There is new intelligence information suggesting that militia groups have expressed a desire to “blow up” the Capitol building and “kill as many members as possible” on the day President Biden addresses Congress, the acting chief of police said. US Capitol, Yogananda Pittman, on Thursday, during a House hearing on the January 6 uprising.
“We know that the members of the militia groups that were present on January 6 declared their wishes that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible with a direct link to the State of the Union, which we know that date has not been identified” , Pittman said before the House Appropriations Subcommittee in the Legislative Branch.
“We know that the rebels who attacked the Capitol were not only interested in attacking members of Congress and officials: they wanted to send a symbolic message to the nation about who was in charge of this legislative process,” she added.
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US Capitol Police did not return an email and voicemail left by Fox News on Thursday.
Pittman raised the issue after questions from several lawmakers about fences and foot traffic restrictions, as well as the National Guard’s continued presence in the Capitol complex, more than a month after the January 6 uprising. Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler, R- Wash., Said that such measures make “the seat of democracy look like a military base.”
“We have no intention of keeping the National Guard soldiers or that fence longer than necessary,” replied Pittman. “We are actively working on a small-scale approach so that we can be sure to address three main variables: one is the known threat to the environment, two are the vulnerabilities of the infrastructure and the third variable is the limitations that the Capitol Police of the United States knows that it has human capital and technological resources. “
“But based on that information,” continued Pittman, “we think it is prudent for the Capitol Police to maintain its enhanced and robust security posture until we address these vulnerabilities in the future.”
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The White House has yet to set a date for Biden to make his first speech at a joint session of Congress, although the president suggested that this would happen this month.
Traditionally, presidents speak to Congress during their first year in office, usually in February. The speech at a joint session of Congress is like a State of the Union, although technically it is not so called until the second year of the president’s term.
In response to a separate line of questioning from Congresswoman Katherine Clark, D-Mass., Pittman said on Thursday that no evidence suggests that the race of the January 6 pro-Trump rally participants in Washington, DC, affected how the US Capitol The police interpreted intelligence beforehand or adjusted their security posture that day before the Capitol insurrection.
“Do you believe in that institutional racism, in that culture of white supremacy, and I’m not saying any specific person or action, do you think there was a discrepancy between the intelligence received and the assessment of the likely violence and preparation that left officials at the mercy of the crowd ? “Clark asked.
“As the first black and female chief in this department, I take any allegation of unfair policing very seriously,” Pittman. “I can assure you that there is no evidence to suggest any discrepancy based on security posture or making improvements or not based on race.”
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Pittman said she took steps during the Black Lives Matter movement to hold city halls to cope with police morale and increase training on unconscious and implicit prejudices, and explained that she understands – as a mother of two black children – that differences in policing exist on the basis of institutional racism. The United States Secret Service tracked at least 15,000 people at Ellipse on January 6 and another 15,000 outside Ellipse, Pittman said. Security camera footage showed that these crowds later headed for the Capitol.
The House Appropriations subcommittee’s hearing on Thursday of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol also included the testimony of acting weapons sergeant Timothy Blodgett.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.