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Trump had a lot of levers he could have pulled in order to ensure the security of the Capitol building. Should I take the fact he didn't pull them to mean that

Trump had a lot of levers he could have pulled in order to ensure the security of the Capitol building. Should I take the fact he didn't pull them to mean that he sought to discredit his own movement?

hutzlibu 6y ago
I am not a US resident, so lack detail knowledge, but I did not know, securing the capitol is the job of the president? Aren't those seperate sectors? He can certainly influece it, but did he? If not, who is responsible for the lack of defensive preparations, the local police? The FBI?
- paulgb 6y ago
  > I did not know, securing the capitol is the job of the president? Aren't those seperate sectors? DC is not a state, it’s a district under federal control. There is a mayor and a police department, but responsibilities that would normally fall to a state-level government are handled federally. This is a contentious issue in the US right now, because it means that the residents do not have representation in the house and senate.
- scoopertrooper 6y ago
  Primary policing duties are conducted by the Capitol Police, which are controlled by the Congress. However, they aren't really equipped for managing armed insurrections. So, in situations such as these they depend on the executive branch to provide support which may come from the FBI, national guard, or other agencies, which generally requires authorisation from the President.
  - throwaway316943 6y ago
    I find the weasel word insurrection is being inserted quite a lot. It was suspiciously absent when other federal buildings were breached and vandalized earlier in the year. Calling it an armed insurrection is stretching it pretty far considering none of the videos show any armed conflict between the protesters and capital security... except for the unarmed woman who was shot in the neck and killed by security. It reeks of narrative building.
    - scoopertrooper 6y ago
      Find me an example of something happening on this scale at any point in 2019. We're talking about the Capitol building being taken over by a violent mob during a join session of Congress while the Vice President was presiding. Further, the insurrectionists were definitely armed, at least five guns were seized from among those arrested. https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/13-arrested-5-weapons-recovered-at-u-s-capitol-riot/ https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/13-arrested-5-weapons-reco...
    - alistairSH 6y ago
      insurrection : an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government From Merriam-Webster Armed protestors invaded the Capitol intent on disrupting the government from certifying an election. This was quite literally an insurrection.
- morelisp 6y ago
  > I did not know, securing the capitol is the job of the president? Aren't those seperate sectors? In the case of Washington, DC they are not. The mayor has a normal municipal police force and the president has control over the equivalent of the state-level force, which would usually be called for such an incident. The Capitol specifically also has another force, independent from the municipal police, which is federally controlled. There are numerous reports Trump explicitly refused to allow the National Guard to respond; governors of two adjacent states mobilized their state forces instead, and eventually Pence also mobilized the DC guard, which it's not really clear he had the authority to do (or if he does, also the authority to issue orders contravening Trump's refusal).

hutzlibu 6y ago

I am not a US resident, so lack detail knowledge, but I did not know, securing the capitol is the job of the president? Aren't those seperate sectors? He can certainly influece it, but did he? If not, who is responsible for the lack of defensive preparations, the local police? The FBI?

paulgb 6y ago
> I did not know, securing the capitol is the job of the president? Aren't those seperate sectors? DC is not a state, it’s a district under federal control. There is a mayor and a police department, but responsibilities that would normally fall to a state-level government are handled federally. This is a contentious issue in the US right now, because it means that the residents do not have representation in the house and senate.
scoopertrooper 6y ago
Primary policing duties are conducted by the Capitol Police, which are controlled by the Congress. However, they aren't really equipped for managing armed insurrections. So, in situations such as these they depend on the executive branch to provide support which may come from the FBI, national guard, or other agencies, which generally requires authorisation from the President.
- throwaway316943 6y ago
  I find the weasel word insurrection is being inserted quite a lot. It was suspiciously absent when other federal buildings were breached and vandalized earlier in the year. Calling it an armed insurrection is stretching it pretty far considering none of the videos show any armed conflict between the protesters and capital security... except for the unarmed woman who was shot in the neck and killed by security. It reeks of narrative building.
  - scoopertrooper 6y ago
    Find me an example of something happening on this scale at any point in 2019. We're talking about the Capitol building being taken over by a violent mob during a join session of Congress while the Vice President was presiding. Further, the insurrectionists were definitely armed, at least five guns were seized from among those arrested. https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/13-arrested-5-weapons-recovered-at-u-s-capitol-riot/ https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/13-arrested-5-weapons-reco...
  - alistairSH 6y ago
    insurrection : an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government From Merriam-Webster Armed protestors invaded the Capitol intent on disrupting the government from certifying an election. This was quite literally an insurrection.
morelisp 6y ago
> I did not know, securing the capitol is the job of the president? Aren't those seperate sectors? In the case of Washington, DC they are not. The mayor has a normal municipal police force and the president has control over the equivalent of the state-level force, which would usually be called for such an incident. The Capitol specifically also has another force, independent from the municipal police, which is federally controlled. There are numerous reports Trump explicitly refused to allow the National Guard to respond; governors of two adjacent states mobilized their state forces instead, and eventually Pence also mobilized the DC guard, which it's not really clear he had the authority to do (or if he does, also the authority to issue orders contravening Trump's refusal).