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New intelligence suggests that militias have expressed a desire to “blow up” the Capitol building and “kill as many members as possible” on the day President Biden addresses Congress, the acting chief of the House revealed Thursday. U.S. Capitol Police Yogananda Pittman during a House hearing regarding the January 6 uprising.
“We know that militia members present on January 6 said they wanted to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible with a direct connection to the State of the Union, which we know the date does not have. been identified, ”Pittman told the House appropriations subcommittee on legislative power.
“We know that the insurgents who attacked the Capitol were not only interested in attacking members of Congress and officers: they wanted to send a symbolic message to the nation as to who was in charge of this legislative process,” he said. she adds.
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U.S. Capitol Police did not resend an email or voicemail message left by Fox News on Thursday.
Pittman raised the issue after questions from several lawmakers about fences and restrictions on pedestrian traffic, as well as the continued presence of the National Guard, at the Capitol complex more than a month after the Jan.6 uprising . Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler, R- Wash., Said such measures make “the seat of democracy look like a military base”.
“We don’t intend to keep the National Guard soldiers or this fence any longer than is really necessary,” Pittman replied. “We are actively working on a scaled-down approach to ensure that we are addressing three main variables: one is the known threat to the environment, two are infrastructure vulnerabilities and then this third variable is the limits that the US Capitol Police know. that it has in terms of human capital and technological resources. “
“But based on this information,” Pittman continued, “we believe it is prudent for the Capitol Police to maintain their heightened and robust security position until we resolve these vulnerabilities in the future.”
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The White House has yet to schedule a date for Biden to deliver his first speech in a joint session of Congress, although the president has suggested it will take place this month.
Traditionally, presidents have delivered speeches to Congress during their first year in office, often in February. The address to a joint session of Congress is like a State of the Union, although technically it is not called that until the President’s second year in office.
Responding to a separate set of questions from Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., Pittman said on Thursday that there was no evidence to suggest that the run of those who attended the Jan.6 pro-Trump rally in Washington, DC, was affecting how the US Capitol Police interpreted the intelligence ahead of time or adjusted their security posture the day before the insurgency on the Capitol.
“Do you believe that institutional racism, that white supremacist culture, and I’m not saying any specific person or action, do you think there was a gap between the information received and the assessment of likely violence and the preparation that left the officers at the mercy of the crowd? ”Clark asked.
“As the first black woman and head of this department, I take any allegation of unfair police very seriously,” Pittman says. “I can assure you that there is no evidence to suggest any divergence based on security posture or making improvements or not based on race.”
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Pittman said she took steps during the Black Lives Matter movement to hold town halls to address police morale and increased training on unconscious and implicit bias, and explained that she understood – as mother of two black sons – that differences in policing exist based on institutional racism. The US Secret Service tracked at least 15,000 people at the Ellipse on January 6, and another 15,000 outside the Ellipse, Pittman said. Security camera footage showed these crowds then proceeded to the Capitol.
The House appropriations subcommittee hearing Thursday on the Jan.6 attack on the U.S. Capitol also included testimony from Acting Sergeant-at-Arms Timothy Blodgett.
Fox News’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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