Capitol Police Chief Resigns After Crowd Oppresses Police

The head of the US Capitol Police resigned on Thursday after an attempted coup by a violent crowd of Trump supporters that left officers dominated, four people killed and generated strong criticism about the preparation of the department in charge of ensuring the safety of the most country’s highest legislative body.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the department’s response “a leadership failure,” and the DOJ’s chief prosecutor in DC said that Capitol Police actions made the task of bringing crowd members to justice more difficult. . The police union attributed the violation of the Capitol to the leaders’ lack of planning, describing Wednesday’s chaotic events as disgusting and preventable.

On Thursday night, Chief Steven A. Sund resigned, several media reports reported. In a short letter obtained by Politico, Sund said his resignation would take effect on January 16.

Earlier in the day, Sund described the attack on Capitol as unlike anything he had seen in his 30-year career.

“The USCP had a robust plan in place to deal with the planned First Amendment activities,” he said in a statement. “But make no mistake – these mass disturbances were not First Amendment activities; they were rampant criminal behavior.”

Videos and photos of the scene showed police officers beaten, barricaded and gassed as Trump supporters passed police lines, breaking windows and forcing open doors to enter the Capitol building. The apparent lack of preparation and law enforcement resources left ex-officers and other experts confused, especially as Trump supporters had openly discussed online plans to invade the Capitol, attack lawmakers and resort to violence if Congress went ahead to certify. President-elect Joe Biden’s presidential victory over Trump.

A former member of the Capitol Police told BuzzFeed News that there was no reason why police were unprepared for Wednesday’s crowds.

“They plan big events like the opening, so that’s not the problem. They will never have events like this without prior knowledge, ”said the retiree. “It was almost as if they intentionally didn’t have enough people.”

Members of the House and Senate have since called for an investigation into the handling of the coup attempt by the Capitol Police and other agencies. In addition to Pelosi, the head of the Capitol Police Union, the United States Capitol Police Working Committee, also called for Sunder’s resignation, saying the officers had no equipment and reinforcements, PBS reported.

Labor Committee chairman Gus Papathanasiou praised officials for keeping members of Congress safe, but denounced the department leaders’ lack of planning and coordination with other law enforcement agencies. He added that the department has experience in responding to major protests and described the invasion of the Capitol on Wednesday as preventable.

“We have several protesters killed, several officers wounded and the symbol of our democracy, the US Capitol, desecrated,” he said in a statement. declaration. “It should never have happened.”

The actions of Capitol police on the ground were also criticized on Thursday. In a liaison with reporters, the District Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Michael Sherwin, particularly criticized the police officers’ decision not to arrest the people who broke into the Capitol building on the spot.

The video showed members of the police force waiting while protesters simply left the Capitol building after entering illegally.

“This is a concern and has made our job difficult,” said Sherwin. “Hundreds of people went out and were not tied up by the Capitol police.”

The failure to make more arrests on the spot has now forced prosecutors to review hours and hours of video of the incident, social media and other means to identify the suspects and prosecute them, added Sherwin.

“It made work a challenge, but I can’t answer why these people were not tied up when they were leaving the building,” he said.

Sherwin also said that the DOJ, the FBI and the DC Metropolitan Police had been in discussions for weeks in preparation for the protests and several groups that officials feared could trigger violence in the nation’s capital.

These discussions included the Capitol Police at one point, he said, but he stopped before defending the department’s response.

“We anticipated this for weeks and we had enough federal resources to resolve the situation, but I cannot speak on behalf of my colleagues at the Capitol Police and what they did when the Capitol was violated,” he said.

Although no one foresaw the violation of the Capitol, Sherwin said the Washington Metropolitan Police and federal officials kept peace at “bottlenecks” and other outside areas for hours.

“There was no violence in the crowd and, obviously, the tipping point happened with the violation of the Capitol,” he said. “I don’t know how many members of the Capitol Police were there.”

As soon as the crowd arrived at the building, the Capitol police officers seemed overwhelmed.

Angelo Cimini, a former Capitol Police officer who also worked as a training instructor for the department, described his reaction to videos of the crowd confronting police officers: “When you are faced with overwhelming numbers, you just have to do your best you can.

“It’s very difficult to watch,” said Cimini.

Capitol Police never faced anything like Wednesday’s events, added Cimini.

“I think we were lucky,” he said. “All these years and protests that happen every year, they have been peaceful and nothing like that has ever happened. Until you are tested, you are not sure how you will react. “