The former Capitol Police chief who led the department during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol Building took to social media on Wednesday to shred former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after the one-time Democratic leader criticized President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to help protect federal buildings and personnel in Los Angeles.
Trump federalized as many as 4,000 California National Guard troops while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed another 700 U.S. Marines to the troubled city after riots broke out stemming from Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests of illegal migrants who have been convicted of various crimes.
The riots that began last weekend lasted for several days, prompting the president to take action when it became obvious that Democratic L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom were not responding fast enough to protect ICE agents and other federal installations.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Pelosi blasted Trump’s decision to send in troops, incorrectly citing the Constitution and ignoring the fact that a Democratic president, Lyndon B. Johnson, did the same thing during the tumultuous 1960s when he activated Alabama National Guard troops to protect civil rights protesters.
But it was Pelosi’s statement about Trump in relation to the Jan. 6 riot that set off Steven Sund, who was head of the Capitol Police at the time.
Pelosi said at one point during her presser, “In a bipartisan way, on Jan. 6, with violence against the Constitution, against the Congress, and against the United States Capitol, we begged the president of the United States to send in the National Guard. He would not do it.”
“And yet, in a contra-constitutional way, he has sent the National Guard into California. Something is very wrong with this picture,” the former Speaker added.
Sund fired back: “FACT: I made 11 urgent calls requesting National Guard support on Jan 6, starting at 12:58 PM. Approval was withheld for 71 minutes by the House Sergeant at Arms, who reported directly to Speaker Pelosi. She caused critical delays, and now is shifting blame to @realDonaldTrump for failures she helped create. The record is clear.”
According to the official timeline released by the National Guard two days after the January 6 Capitol breach, former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund’s account is accurate.
The Defense Department confirmed that, based on a prior request, 340 Guardsmen had been activated to assist law enforcement with traffic and crowd control duties on that day.
It’s worth noting that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser strongly opposed a large National Guard presence on January 6, largely due to her objections to President Trump’s decision to deploy the Guard during the George Floyd protests the previous summer.
“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, [Metropolitan Police Department] if such plans are underway,” she posted on X, along with an image of a letter she sent to the secretary of the Army and the acting attorney general.
The Defense Dept. noted later that Bowser changed her mind after her department and the Capitol Police were overwhelmed by rioters.
“D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser requested more assistance. Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller immediately called up 1,100 members of the D.C. National Guard,” the department said.
