Capitol police were not prepared for protesters, officials say

Some protesters fired what he called “chemical irritants” at police officers who guarded the complex to gain access to the building.

The small group of Capitol police officers guarding the building while lawmakers began a joint session of Congress to count the 2020 electoral votes was quickly outnumbered as protesters approached the building. Once inside, they broke into lawmakers’ offices and roamed freely.

Authorities said they expected a repeat of relatively minor fights between the far-right and far-left factions, which broke out after nightfall in similar protests in November.

“The Capitol Police were not prepared for the size of the protest,” said David Gomez, a retired FBI executive. Once protesters broke into the Capitol, other federal law enforcement agencies were slow to respond, either out of deference to President Trump or lack of experience in dealing with unrest, which is not his primary mission, said Gomez. “Until they violated the Capitol, there was a possibility that it would be a big protest that would not cross those barricades. Once they did that [law enforcement personnel] they were overwhelmed and were unable to respond quickly enough, ”he said.

Defense Department officials had said earlier that they predicted about 350 members of the DC National Guard would be sufficient to support the Washington, DC police during this week’s protests, primarily to help with traffic control. They wanted to avoid the prospect of having any U.S. military personnel on the steps of the U.S. Capitol and ordered officers to avoid straying east of 9th Street in central Washington, blocks from Capitol grounds, officials said.

After the building was breached, the Department of Defense announced it would activate another 1,100 DC National Guard troops, but it was unclear whether they would be dispatched to the Capitol or elsewhere in the district.

The response was a marked difference from the way the Trump administration responded to racial injustice protests last year, in which riot-armed federal agents sometimes appeared with force. In June, for example, federal police officers were widely criticized for using tear gas to expel a peaceful crowd from Lafayette Square, near the White House, just before Trump paid a visit to St. John’s Episcopal Church, which is next door to the park, to stand outside with a Bible.

“We have fully activated the DC National Guard to assist with federal and local law enforcement while working to resolve the situation peacefully,” said acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller. “We are prepared to provide additional support as needed and appropriate as requested by local authorities.”

Late Wednesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said his state would send 1,000 National Guard soldiers to DC “NY is ready to help ensure that the will of the American people is carried out safely” he tweeted.

The acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, condemned the events on Capitol Hill as “an intolerable attack on a fundamental institution of our democracy.” Rosen said the Justice Department sent agents from the United States’ FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the US Marshals Service to assist the Capitol Police.

In addition, officials from the Washington Metropolitan Police Department were sent to the Capitol to help restore order, clean the building and establish a perimeter, said Mayor Muriel Bowser. At her request, the state police in Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia mobilized to help and she invoked a mutual aid agreement with police departments in several neighboring jurisdictions. On Wednesday night, there were at least 52 arrests, including four for carrying a pistol without a license, one for carrying a prohibited weapon and 47 for violations of the curfew and illegal entry. Twenty-six of the arrests took place at the United States Capitol, police said.

The US Capitol Police is the federal law enforcement agency that protects members of Congress and their buildings, with about 1,900 police officers, according to its website.

The incidents they encounter are usually milder than those of other police departments that patrol the streets and investigate cases, but the force expanded its ranks after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and again when it merged with the police. the Library of Congress in 2009.

They were at the scene and suffered injuries when Representative Steve Scalise (R, Louisiana) was shot in 2017 in an outdoor training session for the annual charity conference baseball game. Legislators also present in practice attributed their survival to the actions of the Capitol police.

Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.), Who was in the batting cage at the time of the shootings, said at the time on MSNBC: “I probably heard 50, 60 shots,” adding, “Probably everyone would have died except for the fact that the Capitol Police was there. “

Still, Wednesday’s violation by pro-Trump rioters raises questions about whether the Capitol Police are equipped to deal with more widespread threats and violence.

Former Senate historian Donald Ritchie said the Capitol Police could be excused for misinterpreting the pro-Trump crowd. “This is totally out of the ordinary for the way Americans protest or come together or show their political feelings,” said Ritchie, noting that the Capitol has seen massive protests on a myriad of issues throughout its history. “I am surprised that this has happened,” he said, “for the same reasons that the police were surprised by what happened.”

The coronavirus pandemic has also brought new challenges for the police department.

As Congress remained open for business during the pandemic, at least a dozen officers tested positive for the coronavirus in May 2020 and were concerned about their working conditions, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.

—Nancy Youssef and Jess Bravin contributed to this article.

Write to Aruna Viswanatha at [email protected] and Sadie Gurman at [email protected]

Corrections and amplifications
The unrest occurred in Portland, Oregon, last year. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said that it occurred this year. (Corrected on January 6)