Police defend evacuation of Capitol during Army parachute jump at Nationals Park

The U.S. Capitol Police on Thursday said the lack of advanced notice of a planned Army parachutists demonstration over Nationals Park baseball stadium that led to an evacuation of the Capitol complex was “extremely unusual.”

In a statement issued the day after Wednesday’s full-scale evacuation of the Capitol and surrounding office buildings, the Capitol Police defended its call and said officers “followed USCP policies and procedures.”

“The United States Capitol Police must make split-second decisions that could make the difference between life and death,” a spokesperson said in the statement. “The decision to evacuate the campus is not one we take lightly.”

The remarks follow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s statement slamming the Federal Aviation Administration for failing to notify Capitol Police of the Golden Knight Army Parachute Team jump for Military Appreciation Night at Nationals Park, home of the MLB’s Washington Nationals.

“The Federal Aviation Administration’s apparent failure to notify Capitol Police of the pre-planned flyover Nationals Stadium is outrageous and inexcusable,” Mrs. Pelosi said. “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.”

The California Democrat added that the “apparent negligence” was especially injurious for “Members, staff and institutional workers still grappling with the trauma of the attack on their workplace” on Jan. 6, 2021.

The FAA said it “takes its role in protecting the national airspace seriously” and would conduct a “thorough and expeditious review of the events.”

“We know our actions affect others, especially in our nation’s capital region, and we must communicate early and often with our law enforcement partners,” a spokesperson for the FAA said in a statement.

Capitol Police issued an alert shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday saying they were “tracking an aircraft that poses a possible threat.”

The warning led to a full-scale evacuation of the Capitol and its Visitor Center, House and Senate office buildings and the Library of Congress.

Capitol Police issued an all-clear after the aircraft was identified as a plane carrying the Army parachutists.

Wednesday’s evacuation due to a potential air threat was the first since June 2014.

“Every week the USCP is made aware of hundreds of authorized flights in the restricted airspace,” the Capitol Police said. “It is extremely unusual not to be made aware of a flight in advance.”

Mrs. Pelosi praised the Capitol Police for “vigilantly monitoring” for the “potential aircraft threat” and “ensuring the safety of all who work the hallowed halls.”

“Today, and every day, our congressional community is extraordinarily grateful for the heroism of our United States Capitol Police officers,” she said.