The Conference call -- when the Pentagon heard pleas for help -- and didn't respond for hours.

[kpete]

NEW: There are some disastrous aspects of what went wrong with security on Jan. 6, but it all seemed to culminate in this 2:28 p.m. conference call, when the Pentagon heard pleas for help — and didn't respond for hours.

Sund and acting D.C. police chief Robert Contee described to senators a conference call that afternoon with senior security personnel during which a top Pentagon official, Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, said he would recommend against deploying the National Guard for fear of the “optics” of armed troops in front of the Capitol. Sund and Contee said they informed Piatt that their officers, already beleaguered and beaten by the mob, were desperate for help.


“Lt. Gen. Piatt then indicated that he was going to run the request up the chain of command at the Pentagon,” recalled Sund who resigned after the riots. "Almost two hours later, we had still not received authorization from the Pentagon to activate the National Guard.”

Contee told lawmakers that he was “literally stunned” by Army officials’ nonchalant responses.

“Chief Sund was pleading for the deployment of the National Guard and in response to that, there was not an immediate ‘Yes, the National Guard is responding,’” Contee said.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/23/congress-answers-jan-6-insurrection-471000

Link to tweet

?s=20

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. Did General Piatt have a problem with the NG acting as Trump's goon squad when

he took the walk to the church to show his upside-down Bible?

[captain queeg]

16. Exactly. No problem with that deployment

I think it was even worse, didn’t the army actually call in an air borne division, not just national guard? And they were issued BAYONETS? I guess some unarmed BLM protesters on public sidewalks was scarier that armed idiots invading the capital building?

[Grasswire2]

30. the armed LEO at the BLM walk were a mixed bag. Some were Bureau of Prisons personnel!

Some little green men (unidentifiable) as well.

[malaise]

2. Two words

Trump tp;s

[MaryMagdaline]

3. Every bit as bad as we thought it was

[bullimiami]

4. what about the "optics" could possibly be different from previous recent deployments?

White trump supporters maybe?

[GopherGal]

5. REALLY BAD OPTICS: a frickin' Gallows in view of the Capitol

The National Guard standing down while MAGA-capped, zip-tie carrying insurrectionists swarm the halls of the Capitol hunting down elected officials.

[LiberalLovinLug]

19. Yeah. if they would have actually carried out a Pence hanging

Or any violence on a representative, There'd be charges of accomplice to murder or even aiding and abetting, maybe manslaughter.

And, forgive me for being dark, but especially if it were Republican reps murdered, like Pence or McConnell, or Mitt Romney or Liz Cheney etc. as opposed to Democrats, it would have really divided the right into the R's and the Q's.

It sure seems like there were a few Trumptards, maybe even some that were there before Trump took office, working at the Pentagon. It also seems like many thought this could actually be pulled off. Like there was coordination with top Pentagon officials to allow the insurrection, and then perhaps join them.

I really hope they can get to the bottom of this, including the traitors in the Pentagon and its not stalled because of "national security", which would be an ironic usage of that excuse, but I can see that being used. Don't want to make the US look weak to their enemies etc...

[dhill926]

6. so the optics of an insurrectionist mob murdering members of Congress...

and hanging the VP was better? Jesus fucking christ...

[FSogol]

7. Sounds like Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt should be testifying next and then retired. n/t

[lagomorph777]

8. Retired to the brig.

[SergeStorms]

11. After....

bring busted down to Private Piatt. After his sentence is through he can enjoy retirement on a Private's pension.

[tavernier]

26. As Obama might say,

Please proceed MR. Piatt.

[niyad]

9. INSURRECTION. NOT "riot". Get it correct, politico.

[Mr.Bill]

24. I prefer

"declaration of war against the United States of America".

[mackdaddy]

10. And MD governor not given permission to send in his National Guard for hours too.

Governor had their troop on standby but Pentagon would not give go-ahead.

https://news.yahoo.com/maryland-governor-said-repeatedly-denied-051500341.html

[SergeStorms]

13. It sounds like...

more than a few upper echelon asshats at the Pentagon have swallowed the Rump koolaid. I believe a good house cleaning is in order, with more than a few mandatory retirements needed. A new broom sweeps clean, and it certainly sounds as if the Pentagon needs a good sweeping.

[stopdiggin]

21. don't disagree about some housecleaning

But I have to reiterate -- (prior to the storming of the Capital), there was a fairly large consensus among both military and civilian leaders that there was no desire for troops or NG in DC that day. Things obviously changed drastically that afternoon -- but all initial resistance can't accurately be ascribed to Trump toadies.

[progressoid]

12. Would have been nice if a lot of this had come out on record before drumpf's Senate trial.

[SergeStorms]

14. It wouldn't have made a difference.

Republicans would never have convicted Rump, even if they had found him with Mike Pence's head in his hands.

[progressoid]

25. Sad but true. n/t

[stopdiggin]

18. a whole lot of it did

timeline, conference calls, positions taken, eventual response (and non-response) ...
All very much in the public record.

[mwooldri]

15. A strong argument for DC statehood if I ever saw one.

Pentagon is good at defense of US borders. The respective governors are in charge of the National Guard in each of their states. DC isn't a state so these alternative more cumbersome means of activating the DC National Guard are in place. Clearly they don't work well.

[spanone]

17. Let me guess.....trump appointees at the pentagon?

[MyMission]

31. No need to guess...it's documented

The changes in personnel he made after he lost the election.

Many knew or suspected why.

And I still want to know what Barr knew regarding the plot.

[KS Toronado]

20. I looked around on the www to see if Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt was a Democrat or Qpublican

And came up empty handed, does anyone know?

[tavernier]

28. Flynn was in the room with Piatt.

Michael Flynn’s brother.
Bingo.

https://www.cbs58.com/news/army-changes-account-of-key-phone-call-on-response-to-capitol-riot

[Evolve Dammit]

22. The Pentagon under control of an insane traitor.

[Warpy]

23. Dumdum had replaced top brass with his stooges in his last couple of months

so of course they weren't going to respond, orders are orders.

In any case, it's most likely better they didn't respond, considering how deeply into the military these right wing organizations have penetrated.

I just hope they finally wake up as to who the enemies really are, and I'm not talking about left wingers who use a lot of words about raising wages at the bottom and increasing taxes at the top. The real enemies are lost in fantasy and whipped into a violent frenzy and it's high time to track down the people responsible for doing that to them.

[Lonestarblue]

27. The attack is live on television, yet Lt. Gen. Piatt needs to get permission to send help!

And it takes two hours to call higher ups in the Pentagon! The same higher ups Trump had just installed weeks before. This stinks to high heaven, and I hope Congress can get the real orders for that day, which seem to be to delay response to see if the attack worked.

Lt. Gen. Piatt and whoever he consulted and refused to send help for two hours needs to be court martialed for dereliction of duty.

[tavernier]

29. Michael Flynn's brother was in the room with Piatt.

https://www.cbs58.com/news/army-changes-account-of-key-phone-call-on-response-to-capitol-riot

[questionseverything]

33. Unbelievable

[Kid Berwyn]

32. They changed the DC National Guard command structure Jan. 4 & 5.

...

In a Jan. 5 memo, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, who was Walker's direct superior until he stepped down last week, prohibited Walker from deploying a ready force of 40 Guardsmen without a formal "concept of operations" plan, the Post reports. In a Jan. 4 memo, acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller had prohibited McCarthy from authorizing the deployment of D.C. Guardsmen carrying helmets, body armor, riot control agents, or weapons without his approval, and said the quick reaction force could be dispatched "only as a last resort."

https://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-tied-d-c-national-085312961.html

[tinrobot]

34. The "optics" they feared were about how one person saw it.

We all know who that one person is.

This wasn't about the optics for how the country saw it.