38 NEWSWEEK.COM FEBRUARY 12, 2021
President Trump initially refuses reTuests
for him to give the order to mobili]e the
'.C. National *uard. “...'efense and
administration ofɿcials said it was 9 ice
President Mike Pence, not President Trump,
who approved the order to deploy.”
There is no evidence that President Trump
actually gave any direction or order, or
that Acting Defense Secretary Miller ever
spoke to Trump on January . Vice
President Pence gave proxy permission for
employment of the D.C. National Guard,
though it is probably not within his legal
authority to do so.
3:37 PM: The New York Times publishes
the iconic photo of a protesters sitting at
a desk in Speaker PelosiŠs ofɿces, ʀipping
over tables and pulling photos off the walls.
3:38 PM: The Council of the 'istrict of
Columbia releases a statement “Today, the
'epartment of 'efense denied a reTuest
by Mayor Muriel Bowers to expand the
responsibilities of the 'istrict of Columbia
National *uard so that they would be au-
thori]ed to protect and restore order at the
Capitol Building. That reTuest was denied.”
3:39 PM: Tan of The Washington Post
tweets “Trump supporters are bang-
ing on the doors at the north side of
the Capitol, chanting şlet me inŠ ThereŠs
virtually no law enforcement around.”
3:39 PM: '- - udd of CNN tweets “Pence,
from his personal, non-governmental
account, does what the President wonŠt
and tells people whoŠve rushed the
Capitol to “leave the building,” pledg-
ing, “those involved will be prosecut-
ed to the fullest extent of the law.”
3:43 PM: Tan of The Washington Post
tweets “There are mobs on all sides
of the Capitol. TheyŠre banging against
the doors and cheering whenever
someone makes it into the building.
Still about 2 more hours to curfew.”
3:44 PM: (verett of Politico tweets
“Police are now banging on doors in the
Senate, seemingly trying to make sure no
one is in the building that shouldnŠt be.”
3:44 PM: BuzzFeed ɿrst reports that
a tweet by Ivanka Trump is deleted
“American PatriotsŜany security breach
or disrespect to our law enforcement is
unacceptable. The violence must stop
immediately. Please be peaceful.”3:46 PM: Alerted that the 9 irginia National
*uard may have been mobili]ed, Chief of
the National *uard Bureau *eneral 'aniel
+okanson calls Maj. *eneral Timothy P. Wil-
liams to make sure that no 9 irginia military
forces would move without Pentagon okay.The NGB is an administrative coordinator
(but not commander) of National Guard
forces. By the end of the evening, Virginia
National Guard personnel began muster-
ing, their orders to report to the District
the next day. Soldiers arrived in the
District over the next four days. Virginia
Guard sources said that they would
remain under the control of the Virginia
governor for up to 31 days.3:47 PM: Maryland *overnor /arry +ogan
tweets “At my direction, the #M'SP >Mary-
land State Police@ is sending in troopers to
assist the Metropolitan Police 'epartment
and the 8 nited States Capitol Police. I have
instructed the Adjutant *eneral of the
#M'N* to call up a rapid response force to
support law enforcement and restore order.
“All Americans should be outraged by
this attack on our nationŠs Capitol. This
is a heinous and violent assault on the
heart of our democracy. I will not stand for
this, and neither should any American.”3:48 PM: Andrew +arnik of the AP posts
picture from inside the +ouse Chamber
of members of Congress in the +ouse
*allery, prepared for tear gas or chemical
agent use. “Members of Congress and staff
shelter in the +ouse gallery as protesters
try to break into the +ouse Chamber.”3:48 PM: A *etty image circulates
of a gallows set up some distance
from the west side of the Capitol, on
the far side of the reʀecting pool.3:48 PM: Secretary of the Army Mc-
Carthy leaves the Pentagon for '.C.
police headTuarters in the +enry 'aly
Building at 00 Indiana Avenue, NW.3:50 PM: Senate Minority /eader Schum-
er and Speaker Pelosi release a joint
statement, calling on President Trump “todemand that all Protesters leave the 8 .S.
Capitol and Capitol *rounds immediately.”3:52 PM: '2' spokesman -onathan
+offman tweets “The 'C *uard has been
mobili]ed to provide support to federal
law enforcement in the 'istrict. Acting
Secretary Miller has been in contact w
Congressional leadership and Secretary
McCarthy has been working w 'C govern-
ment. The law enforcement response will be
led by '2- >the 'epartment of -ustice@.”Hoffman tries to explain any confusion
regarding the D.C. National Guard as the
fault of the White House because the
Pentagon didn’t want to speak before them.3:55 PM: Turton of Bloomberg News tweets
from the west side of the Capitol, amidst
what he says appears to be tear gas ema-
nating from the building “ 55 pm appears
protestors just breached capitol again.”3:55 PM: Acting '+S Secretary Wolf, still
in the Middle (ast, tweets “#'+Sgov is
fully supporting our Capitol Police part-
ners to restore order to the 8 .S. Capitol.”It is unclear what “fully supportingŤ and “isŤ
mean. There are fewer than 100 DHS ofɿcers
at the Capitol, mostly from the Secret
Service and some from the Federal Protec-
tive Service. Others are sequestered in
House and Senate ofɿce buildings adjacent
to the Capitol awaiting orders to participate
in the clearing of the building and the return
of 500-plus members of Congress.3:55 PM: Kerri Kupec, former spokesperson
for Attorney *eneral William Barr tweets
“)rom former Attorney *eneral Bill Barr
şThe violence at the Capitol Building is out-
rageous and despicable. )ederal agencies
should move immediately to disperse it.Š”3:55 PM: National *uard Bureau Chief *en-
eral +okanson calls Major *eneral Timothy
(. *owen, head of the Maryland National
*uard, to make sure that no Maryland forc-
es would move without Pentagon approval.
According to the Pentagon, +okan-
son “conɿrmed their governor had ac-
tivated the Maryland National *uard
response force and 100 service mem-
bers would be able to make it to '.C.
in -10 hours. Additionally, they would
have a follow-on element of 150-200SPECIAL REPORT