WASHINGTON – Lawmakers are promising an investigation into how law enforcement officers handled Wednesday’s violent offense at the Capitol, questioning whether a lack of preparedness could have a mob occupying and vandalizing the building.
U.S. Capitol police, who are charged with protecting Congress, turned to other law enforcers for help with the mob that overwhelmed the complex and sent lawmakers into hiding. Both law enforcers and Trump supporters deployed chemical irritants during the complex’s hour-long occupation before it was cleared Wednesday night.
Four people were killed, one of them a woman who was shot dead in the Capitol. Three other people have died after suffering “medical emergencies” related to the offense, said Robert Contee, head of the city’s Metropolitan Police Department.
Police said 52 people had been arrested since Wednesday night, including 26 at the Capitol site. Fourteen police officers were injured, Contee said.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Chair of the House Administration Committee, said the offense “raises serious concerns about security and adds that her committee will work with House and Senate leaders to ensure police response – and preparedness”. of which – to review.
Lawmakers bowed under desks and put on gas masks while police tried in vain to block the building as people marched from a rally near the White House to the Capitol in support of President Donald Trump. The mayor of Washington has instituted a curfew rule in an effort to curb the violence.
Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., A former police chief, said it was “painfully obvious” that the Capitol police “are not prepared for today. I certainly thought we would have had a stronger display of power” , that steps would be taken at the very beginning to ensure that there was a designated area for the protesters at a safe distance from the Capitol.
Demings said in an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday night that it appears the police are unfortunately understaffed, adding that ‘they did not seem to have a clear operational plan to really tackle’ thousands of protesters on the Capitol collapsed following Trump’s complaints of a ‘difficult election. ″
The rioters were beaten by Trump, who for weeks falsely attacked the integrity of the election and urged his supporters to come to Washington to protest Congress’ formal approval of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. The protests disrupted the proceedings for almost seven hours.
The mob broke windows, entered both the Senate and the chambers, and went to the offices of legislators, including D-Calif House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Demings said there were “many unanswered questions and I am determined to get answers to the questions about what went wrong today.”
A police spokesman could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.
Rep. Karen Bass, D-California, said she was outraged to see on social media how a Capitol police officer posed for a photo with a protester. “Do you want to take a selfie with someone robbing a bank?” she asked. “I can not imagine if a few thousand (Black Lives Matters) protesters descended on the Capitol … that 13 people would be arrested.”
Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, suggested that there might be a change in leadership at Capitol Police.
‘I think it’s very clear that there will be a lot of people who will be out of work very, very soon, because it’s an embarrassment on behalf of the mob, as well as the president, and the uprising, and the coup attempt. , but also the lack of professional planning and dealing with what we knew was going to happen, ”Ryan said.