Prior to the attempted coup at the Capitol on Wednesday, Pentagon officials explicitly limited the role that the DC National Guard could play in controlling the protest, including limiting the equipment and resources at the Guard’s disposal, the Washington Post reports.

The Guard was not allowed to carry weapons or ammunition, nor could they deploy riot gear, even in reserve, according to Pentagon officials.  The members of the Guard were limited to performing traffic control; they were even barred from sharing resources with local law enforcement officers.

In a bit of poor planning, the Capitol Police hadn’t requested the assistance of the Guard prior to the rally, while the District of Columbia had not asked for Guard to help with riot or crowd control:  the Guard would handle routine operations by replacing DC police, who would help Capitol Police as needed.

But when the call came from Capitol Police seeking help with the insurrectionists, the Pentagon balked at sending the Guard onto the Capitol Plaza, saying they didn’t like the “optics” of having uniformed military at the Capitol. 

The Guard, however, did not have proper equipment or protective gear.  They also didn’t have the necessarily authority from the Secretary of Defense:  because DC is technically a “federal district,” the Guard is not deployed by the mayor.  It must be done by appropriate federal officials.

Instead of authorizing the use of the DC Guard for riot control, DC brokered a deal with the Pentagon:  the DC government would send more Metro Police to help the Capitol Police while more Guardsmen would handle additional tasks in the city.

Three hours after the Capitol Police made the request for Guard Assistance, the Pentagon relented and authorized the Guard deployed to receive riot gear and other equipment.  They also called in Guard units from Virginia and Maryland.  By then, most of the seditionists had become bored with their coup and started exiting the Capitol.

The Pentagon response differed greatly from the immediate deployment of Guard unit and other federal law enforcement units during the summer BLM protests, when units from various federal agencies shipped personnel in from around the country and Guard units from various states descended on DC to push out mostly peaceful protestors.