Military parachute demonstration... US Capitol evacuation commotion

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] An evacuation commotion occurred at the U.S. Capitol on the 20th (local time). The Capitol Police mistook a military parachute test conducted at a nearby baseball stadium for an aerial threat.

According to The Hill and others, at around 6:30 p.m. that day, the police issued an emergency evacuation order to federal congressional staff, stating they were "tracking an aircraft that could pose a threat."

The police did not specify what kind of threat the Capitol was facing, only explaining that "the Capitol is not under threat and this is a precautionary measure."

Later, the police announced via Twitter that "there is no threat to Congress." It was determined that the military parachute demonstration at the Major League Baseball stadium about 1.6 km away from the Capitol was mistaken for a threat.

On that day, the U.S. Army's parachute unit, the "Golden Knights," conducted an aerial parachute demonstration at the Washington Nationals baseball stadium. The misunderstanding arose because Congress and security authorities had not been notified in advance of the aircraft's schedule.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), saying, "This clearly negligent act caused unnecessary panic," and added, "We will thoroughly investigate who is responsible for this absurd and frightening mistake and exactly what errors occurred."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.