Page:CTRL0000034609 - Transcribed Interview of Kashyap Pramod Patel, (December 9, 2021).pdf/32

32 was for the 340 unarmed guardsmen?

I'm not sure why the mayor requested that. I'm guessing what you're saying is it relates to the summer incident. It may have, but I didn't have any conversations with the mayor on—

Not with the mayor, within DOD. It's been told to us by DOD officials that these guidelines were based in part on a memo that was issued by Secretary Esper that was issued after the summer protests, in response to the summer protests. And this memo came, for example: To employ the—without my subsequent, personal authorization, the D.C. National Guard is not authorized the following.

I've not read the Esper memo that you're referencing. I don't believe I've seen it. But, to my memory, I remember the Acting Secretary and I and the Chairman had some discussions about how should we best proceed; are there lessons learned. And we left it to our staff to give us those recommendations who were there at the time, in the summer of 2020, to provide us with those recommendations.

Okay. But you don't have any additional context about those—what those lessons learned were?

Not that I can recall.

Okay. Now, prior to this memo being issued on the—

Oh, can I just add? Sorry.

Sure, of course.

We were keenly aware of the current—the belief at that time that people were not to be armed. That was one of the biggest things that we were aware of and trying to adjudicate while assisting and executing Mayor Bowser's request. The Secretary of the Army would have the back and forth discussions, but we know from the summer, as you alluded, that that was one of the concerns. So I do remember that one