Chief cites muddled riot response
Capitol lockdown botched, officers confused, she says
WASHINGTON — Police officers who defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection did not properly lock down the building and were unsure of the rules for using deadly force against the rioters, according to the acting chief of the Capitol Police.
In a statement submitted for a House hearing today, Yogananda Pittman provides new details about the law enforcement response to the Capitol riot and the problems that hobbled the police’s response. The statement fills in crucial new details as lawmakers begin investigating what went wrong the day of the attack.
Pittman emphasizes the heroism of officers during the “ugly battle” on Jan. 6 and states that Capitol Police had compiled an internal intelligence assessment ahead of the insurrection, when thousands of pro-Trump rioters stormed Congress as lawmakers were certifying Joe Biden’s presidential win. That assessment, she says, warned that militia members, white supremacists and members of other extremist groups were likely to participate, that demonstrators would be armed and that it was possible they would go to the Capitol
to disrupt the vote.
“Based on the assessment, the Department understood that this demonstration would be unlike the previous demonstrations held by protesters with similar ideologies in November and December 2020,” Pittman will say, according to her prepared remarks.
The department also took additional measures to beef up security because of the threat, including calling in additional officers and stepping up protection for key members of Congress.
Pittman details additional steps taken for Jan. 6 by the specialized dignitary protection unit, which protects congressional leaders. She said those agents had been assigned assault-style rifles for Jan. 6. The department also deployed “counter surveillance agents” to observe locations around Washington, including the Ellipse downtown where a rally supporting Trump was held.
Capitol Police had also intercepted radio frequencies being used by some of the more organized rioters who brought walkie-talkies to communicate with each other. Pittman says the police had been monitoring their communication.
But Pittman also says the department faced “internal challenges” as it responded to the riot. Officers didn’t properly lock down the Capitol complex, even after an order had been given over the radio to do so. She also says officers didn’t understand when they were allowed to use deadly force, and that the less-than-lethal weapons that officers had were also not as successful as they believed they would be.
Separately, Republican leaders in the House and Senate say a proposed plan for an independent commission to study the Capitol insurrection is overly tilted toward Democrats, arguing that the panel should have an even party split like the one formed to study the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that a legitimate commission would be comprised of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. A draft proposed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would create an 11-member commission with four Republicans and seven Democrats, three of whom would be chosen by President Joe Biden, according to one of multiple aides who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the details under negotiation.
Pelosi has not commented on the draft or said why there should be more Democratic members. Last week, she said the commission must be “strongly bipartisan” and have the power to subpoena witnesses. But Wednesday, House Democratic Conference Chairman Hakeem Jeffries said McCarthy hasn’t operated in good faith and “set a bad tone” when he supported former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn Biden’s legitimate election victory.
Republicans have suggested an evenly divided 10-member panel and have also objected to some of the rationale for forming the commission. A second aide said that Pelosi’s proposal would give broad latitude to the commission to investigate what led to the effort to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power and that it quotes FBI and intelligence assessments that show some of the violence was motivated by racism and false narratives about the election.