Which federal or DC officials requested National Guard assistance for January 6 and in what timeline?

1. The mayor’s early, formal request — Bowser asked for DCNG before the riot

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser formally requested D.C. National Guard support for demonstrations planned around Jan. 6, including a request that led to the Guard being placed on orders days earlier; the Pentagon timeline provided to AP notes the president “concurred with activating the D.C. National Guard … at the behest of Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser” on Jan. 3 ^[1]. The government report on D.C. National Guard preparations also documents district requests for Jan. 5–6 ^[4]. These antecedent, administrative requests are distinct from the ad‑hoc emergency calls made during the riot.

2. Capitol Police and the Capitol Police Board — internal requests and delays

Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund repeatedly sought reinforcements during the attack. Sund joined a conference call with D.C. government and Pentagon officials and “made an urgent, urgent immediate request for National Guard assistance,” saying he needed “boots on the ground,” with one timeline placing that call around 2:26 p.m. ^[2]. Sund later told lawmakers he “lobbied the Board for authorization to bring in the National Guard, but he was not granted authorization for over an hour,” according to Capitol Police testimony summarized by FactCheck.org ^[5]. The Capitol Police Board — composed of the Architect of the Capitol and the House and Senate sergeants at arms — had authority to request Guard assistance but had chosen on Jan. 3 not to request Guard presence at the Capitol ^[2].

3. Multiple local/state activations — Virginia and others moved on their own timelines

State and local officials in the region took actions independently: the Virginia governor ordered mobilization of Virginia National Guard forces—records show an action at or about 3:32 p.m. on Jan. 6 in the DoD timeline, though the entry has noted inconsistencies with the Virginia governor’s statements ^[2]. Virginia state public safety officials had been contacted by Mayor Bowser, and Virginia State Police were dispatched as part of that local response ^[2]. American Oversight compiled multiple agency records documenting many contemporaneous state and local communications ^[6].

4. The Defense Department’s role — who authorized what and when

Defense officials’ accounts place the formal, Pentagon-level authorization later on Jan. 6. Testimony and DoD materials indicate Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller authorized mobilization or activation of the D.C. National Guard at about 15:04 (3:04 p.m.) on Jan. 6, according to explanations cited in legal and investigative timelines ^[3]. The DoD put out an official planning-and-execution timeline that lays out its view of when Guard involvement was planned and executed ^[7]. Congressional investigators concluded President Trump “never gave any order to deploy the National Guard on January 6th,” and found no evidence of deliberate Pentagon obstruction, attributing delay instead to processes and institutional caution ^[8].

5. Disputed sequences and minutes — multiple timelines, varied claims

Investigations and reporting have produced competing minute-by-minute accounts. Just Security assembled an “official and unofficial” timeline showing differing characterizations of calls among Sund, Capitol Police Board members, and Pentagon officials — including disagreements over whether “optics” were cited as a reason to avoid visible Guard presence ^[3]. FactCheck and other timelines emphasize that Sund’s repeated requests encountered procedural obstacles and that the D.C. Guard commander said it took over three hours from the first request until Pentagon approval to move forces ^{[5] [9]}. American Oversight’s later compilation adds handwritten logs and agency emails that underscore why precise sequencing remains a subject of ongoing review ^[6].

6. What these sources do not settle — gaps and remaining questions

Available reporting and government timelines document many requests and approvals but do not produce a single uncontested minute-by-minute universal record: official DoD timelines, congressional reports, and contemporaneous call logs sometimes conflict on exact timestamps and on who first formally “requested” Guard troops for the Capitol itself ^{[3] [2] [8]}. Some sources note inconsistencies—e.g., Virginia’s mobilization entry versus the governor’s statements—highlighting unresolved discrepancies in public records ^[2]. Investigations and assembled records (American Oversight) continue to be the basis for researchers to reconcile these differences ^[6].

Bottom line: Mayor Bowser’s pre‑Jan. 6 request led to Guard orders days earlier ^{[1] [4]}; Capitol Police Chief Sund urgently requested Guard help during the attack ^{[2] [5]}; and DoD authorization under Secretary Miller is recorded in the afternoon of Jan. 6 (around 3:04 p.m.) ^{[3] [7]}. Sources agree officials at multiple levels asked for Guard assistance, but they disagree about precise timing, who authorized what when, and whether procedural choices caused avoidable delay ^{[3] [5] [8]}.