We must ask the hard questions about Capitol attack
What unfolded on the streets, the steps and into the halls of Congress on Jan. 6 is a national tragedy, a failure of leadership and a significant breach of crisis planning and response by federal law enforcement.
The horrific videos and images continue to filter out. Images of a young Capitol police officer crushed in a door by a violent terrorist mob. Another Capitol policeman, officer Brian Sicknick, reportedly killed by an insurrectionist wielding a fire extinguisher.
With the vice president, speaker of the House and Senate majority leader in harm’s way, it was a serious breach in our national security and continuity of government, as well.
As a Cuban American whose family fled the country 52 years ago, I’m well aware of how corruption and tyrants can whip up dangerous nationalistic impulses and violent insurrections. I long hoped such threats wouldn’t materialize here, or if they did, their lure would be less appealing to a freedom-loving people.
But the reach of this movement is broader than we may think. Look no further than my own department, where I immediately launched an investigation into a tip I received that a sworn member of the Houston Police Department had participated in the rally preceding the attack on the Capitol. Sadly, this investigation determined that an off-duty veteran patrol officer with no disciplinary history, did, in fact, attend the rally and unlawfully entered the Capitol and will more than likely face federal charges. This officer is now relieved of duty, and has been given the statutorily required 48-hour notice of a disciplinary hearing before the Chief of Police and chain-of-command.
In this case, the officer is Asian-American. Clearly, while the majority of the people who attacked our Capitol were disproportionately white, the crowd also included people of color.
This is not just a Black and white issue, but an American issue.
The protection of the Capitol complex and members of Congress rests primarily with the United States Capitol Police, but responsibility for the monumental law enforcement failure last week is shared by the entire federal security and national defense apparatus.
According to reports, these agencies were well aware of threats from those planning to take part in President Donald Trump’s “Save America” rally. How could they not be? President Trump and his enablers, including Sen. Ted Cruz, fanned the flames of disinformation surrounding the results of the presidential election (one that the president’s own director of the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency called, “the most secure in American history”).
Their words and actions since the November election whipped Trump supporters into a frenzy. At a rally in Georgia just days before Jan. 6, Cruz stirred his followers, “We will not go quietly into the night.” At the “Save America” rally, Rudy Giuliani urged supporters to engage in “trial by combat,” and Trump that same day urged his supporters to “fight like hell.”
And they did, ultimately overwhelming the anemic police presence at the Capitol. How was a mob-led insurrection able to breach one of our country’s most secure buildings? Where was the logistical and tactical support from the federal government and other law enforcement that an event or protest of this size, with serious known threats of violence would normally necessitate?
As congressional committees and internal reviews do their work, much will come to light.
But let’s be clear, law enforcement’s response at the Capitol last week was driven by race. Acknowledging that race played a role in the law enforcement preparations — or lack thereof — for the Jan. 6 terrorist attack on Congress may be uncomfortable, but we can’t shy away from this ugly truth.
Previous federal intelligence assessments were widely known to have concluded that the most significant threat to our homeland was, in fact, right-wing extremist and white supremacist groups. Based on what was known leading up to last week, the law enforcement preparation, dedication of resources and posture should have been on par with what Americans witnessed during last year’s summer of protest, spurred by George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Instead, the police footprint, the barriers erected and the agency resources brought to bear against a known threat were wholly inadequate. By the end of Jan. 6, our federal partners found that the support for law and order these terrorists have is thinner than the “Thin Blue Line” on the flags they waved while ransacking our historic Capitol.
The monumental law enforcement failure on Jan. 6 demands answers and requires accountability. For these reasons, I support creation of a national commission to determine how law enforcement failed so fully, as well as the role of President Trump and other elected officials whose words and actions incited these terrorists.
All true American patriots must confront racism, white supremacy and authoritarianism with the same vigor they attack threats from left-wing and foreign extremists. This is a time for courage, clarity and immediate action that embraces a commitment to justice, accountability and reform.
We can no longer pretend “it can’t happen here.” It did.