Why did Capitol security fail on Jan. 6?
Top security officials engaged in finger-pointing at the first congressional hearing on the U.S. Capitol attack. But at least senators agreed on who caused it, with one notable exception.听
Top security officials engaged in finger-pointing at the first congressional hearing on the U.S. Capitol attack. But at least senators agreed on who caused it, with one notable exception.听
Dear reader:
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听Seven weeks after the U.S. Capitol insurrection that killed five people and shocked the world, many Americans are still wondering how this could have happened. Why were security forces so woefully unprepared?
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听The Senate held a hearing yesterday, and for the most part, the biggest conflict wasn鈥檛 between Democrats and Republicans, but among security officials. Intelligence warnings that extremist groups were preparing to invade the Capitol either weren鈥檛 taken seriously or didn鈥檛 reach top commanders.
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听Now-former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said he learned only this week about an FBI warning of a planned 鈥渨ar鈥� on the Capitol Jan. 6. Former law enforcement officials also couldn鈥檛 even agree on what happened after the attack began. Mr. Sund recalled a phone call, soon after the Capitol was breached, to then-House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving requesting National Guard troops. Mr. Irving said the call took place later.
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听The acting chief of police in Washington, D.C., Robert Contee 鈥� whose officers provided backup 鈥� recounted a phone call among Capitol security, D.C. leaders, and Pentagon officials, and said he was 鈥渟tunned鈥� by the lack of advance planning to deploy National Guard troops.
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听Congressional leaders are discussing creating an independent commission to investigate the attack, much like the 9/11 Commission. The Government Accountability Office is also investigating the security breach. Court cases against rioters allege that groups such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers engaged in a criminal conspiracy to invade the Capitol and halt the counting of electoral votes in an effort to keep then-President Donald Trump in office. On Jan. 13, the House impeached Mr. Trump on one charge of inciting an insurrection. He was acquitted Feb. 13.
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听But in these early weeks after the attack, congressional hearings are providing some of the first clues as to what did (and didn鈥檛) happen Jan. 6.
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听On a fundamental level, the law enforcement who testified Tuesday did not dispute the nature of the attack, as laid out by Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota: that it was planned and carried out by extremist and white supremacist groups.
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听But another senator, Republican Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, put forth a different narrative. He read into the record an account from a far-right website that blamed the violence on 鈥減rovocateurs鈥� and 鈥渇ake Trump protesters.鈥�
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听鈥淚t is a lie,鈥� writes Boston College historian Heather Cox Richardson in her newsletter, 鈥渁nd it is worth questioning why Johnson feels that lie is important to read into the Congressional Record.鈥�
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听Let us know what you鈥檙e thinking at csmpolitics@csmonitor.com.