my case, federal functions - federal property and life," Walker told the Post. "But in this instance, I did not have that authority."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/dc-national-guard-commander-says-pentagon-restricted-his-authority-before-riot/ar-BB1d71oN
