U.S. Capitol breach raises questions about security

WASHINGTON — The storming of the U.S. Capitol by a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters Wednesday was a disastrous failure of security: In a city on high alert, in a building with its own 1,700-member police department, people forced their way into the sanctums of American democracy with nothing more than flagpoles, riot shields and shoves.

Nobody stopped them — and some officers were captured on videos appearing to stand back as rioters streamed inside.

On Wednesday, while police were still struggling to eject the last intruders from the Capitol, current and former law enforcement officials said it appeared the U.S. Capitol Police and other agencies had failed to anticipate the size and intentions of the crowd that Trump urged to march up Pennsylvania Avenue to where lawmakers were gathered.

On the streets of Washington, federal law enforcement agencies and the National Guard — which had been intimidatingly visible during protests this summer following the death of George Floyd — kept a much lower profile.

And at the Capitol itself, police had set out low barriers and officers were largely in street uniforms, not riot gear. All were prepared to confine a protest, but not to deter an attack, law enforcement officials said.

Law enforcement experts said they were mystified by the tactics that police used once the mob was already inside the Capitol.

One woman was shot and killed by Capitol police as officers tried to stop a group from penetrating the building, according to two law enforcement officials, who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe security operations.

But other police seemed to stand by, observing the disorder instead of stopping it: One image posted on social media showed an officer taking a selfie with one of the intruders, and a video seemed to show officers opening the security fence to let Trump supporters closer.

Police did not appear to try to detain the rioters, allowing them to leave unhindered. One even held a woman’s hand to steady her on the Capitol steps.

The result was an invasion, in which a heavily guarded symbol of American strength and order fell to chaos with stunning speed.

“It’s like watching a real-life horror movie. I mean, we train and plan and budget every day, basically, to have this not happen,” said Kim Dine, who was chief of the Capitol Police from 2012-16. “How it happened, I can’t figure that out.”

Dine said he was surprised to see that, on Wednesday, the Capitol Police had allowed rioters to gather so close to the building, on the Capitol steps — and that, once they forced their way inside, the rioters were not immediately arrested.

“We protect the people, the place and the process that makes us the United States. That’s why we’re there,” Dine said. But, he said, on Wednesday, “The people, the place, the process — all were attacked.”

Very few people were arrested for the breach, one person said, because officers didn’t have enough backup to take the time to arrest and detain them.

“There just weren’t enough personnel to do everything,” one law enforcement official briefed on the episode said.

Wednesday’s response by the Capitol Police was a striking contrast to how the force has handled apparent threats near the building in the past. In 2013, Capitol Police and Secret Service personnel opened fire on a car that allegedly had rammed a security barricade. The driver, Miriam Carey, was killed while her baby daughter was in the back seat.

Capitol Police did not respond to multiple requests for comment Wednesday about its staffing or handling of the attack on the Capitol, including whether its officers detained any of the rioters.