A spokesperson for D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's office said it was the Army secretary, not the city, responsible for the key decisions in the National Guard's response, including their delay in mobilizing
when violence escalated.
The Army secretary, not D.C., set the number of National Guard troops at about 300, decided not to use armored vehicles and "established that the guard members were not to move East of 9th Street NW," roughly nine blocks away from the foot of the Capitol, said D.C. Mayor's Office spokeswoman LaToya Foster.
Foster said the Army also delayed the use of the National Guard to back up the Capitol Police after the Capitol had been breached.
But defense officials said they provided the support that the Capitol Police and the D.C. government requested and never turned down requests from city officials.