The head of the U.S. Capitol Police will resign on Jan. 16 following the breach of the Capitol.
Officials, lawmakers question preparations
WASHINGTON — The head of the U.S. Capitol Police will resign effective Jan. 16 following the breach of the Capitol by a pro-trump mob.
Chief Steven Sund said Thursday that police had planned for a free speech demonstration and did not expect the violent attack. He resigned after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on him to step down.
His resignation was confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Earlier Thursday, Sund defended his department’s response to the storming of the Capitol, saying that officers “acted valiantly when faced with thousands of individuals involved in violent riotous actions.”
Washington’s mayor called the police response “a failure.”
Sund, in his first public comment on the mayhem from Wednesday, said in a statement that rioters “actively attacked” Capitol police and other law enforcement officers with metal pipes, discharged chemical irritants and “took up other weapons against our officers.”
The siege, as the House and Senate were affirming President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory, was “unlike any I have ever experienced in my 30 years in law enforcement here in Washington, D.C.,” said Sund, a
former city police officer. “Make no mistake: These mass riots were not First Amendment activities; they were criminal riotous behavior.”
Lawmakers from both parties have pledged to investigate law enforcement’s actions and questioned whether a lack of preparedness allowed a mob to occupy and vandalize the building.
Mayor Muriel Bowser joined in the criticism. “Obviously it was a failure or you would not have had people enter the Capitol by breaking windows and terrorizing the members of Congress who were doing a very sacred requirement of their jobs.”