Capitol Police Blame ‘Miscommunication’ for Star-Spangled Banner Strife

The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) say that a “miscommunication” was to blame for a children’s choir performance being “impacted” at the Capitol.

Conservative lawmakers including Senator Ted Cruz and Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and George Santos were rankled on Friday following the emergence of a video showing an interrupted performance of The Star-Spangled Banner by Rushingbrook Children’s Choir, a South Carolina-based group that aims “to awaken and develop in Christian young people their God-given musical ability.”

“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,” USCP said in a statement to Newsweek.

“We apologize to the choir for this miscommunication that impacted their beautiful rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner and their visit to Capitol Hill,” the statement continued.

Newsweek has reached out via email to GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for comment.

In an earlier statement released to multiple media outlets, USCP initially denied that the performance was interrupted at all, despite the video suggesting otherwise.

USCP said that the video had been shared online by a person who “wrongfully claimed we stopped the performance because it ‘might offend someone,'” but the officers “allowed the children to finish their beautiful rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The statement also claimed that the congressional staffer who was accompanying the choir “lied to the officers multiple times about having permission from various offices” and had “put both the choir and our officers, who were simply doing their jobs, in an awkward and embarrassing position.”

David Rasbach, the choir’s founder and director, and Micah Rea, a consultant who helped organize the performance, both objected to the first USCP statement in comments to conservative news site The Daily Signal, with Rea calling the statement “a bold-faced lie.”

While elements of the initial USCP statement appear to be contradicted by the later statement to Newsweek, a USCP spokesperson maintained that it was still “not accurate” to say that the performance was interrupted on the basis that “it might offend someone.”

Outrage over the interrupted performance was largely focused on the claim that the incident occurred due to the supposedly “offensive” nature of the national anthem.

“There shouldn’t be confusion about whether our national anthem is potentially offensive, or whether it is inappropriate for children to sing it in the Capitol,” Cruz tweeted. “We should welcome these students to perform and share their gifts anytime, anywhere.”

“Rushingbrook Children’s Choir were singing the National Anthem in the Capitol and were stopped by Capitol police,” tweeted Greene. “They were told that ‘certain Capitol police said it might offend someone/cause issues.’ The National Anthem sung by children is not offensive, it’s needed more.”

“If this really happened, I want to ask the @CapitolPolice why are children expressing their First Amendment rights, especially while singing our country’s national anthem, is offensive?” Santos tweeted. “My office will be looking into this.”

Newsweek has also reached out to the Rushingbrook Children’s Choir via its website for comment.