Internal Capitol Police the document reveals that officials were concerned January 6th about the wrong group of people: anti-protesters who would oppose Donald Trump supporters who eventually stormed the U.S. Capitol and attacked police officers, reports Politico Friday.
“[C]Opponents of the protesters are expected to try to gain access by entering shrubs and other natural structures, ”the 17-page report reads,“ Civil Riot Unit Operational Plan, ”which outlines a police strategy on the day Congress approves electoral votes. .
In fact, one of the five listed “mission objectives” was to “establish and maintain a fixed march route, while excluding access by anti-protesters to reduce the possibility of violent interactions, ”Reads a report viewed by Politico.
The plan was that the police monitor protesters with the gathering “stop steaming”, led by the then President, in order to create an indignation due to his electoral loss, and take action to prevent the counterprofession to enter the journey and goals west of Kapitol, report the Polica .
instead of violent chaos broke out when Trump supporters stormed police barricades to break into the Capitol building.
Days before the uprising, Trump ordered the then-acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller to “fill in” the request to send a National Guard On January 6, the mayor of Columbia County – but again to protect himself from the wrong group of people.
“Do whatever it takes to protect [pro-Trump] protesters … exercising their constitutionally protected rights, ”Miller quoted Trump in a testimony before Congress earlier this year.
In a January 6 video message on Twitter, Trump told the rioters: “We love you. You are very special. ”
The failure of the police to assess the threat of the protesters, who were not noticeably present that day, was only one of the major misjudgments of the officials. The internal report also boldly stated, “Currently, there are no specific known threats related to the joint session of the Congressional Electoral College’s election certificate,” Politico states.
An unidentified whistleblower and former Capitol police officer assessed earlier this month that department heads did not accurately assess the January 6 risk as “the single biggest intelligence error in the department’s history.”
Whistleblower recounted that he observed top officials “mostly sitting there and staring blankly at television screens showing real-time footage.” (See the video above.)
A Capitol police spokesman told Politica on Friday: “As the department has repeatedly said publicly, we knew something people were planning violence. No law enforcement agency or intelligence agency announced a large-scale attack that eventually occurred. ”
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