Washington D.C. – The US Capitol Police said it silenced a children’s choir performing the national anthem inside the Capitol Building last week because of a “miscommunication,” which House Speaker Kevin McCarthy derided as “unacceptable.”
The incident involving the Rushingbrook Children’s Choir and Capitol Police occurred on May 26 in the Capitol Building’s National Statuary Hall, as members of the Greenville, South Carolina-based chorus sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Video of the event shows the conductor of the group, David Rasbach, cutting the young singers off before they could finish singing the patriotic tune.
Rasbach told The Daily Signal on Friday that a female Capitol Police officer had directed a congressional staffer to immediately put an end to the children’s performance despite having obtained permission from South Carolina Republican Reps. William Timmons, Joe Wilson and the office of the House speaker.
McCarthy said he looked forward to having the singers return “to perform in the halls of Congress.”
“Just learned kids were interrupted while singing our National Anthem at the Capitol. Unacceptable. These children were welcomed by my office because your Capitol is back open, particularly for school groups,” the California Republican wrote on Twitter.
Capitol Police told The New York Post that singing is not usually allowed in the building and that officers were not aware McCarthy had approved the performance.
“Although popup demonstrations and musical performances are not allowed in the U.S. Capitol without the proper approval, due to a miscommunication, the U.S Capitol Police were not aware that the Speaker’s Office had approved this performance,” the agency said. “We apologize to the choir for this miscommunication that impacted their beautiful rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner and their visit to Capitol Hill.”
Rasbach told The Daily Signal that the female officer insisted the singing was a demonstration and later alleged that “some people were offended” by the performance.
