Former US Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said he wants to give the police “the benefit of the doubt” and hopes they are trying to slow down Wednesday’s events when they seemed to allow pro-Trump protesters to enter the legislative building.
“Sometimes, when you don’t have enough staff, you can’t stand up and fight a big crowd like that,” he said on NBC’s “Today” program on Thursday, noting that there weren’t enough police officers there.
A ceremonial event on the Capitol stating that President-elect Joe Biden won the November election was abruptly stopped on Wednesday afternoon after hundreds of protesters invaded the interior.
Members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pence had to seek shelter. One woman was shot dead by police during the chaos and three others died in “medical emergencies”, according to Washington police chief Robert Contee.
In the middle of the rebellion, videos of police officers appeared to let the protesters into the building. One image seemed to show a man taking a selfie with a policeman.
Gainer, who served as Capitol Police Chief from 2002 to 2006 and was the Senate’s arms sergeant, said the way the police handled the situation was “a failure” and “raises many questions”.
“There are clearly flaws,” he said. “There have to be a lot of questions asked and answers given. What is very clear is that the police underestimated the violent crowd and its size, and overestimated its ability to control it ”.
Bill Bratton, the former New York Police Department commissioner and analyst for NBC News, said there needs to be an explanation as to why the crowd was allowed in. “At the moment, the appearance of this is horrible,” he said.
Many police officers across the country questioned how the police failed to protect the building.
Gainer said in “Today” that he always thought it would be impossible to break into the Capitol. The last major violation of the Capitol occurred during the war of 1812.
Capitol Police did not comment publicly on the riot and did not return a request for comment on Thursday.
Pictures of the chaos showed some lawmakers praying as protesters ran wildly inside the building, many of them carrying pro-Trump banners and some waving Confederate flags. A photo appeared of a noose hanging on the west side of the Capitol.
The windows inside the building were broken and the doors were knocked down. Some of the protesters were photographed sitting in the Senate chamber and in private offices of members of Congress.
The National Guard, the FBI and the US Marshals Service were called in to help.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered a 12-hour curfew in the city, which ended at 6 am on Thursday.
