Pressured by House legislators to provide a timetable for the removal of the barbed wire fence and other reinforced security measures installed after the attack on the United States Capitol, Pittman said the police remain concerned about threats from known militia groups “with a direct link with the State of the Union “. .
“We know that the militia members who 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 on that date was not identified”, she told House legislators during Thursday’s hearing on security breaches related to January 6.
“We know that the insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol were not only interested in attacking members of Congress and officials,” she added. “They wanted to send a symbolic message to the nation about who is in charge of this legislative process.”
Pittman’s comments mark one of the first times police officers publicly cited specific threats against the Capitol and lawmakers related to Biden’s expected speech before a joint session of Congress.
Although presidents normally do not make an official State of the Union speech in the first months of their first term, the Biden government is considering a speech for a joint session of Congress later this year, although a specific date has not been identified.
How long will the fence remain around the Capitol?
Pittman refused to draw up a schedule to remove the fence and send the National Guard troops that remain in Washington back to their home states, despite bipartisan calls to reduce the security posture around the U.S. Capitol.
“We have no intention of keeping the National Guard soldiers or that fence for longer than is really necessary. We are actively working with a reduced approach so that we can be sure that we will address three primary variables,” said Pittman on Thursday. market.
“One is the known threat to the environment, two are the vulnerabilities of the infrastructure and the third variable is the limitations that the US Capitol police know they have with respect to human capital and technological resources,” she added.
“Temporary infrastructure serves only to address vulnerabilities after the January 6 attack. Our priority is to ensure that members of Congress are safe and that the democratic process is protected. As soon as we have adequate infrastructure and human resources available, we will tilt. move forward with removing the fence, “she said.
CNN previously reported that the US Capitol Police told lawmakers that the barbed wire fence around the Capitol should remain in place until at least September due to persistent security concerns related to threats against members of Congress.
Lawmakers have repeatedly pressured police and defense authorities to explain whether there is a credible threat that justifies keeping these security precautions in place.
A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security told CNN earlier this month that officials are not tracking any “credible or specific threats”, but continue to constantly monitor online conversations about potential violence in Washington, DC, and against members of Congress.
“The most significant terrorism-related threat facing the nation today comes from lonely criminals and small groups of individuals inspired by domestic extremist ideological beliefs, including those based on false narratives spread across social media and other online platforms,” added the spokesman. .
Lawmakers express frustrations about leadership failures during the insurrection
“It was very clear that their head pieces, the communication pieces, they were not getting any real communication, they were not getting any leadership, they were not getting any direction, there was no coordination and you could see the fear in their eyes” , Beutler said.
“When I talk about communication failures, I am literally talking about leadership. Nobody owns the frequency and gives direction and that is what I want to know, I want to know if you are fixing it?” she added.
Pittman responded by telling lawmakers that the department did not follow protocols during the insurrection on how to deal with an emergency, mainly because the police were overwhelmed.
“On January 6, our incident command protocols were not carried out as they should have been,” said Pittman, who took over after the January 6 attack, to a House appropriations subcommittee.
She made the comment in response to questions about communication failures that made it difficult to respond as pro-Trump rioters invaded the Capitol. She said the failures resulted from the fact that police lines were so invaded that the commanders who oversee the emergency response were instead physically defending the protesters.
“When there is a breakdown, you look for commanders with boots on the ground to provide that instruction,” said Pittman. “This did not happen, mainly because the operational commanders at the time were so overwhelmed that they started to participate and help the officers … instead of providing this guidance and direction.”
Beutler countered that explanation, saying it is the role of the law enforcement leadership to provide clear instructions to law enforcement officers in the field.
“I am listening to a lot of lawsuits and almost blaming why there is a problem compared to listening to how you are going to ensure that there is a command center that speaks in the officers’ ears and provides instructions and leadership. That part of the problem that existed was chaos because each one of those officers on the ground, commander or not, had to make a decision without any information, ”she said.
Democratic MP Rosa DeLauro addressed her frustrations on Thursday to the board that oversees the US Capitol Police, saying it is “obsolete” and is not keeping members safe, blaming the board’s bureaucracy for the slow response during the 6 uprising. of January.
The three-member council is comprised of the Capitol Police Chief, the Chamber’s Sergeant of Arms and the Senate’s Sergeant of Arms. The lack of coordination during the attack was the main focus of Congressional oversight hearings this week, and council members are conflicting about that day’s schedule.
“At the moment, I see it as a trace, it’s just there,” said DeLauro, the chairman of the House Budget Committee. “It doesn’t seem to do much, or much, to deal with this situation on January 6. It’s like its appendix. It’s just there, but it doesn’t have a real function.”
His comments were made two days after a Senate hearing, where three officers who were on the Capitol Police Council during the attack said the bureaucracy created a situation in which no one person had the ultimate responsibility to protect the complex. All three of these officers resigned their posts after the insurrection.
This story and headline were updated with additional developments Thursday.