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Who is William J Walker? DC National Guard chief details 3-hour delay in Jan 6 backup, Internet says ‘fix was in’

During the Senate Committee hearing, Major General William J. Walker agreed with Capitol security officials that Pentagon leaders gave a desultory response to the urgent pleas for backup during the January 6 riots

On March 3, 2021, DC National Guard Commanding Maj. Gen. William J. Walker said during the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that the Defense Department took over three hours to dispatch the National Guard to the U.S. Capitol on January 6 despite a frantic request for reinforcement from the police. Walker said that the then-chief of the Capitol Police requested military support in a 1:49 PM call, but the Defense Department’s approval for that support did not come until after 5 PM. 

The Army acknowledged in January that Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, the brother of former President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, was in the room for one of the key phone calls on January 6 in which the DC government and US Capitol Police asked for National Guard troops and backup at the US Capitol. “We already had Guardsmen on buses ready to move to the Capitol,” Walker wrote in his prepared remarks. “Consequently, at 5:20 pm (in under 20 minutes) the District of Columbia National Guard arrived at the Capitol. We helped to re-establish the security perimeter at the east side of the Capitol to facilitate the resumption of the Joint Session of Congress.”

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Who is Maj. Gen. William J. Walker?

Walker was born in Chicago, Illinois. He attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree. He then went on to earn his master of science degree in Criminal Justice and Corrections. He also holds a master of science degree in Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence University.

In 1985, Walker was commissioned as Military Police 2nd Lieutenant assigned to the 50th Military Police Company, Somerset, New Jersey. Since then, he has served as Commander, Alpha Company, 260th Military Intelligence Battalion; Commander, Land Component Command, District of Columbia Army National Guard; Deputy Commander -- Army, Joint Task Force; and others.

During the presidential inauguration of Trump in 2017, Walker commanded the Joint Task Force-District of Columbia, which deployed 8,000 National Guard personnel to support security, traffic control, and crowd management. In January 2017, he assumed the role of acting Commanding General, District of Columbia Army, and Air National Guard. In 2018, Trump nominated Walker for promotion to Major General and even selected him as the Commanding General.

During the Senate Committee hearing, Walker also agreed with Capitol security officials that Pentagon leaders gave a desultory response to the urgent pleas for backup during the January 6 riots. Walker said that “the Army senior leaders did not think it would look good” to send the National Guard to the Capitol and were worried about further incitement of the violent mob. Walker’s account is the first official testimony from the executive branch on its response to the request for help from Capitol. Other intelligence officials like Melissa Smislova, Jill Sanborn, and Robert Salesses will also testify on March 3, 2021.

"All military commanders normally have immediate response authority to protect property, life, and in my case, federal functions – federal property and life,” Gen. Walker said. “But in this instance, I did not have that authority.”

Congress has abandoned any examination of Trump’s role in the attack after the Senate acquitted him in February. Trump was under the scrutiny of allegedly inciting the riot by telling the MAGA supporters that morning to “fight like hell” to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election against his Democratic counterpart Joe Biden. However, after Walker’s statements surfaced online, several media and political pundits took to Twitter to blame it on the previous administration.

"Trump Admin preemptively impaired the National Guard’s ability"

One user wrote: "Maj. Gen. William Walker, commanding general of the DC National Guard, says he got immediate approval from Army leadership in summer of 2020 to deal with protests in DC. But on Jan. 6? He could not get immediate approval. Says refusal to sign off prior to Jan 6 was 'unusual'". Another user wrote, "The commanding general of the DC National Guard, Maj. Gen. William Walker, said immediate approval was given to him in summer of 2020 to handle protests in DC, but not for the January 6th MAGA insurrection. The fix was in with MAGA regime and GQP Republicans. They planned it." Another user tweeted: "This is perhaps the most damning hearing on the insurrection so far. D.C. National Guard Commander William Walker is outlining in no uncertain terms that the Trump Admin preemptively impaired the National Guard’s ability to respond to the Capitol attack & delayed them during it." Another wrote: "It's really heartening to hear @DCNationalGuard commander, Maj. Gen. William Walker, call out Trump DOD political appointee leadership for lying to congress. Man is living his honor. It's heartening to see in the face of dishonesty, deceit, and lies." While another wrote: "Trump wanted the National Guard to stand down on 1/6 so that his Supporters can 'Fight Like Hell' and stop the certification by Congress of Joe Biden as the next President. We all knew this at the time & Maj. Gen William Walker confirms it!! Trump must be indicted for this coup!!"

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.