Internal Capitol report reveals security forces were aware of possible January 6 attack and orders they received

The United States Capitol Police were warned “clearly” and in advance of the violence of the attackers of this institution on January 6, but their commanders ordered the officers not to use their “most aggressive” tactics against the protesters to contain them.

These are the conclusions of a new report on the attack on the Capitol of 104 pages prepared by the inspector general, Michael A. Bolton, and which this Wednesday made public The New York Times.

The document, which will be presented on Capitol Hill Thursday, criticizes how Capitol Police prepared and responded to violence from protesters on January 6.

Bolton discovered that establishment security officials were not sufficiently prepared despite explicit warnings that pro-Trump extremists posed a threat to law enforcement and civilians; and that police wore faulty protective gear.

He also discovered that Officials ordered their civil unrest unit to refrain from using their most powerful crowd control weapons, such as stun grenades, to quell the attack.

The report offers the most devastating account yet of the failures and miscalculations surrounding the most violent attack on the Capitol in two centuries, according to the New York newspaper.

Three days before siege, Capitol police intelligence report warned of violence supporters of President Donald J. Trump who believed in his false claims that the election was stolen. Some of the violent had even posted a map of the Capitol complex’s tunnel system on pro-Trump message boards.

“Unlike previous post-election protests, the targets of Trump supporters were not counter-protesters like they were before, but rather Congress itself was the clear goal on the 6”Said the report on the threats detected, according to the inspector general.

But the day before the attack, the police wrote in their protest management plan that “There were no specific known threats related to the joint session of Congress”, in which lawmakers were to formally certify Biden’s victory over Trump.

On orders from their superiors, police were prevented from using their most powerful tools and techniques to control large protests, the internal report said. “Heavy non-lethal weapons”, such as stun grenades, “were not used that day by order of superiors”, Bolton wrote.

Protests led by the “Stop the Steal” movement could attract white supremacists, members of the military and others who actively promote violence and could lead to a considerably dangerous situation for law enforcement and the public. security.

The unprecedented assault on the Capitol in Washington resulted in the deaths of an institutional police officer and four other civilians.

(With information from EFE and AFP)

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