The Latest: Police say records confirm calls for Guard help
Posted Feb 25, 2021 11:00:47 AM.
Last Updated Feb 25, 2021 11:11:31 AM.
WASHINGTON — The Latest on congressional testimony about the Capitol insurrection (all times local):
10:55 a.m.
The acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police says cellphone records back up the account of former Chief Steven Sund that he repeatedly asked his superiors for National Guard help during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Testifying before Congress Thursday, acting Chief Yogananda Pittman listed several times she says Sund called the sergeants-at-arms of the House and Senate as a violent mob was surging outside the Capitol building.
Pittman says Sund’s phone records show he called former House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving at 12:58 p.m. to request the Guard, then called ex-Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger at 1:05 p.m. Pittman says Sund made at least four more calls in the next 40 minutes.
Sund and Irving disagreed earlier this week on when the chief asked for the Guard. Sund testified he requested the Guard at 1:09 p.m., while Irving denied receiving a call at that time.
The Guard didn’t arrive for several hours, leaving overwhelmed Capitol Police officers fighting rioters who in many cases were better armed than they were.
Five people died in the riot, including a Capitol officer.
___
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SECURITY OFFICIALS TESTIFYING ON THE CAPITOL INSURRECTION:
Acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman and acting House Sergeant at Arms Timothy Blodgett appear before a House subcommittee to discuss the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. Lawmakers press them for answers about intelligence and procedural failures that allowed thousands of supporters of then-President Donald Trump to storm the Capitol.
The Associated Press
