Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) forces stationed on the western side of the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection made more than a dozen calls for backup and received little assistance, according to a Washington Post investigation.
Radio chatter analyzed by the Post indicated that Robert Glover, a commander with MPD who was in charge of a unit of several dozen officers stationed on the building’s west side, called for backup 17 times over a 78-minute period on the day of the attack, during which dozens of Capitol Police and MPD officers were injured by a pro-Trump mob. One Capitol Police officer was killed, and two later took their own lives.
“Multiple Capitol injuries, multiple Capitol injuries,” Glover can be heard saying around 1:18 p.m., according to the Post.
“I need those two other hard platoons up here now,” he is heard saying just a few minutes later.
Despite his calls for assistance, just one unit was dispatched to assist Glover’s vastly outnumbered squad and those reinforcements faced difficulty making their way through the thousands of rioters who descended upon the Capitol, the Post reported. It wasn’t clear when backup finally arrived, though it was some time after 2 p.m., according to the Post’s analysis.
Glover would continue making calls for backup, totaling 17 by 2:31 p.m. A few minutes later, his men fell back after their line was broken by rioters.
The Hill has reached out to MPD for comment.
The newly released radio chatter from the day of the siege underscores the chaos and danger faced by police from the pro-Trump rioters who descended upon the Capitol as lawmakers deliberated the certification of the 2020 election results.
Hundreds have been charged in related to the riot, a number that still remains a small fraction of the total size of the crowd estimated to have been in or around the Capitol during the attack.