USA TODAY International Edition
Capitol chief apologizes for riot response
Department unprepared for ‘ terrorist attack’
WASHINGTON – The acting chief of the United States Capitol Police apologized to members of Congress for her agency’s failures during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, saying it was not prepared for the “terrorist attack,” according to a copy of her prepared remarks to a key House panel obtained by USA TODAY.
“I am here to offer my sincerest apologies on behalf of the Department,” acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman told lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees the agency’s funding.
Her department should have been more prepared for the “terrorist attack,” she told lawmakers. The agency was aware that militia groups and white supremacists, some of whom would be armed, would be at the protests in Washington, she said, and her agency knew there was “a strong potential for violence and that Congress was the target.”
“The agency prepared, but “we did not do enough,” she told lawmakers.
Tuesday’s closed- door briefing comes as lawmakers investigate the insurrection that left at least five people dead. The Capitol’s top law enforcement officials – the Capitol Police chief and the House and Senate sergeants at arms – resigned days later. The House impeached President Donald Trump on Jan. 13 and charged him with inciting the riot, and the Senate is set to begin an impeachment trial the week of Feb. 8.
Authorities have begun identifying and arresting suspects who were involved in the riot. Many face charges related to weapons or violence in connection with the attack.
The 1,200 Capitol Police personnel working at the building that day were “no match” for the “tens of thousands of insurrectionists,” Pittman said, many of whom were armed when they stormed the Capitol as Congress counted the Electoral College votes showing Joe Biden won the election.
When rioters entered the building, they ransacked halls and offices as the scene was covered live on national TV.
Senators, House members and former Vice President Mike Pence took cover as the mob spread through the building.
Pittman outlined a litany of issues with the Capitol Police’s response on Jan. 6, including the diversion of officers from the Capitol to investigate pipe bombs at the Republican and Democratic national committees, the lack of equipment to handle the insurrectionists, an incomplete Capitol lockdown, and poor lines of communication.
Pittman also confirmed to lawmakers that the Capitol Police Board, a threeperson panel overseeing the agency, had delayed former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund’s request for National Guard support for “over an hour” on Jan. 6. Sund resigned after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for him to step down.
In the same briefing, acting House Sergeant at Arms Timothy Blodgett, the House’s top law enforcement officer, acknowledged similar failures on Jan. 6, describing a “failure of preparation” among law enforcement agencies.