On Wednesday evening the U.S. Capitol Police announced they had abruptly issued an evacuation order out of "an abundance of caution." A number of news alerts went out about an air incident.
The Congressional buildings are now open for staff to go back inside.
— U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) April 21, 2022
Our federal, state and local partners are still working to get more information.
It turns out, the "incident" was the U.S. Army Golden Nights parachuting into Nationals Park ahead of military appreciation night.
UPDATE: It appears the Capitol evacuation was prompted by the U.S. Army’s Golden Knights’ parachute demonstration into the Washington Nationals’ baseball stadium; US Capitol police were caught off-guard https://t.co/kQCuH4sIrspic.twitter.com/494uvsu9gD
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 20, 2022
The reaction is raising questions about the competence of the Capitol Police, which is a repeated occurrence.
B) Army: We are reviewing all aspects of the event to ensure all procedures were followed appropriately to coordinate both the flight and the parachute demonstration. We will not comment further until we are able to determine the facts of the situation.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 21, 2022
Fox is told there be some questions asked about what prompted USCP to evacuate the Capitol when NORAD was not concerned.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 20, 2022
“This is not supposed to happen,” said one senior Capitol security official to Fox. “This looks bad.”
Naturally House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who uses the Capitol Police for political purposes, is blaming the FAA for the situation and invoking January 6.
“Today, and every day, our Congressional community is extraordinarily grateful for the heroism of our United States Capitol Police officers. In ordering the evacuation of the Capitol and vigilantly monitoring for a potential aircraft threat, our officers ensured the safety of all who work in these hallowed halls — and we thank them for their exemplary service," Pelosi released in a statement. “The Federal Aviation Administration’s apparent failure to notify Capitol Police of the pre-planned flyover Nationals Stadium is outrageous and inexcusable. The unnecessary panic caused by this apparent negligence was particularly harmful for Members, staff and institutional workers still grappling with the trauma of the attack on their workplace on January 6th."
“Congress looks forward to reviewing the results of a thorough after-action review that determines what precisely went wrong today and who at the Federal Aviation Administration will be held accountable for this outrageous and frightening mistake," she continued.
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