US Capitol police chief claims request for help declined on multiple occasions during riot

The US Capitol police chief Steven Sund, who recently announced his resignation, said that his request for additional support during the storming of the US Congress building on January 6 was declined or delayed. Sund, while speaking to The Washington Post, said that he had made several requests to the House security officials to initiate formal steps to keep the National Guard on standby but his requests were ignored. This comes after reports emerged that other branches of the law enforcement agencies were ready to provide more people to secure the US Congress building but no one from the US Capitol police asked for help. 

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Kenneth Rapuano, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Global Security in the US DoD, said last week that the Pentagon was ready to provide additional resources to the US Capitol police but was told they would not require outside help. However, Sund in his latest interview to The Washington Post contradicted Rapuano's claim and said he requested the House and Senate security officials several times to keep the National Guard on call, but it fell on deaf ears. Sund said if the US Capitol police had the support of that extra resource from the National Guard, they could have held the protesters at bay for longer until more help arrived. 

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The insurrection

A riotous mob laid siege to the US Congress building on January 6, where a joint session to certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory was underway. The unrest led to an immediate evacuation of Congress members from the House as supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the building and stirred chaos. President Trump is accused of inciting his supporters, who later breached the security at Capitol Hill. Five people, including a Washington DC police officer, died during the insurrection. January 6 was only the second time in history when a mob infiltrated the US Congress building. 

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Trump never conceded defeat to President-elect Joe Biden even after election results clearly showed the latter won more than 300 electoral votes, way above the 270-mark needed to win the presidential polls in the US. Trump kept levelling baseless allegations of "election fraud" and "irregularities", posting conspiracy theories on Twitter. On January 6, he called upon his supporters to gather outside the Capitol Hill building, where the president addressed them and dubbed them "real patriots". After a mob stormed the US Congress building moments after his speech, Trump issued a message asking his supporters to go back home in peace and respect law and order. 

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