D.C. Guard Commander Claims Pentagon Delayed Three Hours To Order Troops to Capitol Hill on Jan. 6

Maj. Gen. William Walker, the commander of the District of Columbia National Guard, asserted during testimony to the U.S. Senate yesterday that Army officials delayed deciding to authorize deployment of the National Guard by three hours during the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol. “The Army senior leaders did not think that it looked good, [that] it would be a good optic. They further stated [during a conference call with police officials] that it could incite the crowd,” he told a combined hearing of the Senate Rules and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committees. The Army officials told those on the call “that it would not be their best military advice to have uniformed Guardsmen on the Capitol,” he continued.