Credit: Xinhua/Sipa USA
U.S.-WASHINGTON, D.C.-SENATE-CAPITOL RIOT-COMMISSION-LEGISLATION-BLOCKING
Washington (77WABC) – A Senate investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has found a broad intelligence breakdown across multiple agencies, along with widespread law enforcement and military failures.
According to a report titled “Examining the U.S. Capitol Attack“, there were clear warnings that right-wing extremist groups and other supporters of former President Donald Trump were planning to “storm the Capitol” and infiltrate the surrounding areas with weapons.
“January 6, 2021 marked not only an attack on the Capitol Building—it marked an attack on democracy,” the report concluded. “The entities responsible for securing and protecting the Capitol Complex and everyone onsite that day were not prepared for a large-scale attack, despite being aware of the potential for violence targeting the Capitol. The Committees’ investigation to-date makes clear that reforms to USCP and the Capitol Police Board are necessary to ensure events like January 6 are never repeated.”
The bipartisan Senate report details how officers on the front lines suffered injuries such as chemical burns, brain injuries and broken bones, after fighting the overwhelming amount of attackers. Once things started breaking down, they were offered no help from leadership.
According to the report, the Capitol Police intelligence division “knew about social media posts calling for violence at the Capitol on January 6, including a plot to breach the Capitol, the online sharing of maps of the Capitol Complex’s tunnel systems, and other specific threats of violence,“ but did not properly inform leaders and officers of what was found.
There were warnings of posts on various sites that started showing up in December 2020, showing maps of the Capitol and its tunnels, as well as warnings about people “storming the Capitol” on January 6.
The report also says that part of the Department of Defense’s response that day was made by criticism it received in regards to protests after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. A statement released Tuesday by Capitol Police says that law enforcement agencies didn’t have enough intelligence at the time to conclude an attack was going to happen.
USCP Response to the U.S. Senate Capitol Attack Report: https://t.co/hBlHBXoMrH pic.twitter.com/j9WOJFnDRi
— The U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) June 8, 2021
“Neither the USCP, nor the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, Metropolitan Police or our other law enforcement partners knew thousands of rioters were planning to attack the U.S. Capitol,” the release says. “The known intelligence simply didn’t support that conclusion.”
Despite that, they admit there was a lot that went wrong that day.
“As a consumer of federal intelligence, the Department leadership agrees improvements are needed specific to intelligence analysis and dissemination,” the press release adds. “Law enforcement agencies across the country rely on intelligence, and the quality of that intelligence can mean the difference between life and death. The USCP also acknowledges it must improve how it collects and shares intelligence with its own officers and stakeholders and has made significant changes since the attack on January 6.”
