Capitol Police Interrupt Children’s Choir Singing National Anthem: ‘It Might Offend’

Capitol Police have come under scrutiny after stopping a children’s choir from singing the national anthem inside the U.S. Capitol.

A video of the May 26 incident has gone viral on social media, showing the moment Capitol officials approached David Rasbach, who was leading the Rushingbrook Children’s Choir in their performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The video shows a female officer in the background apparently instructing a congressional staffer to stop the singing. The staffer then approaches Rasbach, speaks into his ear, and Rasbach halts the choir.

?The Rushingbrook Children’s Choir sang the National Anthem in Statuary Hall. a Capitol Police officer stopped them mid-song. Capitol Police claims they didn’t stop the choir. The choir director tells the whole story in my exclusive interview here. ?https://t.co/ZRNbWy75la pic.twitter.com/ijiq4pw3X8

— Tyler O’Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) June 2, 2023

Rasbach, alongside Micah Rea — who organized the children’s trip from South Carolina to Virginia and Washington D.C. — explained what actually happened to The Daily Signal.

When they had arrived at the Capitol that day, the choir had been briefly stopped by Andrew Tremel, the visitor operations manager at the Architect of the Capitol, Rea told the Daily Signal.

Tremel was informed that the choir had been given permission to sing and, after speaking into his earpiece, he told them they could do so, Rea said.

Later on, when they had actually begun to sing, Rasbach said he witnessed the female officer talking to a congressional staffer and directing him to “go shut them down.” When they stopped singing, he spoke with the officer and was told that their “demonstration” wasn’t allowed.