US Senate grills former Capitol security chiefs over riot response
THE three former chiefs of security at the US Capitol said they were ill prepared for the
anuary riot, while laying blame on faulty intelligence, during a Senate grilling on Tuesday.
“We properly planned for a mass demonstration with possible violence,” said Steven Sund, who resigned as the Capitol police chief after the riot.
“What we got was a military style coordinated assault on my officers in a violent takeover of the Capitol building,” Sund said.
Also in attendance at the Senate hearing were Michael Stenger, the former Senate sergeant at arms, Paul Irving, former house sergeant at arms and Robert Contee, chief of the Metropolitan Police Department.
The Senate discussions centred on what exactly went wrong to allow a mob of angry Donald Trump supporters to access the building, confront police officers and come dangerously close to US lawmakers, who were forced to ee to safety.
The former security chiefs also disagreed on the timing of phone calls for assistance requests from the National Guard, leading Senator Ron
ohnson to request their phone records.
At least five people died during the events, including a police officer. Members of the Capitol police force sustained injuries.
Trump, who had urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, was impeached in the House of Representatives and charged with inciting an insurrection.
The Senate, which needed a two-thirds majority to impeach, ultimately acquitted the former president. Now Democratic lawmakers are calling for a commission to investigate the day’s events.
More than 200 people have since been charged with crimes in connection to the storming of the Capitol building.