CHAPTER 7: Clear? All Clear?
4:24 PM: Leigh Ann Caldwell of NBC News tweets a video from inside the Cannon House Office Building—“FBI SWAT team in Capitol complex”—she shows a 12-man armed tactical team in military fatigues with FBI markings.
At 4:35 PM, Mike Balsamo of the AP responds: “An FBI spokeswoman said agents were being deployed to “assist our U.S. Capitol Police partners as requested in protection of federal property and public safety.”
4:24 PM: U.S. Marshals Service, an element of the Department of Justice, tweets: “The U.S. Marshals Service is joining with other law enforcement agencies in supporting the U.S. Capitol Police during operations in Washington, D.C.”
4:30 PM: Julian E. Barnes and Mark Mazzetti later write in The New York Times: “A column of F.B.I. and Department of Homeland Security agents in riot gear entered the Dirksen Senate Office Building around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, and officers from Washington’s police force headed to the Capitol in a show of force to end violent protests, looting and vandalism.”
“The F.B.I. has been deployed to assist our U.S. Capitol Police partners, as requested, in protection of federal property and public safety,” the FBI said.
4:32 PM: Acting Secretary Christopher Miller provides verbal authorization for a change in mission for the D.C. National Guard so that they can conduct perimeter and “clearance operations” in support of the USCP, not just the D.C. Police. He directs Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy to “provide public notification of support.”
