District of Columbia National Guard Commanding General William J. Walker said his hands were tied by the Pentagon for more than three hours after he received a frantic call from the Capitol Police chief at 1:49pm as rioters were poised to breach the Capitol building.
Walker spoke of restrictions laid out in memos requiring authorizatin from the Secretary of the Army and Secretary of Defense to deploy a quick-reaction defense of guardsmen.
Walker explained in a call to the Pentagon top Army generals expressed reluctance to deploy the National Guard to the Capitol due to the optics. Those top generals on that call were Lt. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, the director of the Army staff, and Lt. Gen. Charles A. Flynn, the Army’s deputy chief of staff for operations and the brother of former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Piatt initially denied making those comments but later told reporters he “may have said that,” though he said he did not recall using the word “optics.”
Charles Flynn has said he does not remember whether he said anything during the call. He has said his relationship with his brother, who had been floating martial law and calling for the military to “rerun” the election ahead of the riot, had no impact on his actions.
Source info from The Washington Post and NBC.