Acting Capitol Police Chief tells Congress that the department “failed” during the riot

Pittman’s admission comes at a time when United States Capitol officers are debating whether to take a vote of censure aimed at department leaders who were working on the day of the uprising, including Pittman. A source told CNN that Pittman was the chief operating officer on the day of the siege of the Capitol and “never took control of the radio or commanded officers what to do in any way, shape or form.”

Officials told CNN that they felt abandoned and betrayed by the department’s leadership.

“Let me be clear: the Department should be better prepared for this attack,” said Pittman on Tuesday. “On January 4, the Department knew that the January 6 event would not be like any of the previous protests held in 2020. We knew that militia groups and white supremacy organizations would be present. We also knew that some of these participants intended to bring firearms and other weapons to the event. “

Ultimately, Pittman took responsibility for the mistakes made in protecting the Capitol.

“As interim chief, I take responsibility for the mistakes made by the Department and I promise this Committee, Congress, the American people and my colleagues at the USCP that we will do better going forward, but we need to make changes,” she said.

Acting weapons sergeant Timothy Blodgett issued a forceful assessment on Tuesday of security breaches that occurred, both in preparation for such a protest and in reacting to events as they unfolded, according to his statement prepared during the Tuesday briefing in front of lawmakers.

“It is clear that there was a failure of preparation. Be it insufficient or conflicting intelligence, lack of capacity to translate that intelligence into action, insufficient preparation or inadequate capacity to mobilize partner agencies for immediate assistance, a series of events previously considered unfathomable, has unfolded allowing our most sacred corridors to be breached. And, unfortunately, several lives were lost, including Officer Brian Sicknick and Officer Howard Liebengood, “said Blodgett in his comments.

Pittman highlighted four things that made the department ill-equipped to respond to the attack, including a lack of manpower. The interim chief said that USCP officials did not have the right equipment in hand or easily accessible and that the building sealing process “may not have been followed consistently”. Finally, Pittman said the department was informed that communication via its radio and public sound system was difficult to hear during the attack.

Since the insurrection, Pittman said the USCP has coordinated with the National Guard to protect the Capitol and the complex around it and “has taken steps to ensure” that the USCP shares and receives critical intelligence from its law enforcement partners. Pittman also said that the department’s intelligence director is now holding daily internal intelligence briefings with USCP employees.

Pittman said that going forward, “Capitol’s security infrastructure must change and that the Department needs access to additional resources – both manpower and physical assets.”

This story has been updated.