Outgoing US Capitol police chief says House, Senate officials hamstrung his efforts

A conservative demonstrator holds a sign reading "Free Washington" as Washington National Guard and Washington State Patrol members surround the Washington State Capitol along with a newly fenced perimeter. Credit: AFP.

Outgoing US Capitol Police chief Steven Sund told the Washington Post newspaper in an interview that House of Representatives and Senate security officials had hamstrung his efforts to call in the National Guard.

Sund said his supervisors were reluctant to take formal steps to put the Guard on call even as police intelligence suggested that the crowd President Donald Trump had invited to Washington last week to protest his defeat was probably going to be much larger than earlier demonstrations, the newspaper reported.