They claim to feel “betrayed” for having been forced to rest in the parking lot after two weeks defending the place
Thousands of members of the United States National Guard have returned to the Capitol after being unexpectedly evicted and forced to rest in a parking lot after two weeks defending the site.
“We feel incredibly betrayed,” said one of the 5,000 or so guards that Capitol security ordered to leave the facilities on Thursday.
The soldiers were sent to a parking lot near the Capitol that had no internet connection and only had a plug and a bathroom, reports the Politico news portal.
“Yesterday, dozens of senators and congressmen walked along our lines, taking photos, shaking hands and thanking us for our service. In 24 hours, they have banished us to the corner of a parking lot,” lamented a guard.
Upon learning of the facts, the Democratic leader of the Senate, Chuck Schumer, has published a message on Twitter in which he has described the situation as “outrageous” and has assured that he would get “to the bottom” of the issue.
For her part, Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who lost both legs in combat, has used the same social network to report that she had made “several calls” and that the Capitol Police had “apologized to the guards,” to whom they would be allowed to return to the premises.
The spokeswoman for the Capitol Police, Eva Malecki, has advanced that they had recently requested that the shifts of the troops be reduced from twelve to eight hours so that they could have more breaks outside the Capitol complex, although she has not explained why carried out the eviction of the car parks.
Likewise, the guards have assured that they have not received any communication with the reasons and have shown their concern about spending their breaks in confined spaces with limited access to services when at least one hundred of them have tested positive for coronavirus, according to Politico.
After the assault on the Capitol on January 6, more than 6,000 troops were mobilized to guarantee the security of the place before the inauguration of the current president, Joe Biden.
