USCP officers he encountered when walking toward the Capitol's West Front seemed to be "very hectic and scattered, with no clear direction, . . . fighting for every inch on the line," capable, but "without a whole lot of command and control."[165]
When it became clear to him that securing the Capitol would require additional resources, Chief Sund requested the assistance of the DC National Guard.[166] During a 2:30 p.m. call set up by HSEMA Director Rodriguez, the USCP specified the support they needed from the Guard.[167] Mayor Bowser also made "two urgent requests of the President" that she communicated to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.[168] One was for the National Guard's assistance.[169] The other was that the President make a statement asking "people to leave, to leave the building and to get out of the city, to stop."[170] At 2:56 p.m., Meadows told Mayor Bowser that the President "had approved the request" and was "going to make a statement."[171]
At the Justice Department, it had become clear by early afternoon that the situation was rapidly deteriorating. Donoghue first became aware of the Capitol breach when he walked into Rosen's office and saw on television that the rioters were in the Rotunda.[172] Rosen turned to him and said, "[D]o you see this, do you see what's going on, can you believe this?"[173]
At 2:14 p.m., the Vice President's detail had alerted Secret Service over their radio channel that the Capitol Building had been breached and that they were holding the Vice President in his Senate office.[174] About 5 minutes later, the detail reported that the rioters had gained access to the second floor and that they would need to relocate the Vice President,[175] despite the Vice President's objection.[176] Five to 7 minutes later, after confirming that the route was safe, the lead agent on the Vice President's Secret Service detail reasserted the need for the Vice President to leave his Senate office.[177] (At 2:24 p.m. President Trump tweeted, "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done.") At 2:25 p.m., the Vice President and his detail left for a secure location.[178] Vice President Pence refused to leave the Capitol for his residence and remained in the secure Capitol location until the Senate and House floors were cleared around 7 that evening.[179]
At 2:29 p.m., DC MPD Commander Glover transmitted an emergency radio message: "Cruiser 50. We lost the line. We've lost the line. All MPD, pull back. All MPD, pull back up to the upper deck ASAP. All MPD, pull back to the upper deck ASAP. All MPD, come back to the upper deck. Upper deck. Cruiser 50. We've been flanked. 10–33. I repeat, 10–33 West Front of the Capitol. We have been flanked, and we've lost the line."[180] Commander Glover later told the Select Committee that a "10–33" indicates an immediate need for "emergency assistance for any officer, life or death at that moment in time. That's when that line on the north side finally just broke
