REPORT: Capitol Police Botched Riot Response Despite Warnings
While many in the mainstream media have long been blaming a potent conspiracy theory for the events of January 6th, 2021, it appears that the response to the event itself could spawn new hypotheses as well.
That’s thanks to a new report in which investigators detail the incredible and pitiful mistakes made by the Capitol Police Department on that fateful day.
U.S. Capitol Police Inspector General Michael Bolton will tell a congressional committee in prepared testimony Thursday that the agency must shift away from its current approach to deal with rising threats to the Capitol.
Advertisement - story continues belowIt’s one of many concerns to address a litany of alleged internal failures that hampered the agency’s response to the Jan. 6 attack and were documented in an explosive report issued by Bolton in March and obtained by NPR and other media outlets.
First and foremost, the department had plenty of forewarning.
Ahead of the insurrection, the report said Capitol Police did not place enough emphasis on threat analysis and assessments of threats. An analysis by the agency’s own intelligence division offered somewhat conflicting details ahead of Jan. 6, with one section offering what Bolton called “more alarming language” than another.
“Supporters of the current president see January 6, 2021, as the last opportunity to overturn the results of the presidential election,” the analysis said in one section, according to Bolton’s report. “This sense of desperation and disappointment may lead to more of an incentive to become violent.”
Officers were directed by leaders not to use all available equipment the day of the attack, such as less-lethal weapons to disperse crowds. Bolton said an official also relayed that Capitol Police do not use flashbangs like other area law enforcement agencies.
Also, officers reported protective gear that was “cumbersome” and riot shields that shattered upon impact during the siege because of “either improper storage or the age of the shield.”
At the end of the day, it appears that a litany of new questions have arrived in the wake of this report, and very few new answers.
