NEWS LOOSE LIPS
The Insurrection Will Be Televised
Darrow Montgomery
The week that pro-Trump extremists stormed the U.S. Capitol
The Capitol Building on Jan. 7 By Mitch Ryals @MitchRyals For Mayor Muriel Bowser, the planning started in December. On New Year’s Eve, Bowser requested support of 340 unarmed D.C. National Guard troops for the pro-Trump gatherings scheduled for the following week. By Monday, Jan. 4, federal officials approved activation of 340 guard members, most of whom were on traffic duty. Also on Jan. 4, attorneys with the Office of the Attorney General convened a closed briefing to tell D.C. councilmembers about all the ways President Donald Trump
could interfere with law enforcement in D.C. The OAG produced a two-page memo, first reported by Buzzfeed News, after Trump threatened to take over the Metropolitan Police Department in the midst of racial justice protests last summer. The memo is not a public document, but an attorney familiar with its contents described it to LL. It lays out several scenarios. The memo cites the D.C. law that gives the president the authority to take control of MPD in “special conditions of an emergency nature.” It talks about how, unlike in states, where governors control the National Guard, the D.C. National Guard can be used for various functions in
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the District without the direct consent of the mayor. The third section describes the president’s power to deputize federal law enforcement agencies, such as the Bureau of Prisons, to operate in D.C. under other federal agencies that already exist here, such as the U.S. Park Police. The memo explains how the Insurrection Act gives the president the authority to call armed troops to suppress a rebellion. Under the law, originally passed in 1807, the president would first have to “issue a proclamation ordering insurgents to disperse within a limited time.” If that doesn’t work, he or she can send in the armed forces. The law was last used in 1992, after four White police officers were acquitted in the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles. The memo’s final section talks about how the president can use the National Guards of other states in the District to protect federal property. On Jan. 5, the day before pro-Trump extremists stormed the U.S. Capitol in a violent and horrific attempt to stop Congress from affirming President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, Bowser said she had everything under control. In a letter to Acting U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, and Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, Bowser wrote that MPD had all the help it needed for the planned demonstrations on Jan. 6. The letter describes coordination between MPD and the U.S. Capitol Police, U.S. Park Police, and the Secret Service, as well as logistical help from the D.C. National Guard. Bowser’s letter referenced unidentifiable federal agents “deployed in the District of Columbia without proper coordination,” during last summer’s protests, and said their presence could complicate and confuse her officers trying to police the pro-Trump crowds expected in D.C. last week. “To be clear, the District of Columbia is not requesting other federal law enforcement personnel and discourages any additional deployment without immediate notification to, and consultation with MPD if such plans are underway,” Bowser wrote. At his rally on Wednesday, Jan. 6, Trump pledged to “never give up,” in front of a crowd of mostly unmasked supporters gathered on the Ellipse and encouraged them to “fight like hell.” Trump’s lawyer and abettor, Rudy Giuliani, suggested a “trial by combat.” (The House of Representatives filed articles of impeachment against Trump on Monday, alleging that his comments incited the riot that followed. As of Jan. 7, acting United States Attorney for D.C. Michael Sherwin did not rule out the possibility of seeking criminal charges against both men.) The first wave of insurrectionists left Trump’s rally and marched down Pennsylvania Avenue NW toward the Capitol before 1 p.m. There, they met a few measly barriers and a severely under prepared U.S. Capitol Police force. Around 1 p.m., Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund called Acting MPD Chief Robert Contee, who sent 100 officers to help,
according to the Washington Post’s account. Shortly after, Sund called House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving and Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger to ask for an emergency declaration and D.C. National Guard support. Sund told the Post that he asked for Guard support six times before it was finally granted about two hours later. At 1:34 p.m., Bowser joined a call with McCarthy and asked for an unspecified number of additional forces, according to a timeline assembled by the Department of Defense, and just before 2 p.m., the violent mob entered the Capitol. By 2:26 p.m., Sund was on a conference call with the Pentagon and D.C. government officials, pleading for more help. Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, director of the Army staff, said he did not like the optics of the National Guard standing in a police line at the Capitol, Sund told the Post, though Piatt has disputed that. But by 3:04 p.m., Miller, the acting defense secretary, verbally authorized activation of the full D.C. Guard. Guard members didn’t arrive at the Capitol until 5:40 p.m. By then, four people were already dead; a fifth, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, would die later in a hospital. Capitol Police declared the building secure at 8 p.m., but it took the help of MPD, National Guard, and state and local police agencies in jurisdictions surrounding D.C. Ashli Babbitt was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer when she tried to enter the Speaker’s Lobby. Three people— Kevin Greeson, Roseanne Boyland, and Benjamin Philips—died after suffering medical emergencies on Capitol grounds, MPD Chief Contee said. Their causes of death have not been released publicly. Sicknick was injured “while physically engaging with protesters.” Law enforcement sources told the AP he was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher, though officials have not confirmed that account. Another Capitol Police officer, Howard Liebengood, who was on duty during the riot, died by suicide after the events. Contee has heaped praise on his officers for quickly coming to the aid of Capitol Police. More than 50 MPD officers were injured, and video circulating online shows insurrectionists beating one MPD officer with a flagpole on the Capitol steps. At 11 p.m., Bowser held a press conference announcing the extension of a public emergency until Jan. 21, the day after Biden is slated to be sworn in on the Capitol steps. What specific intelligence did the local government have? When the dust settled, District officials wasted little time pointing the finger at the federal government. “I don’t think MPD is where we should be pointing fingers,” D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said last Friday. “I think it would be fair for the Council, in oversight hearings, to press public safety officials on
