Congressmen are falling over themselves to praise the bravery of the Capitol police since the January 6 attack.
But behind the scenes, Capitol police brought voices in a vote of no confidence in their management. Both Democrats and Republicans praised officers for the quick thinking that saved a number of members of Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence from the riots, but officers are angry precisely because they were forced to improvise after their managers failed to attack planned. .
BuzzFeed News spoke to Black Capitol police officers following the attack on the Capitol. They want to be called more than just heroes. They want the leadership of the Capitol Police and Congress, which directly oversees the department, to radically change its culture, which they say has directly led to the catastrophic failure to prepare for the Capitol riot. The officials said they believe the introduction of transparency and accountability is the first step in reviewing the agency. As part of the legislative branch, the agency is not subject to requests for freedom of information. The little that was known about the department before January 6 comes mainly from lawsuits over discrimination filed by women and minority officials against the agency.
Officers voiced their distrust during a 24-hour period that began Thursday at 3 p.m. In the ballot paper, officers are asked to vote on six chiefs, who together represent almost all of the department’s supreme command. The vote is not binding and can not remove top buyer. But for one veteran officer, the vote is the key to shifting the conversation from what he described as ‘political theater’ to real accountability that will force the department’s leadership and Congress to address the concerns of officials.
House President Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday morning, shortly before the no-confidence vote began, that officers on duty on the day of the attack would receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor bestowed on Congress.
For one veteran officer who spoke to BuzzFeed News last month and whose story was emphasized by Jamie Raskin in the Democrats ‘opening statement during the indictment, the news was that he and his colleagues would receive the Congress’ gold medal ‘like a shot of adrenaline in the arm’ after an emotional roller coaster of a week.
But for others, the medal feels a distraction from officers’ efforts to use the no-confidence vote to demand substantial change within the department.
“We get paid to do work. We do not want the recognition or do not want it much, ”said the veteran with almost two decades in power. “If they want to show appreciation, there are a myriad of other ways to do it.”
Officers are still dealing with the physical and emotional aftermath of the attack, which killed a colleague, Brian Sicknick, on duty.
‘Everyone would trade it back for Sicknick, as well as anyone who did not suffer with their various injuries. Political theater is part of the play; it just feels slimy and unobstructed, ”he said.
The officer also said he felt conflicting during Officer Sicknick’s memorial service last week. ‘We are used as props. They had us in the plaza and they take pictures and all that, ‘he said. “I have nothing but respect for him and just want to honor his memory, but it just did not speak to me or a bunch of officers.”
“We had a lot of copper that was in front and in the middle, but where were you on the 6th?” he said. “Where were you when people needed to make decisions?”
This week, acting principal Yogananda Pittman, assistant principal Chad Thomas, acting assistant principal Sean Gallagher, deputy principal Jeffrey Pickett, deputy principal Eric Waldow, and deputy principal Timothy Bowen take on the role. In a memorandum to union officials, the union’s executive council explained why they were targeting the chiefs: ‘we can not start tackling the system’s systemic failures without new leadership,’ the memo said. . “We have leaders in this department. Leaders who trust us and who will work with the union to make the changes we need to make. These leaders exist, but not at principal, assistant, and deputy principals. ”
The veteran officer, who has been with the department for nearly two decades, plans to vote a “no-confidence” vote for all six chiefs this week. “Yesterday we sent a principal to the invitation. “I have never seen this man in my life,” he said. ‘These people are sitting in a glass tower, you never see them, and now it’s happened, we can not keep them away. It seems just as insulting and blatantly screaming of ‘I’m just trying to protect myself from everything that comes in the pipeline.’
The officials who spoke to BuzzFeed News were divided on who should go.
One officer said he supported the new acting chief, Yogananda Pittman, but that on January 6, he would vote ‘no confidence’ for three chiefs, who he said were ‘nowhere to be found. On January 6th. But he is not confident that even the captains will be removed. would be enough to change a culture in which he said they were treated like glorified TSA agents by members of Congress who wiped them out to do even basic policing, often demanding that officers blow them and their visitors through security checks . For the culture to change, he said, members of Congress must begin to respect officers.
Another officer, who has been with the department for about a decade, said the only thing he knew for sure was that he would cast a no-confidence vote in one of the deputy principals, which the officer also said he have not heard. from or see on 6 January.
‘He’s been a chief for years, and no one knows who he is; he has never spoken to anyone, ”he said of Thomas. “If he was not wearing a uniform, no one would even know who he was.”
In a memorandum sent to officers on the eve of the vote, acting chief Yogananda Pittman said she understood the officers’ ‘anger and frustration’. And she added that although the vote was not binding, ‘it does speak to the sentiment and concern of some of our officers’.
In response to BuzzFeed News’ questions, a department spokesman pointed to the chief’s statement.
But to some of the officers, Pittman’s words sounded hollow. Before being promoted to acting chief after the departure of former chief Steven Sund, who was forced to resign due to the department’s flat-footed response to the uprising, Pittman was head of his intelligence operation.
In a closed briefing at the end of January with the Home Credit Committee, Pittman conceded that her department had not adequately prepared for the attack on the Capitol.
“By January 4, the Department knew the 6th rally would not be like the previous protests in 2020,” Pittman testified. “We knew that militia groups and white supremacist organizations would attend. We also knew that some of these participants were planning to bring firearms and other weapons to the event. We knew there was a strong potential for violence and that Congress was the target. “
For one veteran officer of nearly two decades, admission alone should lead to the removal of management. “They had information and refused to disseminate it, and they endangered the lives of many officers … That is what the head of the committee acknowledged.”
In her letter to officers this week, Pittman promised that they would receive the necessary tools and resources to prevent another failure like January 6th. But for the veteran officer who intends to cast votes of no confidence in all six chiefs, more training and resources are not the issue.
‘They’m just going to throw a lot of money at some things, and we’ll do a lot of training and they’ll hire an outside agency to give us this new tool, or whatever the hottest training of the year is, and they’I ask the department an excessive amount of money to do this, ‘the official said.
For this officer, the only way to advance the department is to get rid of his current leadership.
“I do not think it is a miracle cure,” he said, “but there is no way forward with the people in charge then. [the attack] happened.”
He said he and his colleagues were struggling to keep up. He only realized how angry he was until last weekend when he saw his mother for the first time and they started talking about what happened on January 6th. He said he could see the pain and horror on her face.
“It just struck me in a whole new way. ‘I’m normally a very positive, jovial person, but I’ve been furious since that day,’ he said. “It’s not a good situation to be in a workplace and not to trust the people who make decisions that can determine whether I go home or my colleagues go home.”
“It’s a terrible place to work now, and it’s not what you want from people who carry guns for their money.”