'We feel incredibly betrayed': Thousands of Guardsmen forced to vacate Capitol

By LARA SELIGMAN, NATASHA BERTRAND and ANDREW DESIDERIO

POLITICO 01/21/2021 07:22 PM EST Updated: 01/22/2021 10:08 AM EST

Some National Guardsmen sleep on the ground of a parking garage near the U.S. Capitol on Thursday

Thousands of National Guardsmen were allowed back into the Capitol Thursday night, hours after U.S. Capitol Police officials ordered them to vacate the facilities, sending them outdoors or to nearby parking garages after two weeks pulling security duty after the deadly riot on Jan. 6.

One unit, which had been resting in the Dirksen Senate Office building, was abruptly told to vacate the facility on Thursday, according to one Guardsman. The group was forced to rest in a nearby parking garage without internet reception, with just one electrical outlet, and one bathroom with two stalls for 5,000 troops, the person said. Temperatures in Washington were in the low 40s by nightfall.