The incident could cause a chain of dismissals in the police leadership
McConnell calls for an investigation into the deployment of 6,200 National Guard troops
The security of the United States Capitol was called into question on Thursday after a horde of supporters of the country’s outgoing president, Donald Trump, broke into the iconic building to prevent the certification of votes and the ratification of Joe’s victory. Biden in the November 3 election.
The incidents, which have resulted in four deaths and dozens of detainees, have set off alarms in the capital of the North American country, where congressmen, politicians and experts have been incredulous at the apparently little security deployed around the Capitol in the face of a day of special relevance.
While security forces last week pointed to a detailed plan to keep Congress safe while Biden’s victory was certified, what happened Wednesday night has been described by many as a police “failure.”
Among them is the chairman of the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives, Tim Ryan, in charge of overseeing the funding destined precisely for the Capitol Police.
As he explained in statements to CNN, “there have clearly been enormous failures of a strategic and planning nature by the Capitol Police, as well as by the sergeants at arms and by all those who had a relevant role. when coordinating a defense of this type. “
The Democratic politician, a congressman from the state of Ohio, has qualified so that they have not been up to a place like the United States Capitol for a day “fundamental for the electoral process.” In addition, he recalled that it is forbidden to go to the adjacent square and that nobody has access to the stairs of the building.
For most, it is a mystery how the almost 2,000 agents on Capitol Hill – with funding of $ 515.5 million (420 million euros) – have failed to successfully protect Congress. That is why Ryan has suggested that there will be changes in the police headquarters. “It is clear that there are many people who are going to lose their jobs very, very soon because of this embarrassing assault,” he added.
In addition, the congressmen have advocated opening an investigation in this regard. Zoe Lofgren, a congresswoman for the state of California, has lamented that the situation “has set off all the alarms and has raised doubts about security” on the Capitol.
In this sense, she has guaranteed that both congressmen and senators will address this issue in the coming days at the request of the Administration Committee of the House of Representatives, which she presides over.
The leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, has urged to open as soon as possible an investigation in this regard, which he hopes will be approached in a “bipartisan” way. “The guilty of what has happened are the criminals who have broken windows and dirty our flag, who have fought against the agents and have hit our democracy,” he asserted. “They and those who have incited them,” he has condemned, referring to Trump.
On the contrary, he has pointed out that “this will not prevent the failures committed from being analyzed,” especially regarding the “security protocols” of Congress. In a statement, he has transferred his support to those who were “brave” and stood up to the attackers until they managed to put an end to the “insurrection.”
“That said, I want to emphasize that what happened yesterday represents an institutional, protocol and planning failure when the legislative power was supposed to be protected. A thorough investigation must be carried out (…) that will lead to great changes,” she assured .
VANDALISM AND HURTS
The group of supporters ‘Trump’ has left behind them broken windows and petty thefts, such as the one denounced by Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, who has assured that the “looters” have stolen one of the laptops that were in the office of he.
“They broke the door, they took it off the hinges,” he has asserted in a video posted on his Twitter account. Thus, he has explained that “they tore things off the walls” and took the laptop. The senator has assured that his office has been looted and insisted that “you can even see rubble on the ground.”
At a press conference, Police Chief Robert J. Contee explained that five weapons have been seized after the arrest of the suspects. None of them were residents of Washington.
For his part, the attorney general of Washington, Karl Racine, has broken a spear in favor of the Police and has clarified that the “disappointment” comes, in fact, from the agents at the federal level. “The police in Washington, frankly, did their job. They helped the Congressional Police to restore order and arrested people who were violating the curfew,” he maintained. “The ones who disappointed us were our colleagues at the federal level,” he has said.
Racine has also detailed that agents at the local level lacked the necessary jurisdiction to press charges for the majority of crimes committed, a task that would fall on federal forces.
However, the videos disseminated through social networks point to an alleged complicity on the part of the agents, who appear taking photos with Trump’s followers or exerting little resistance at the entrance to the Capitol.
THE POLICE RATES THE INCIDENT OF Riotousness
Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund has described the incident as “criminal behavior close to riot” and has warned that the attitude of the followers who broke into the building was “violent.”
Sund, who has clarified that what happened is being investigated, as well as the security planning and the procedures put in place, has emphasized that the agents “did have a robust security plan.”
However, he has clarified that the plan did not contemplate “this type of disturbance” and has reiterated that what happened was practically an uprising. “Trump supporters attacked the agents with metal pipes and used irritants and other weapons during the assault,” he said.
The Chief of Police has confirmed that one of the officers opened fire on a woman, who later died due to the severity of the injuries and has been identified as Ashli ​​Babbitt. Said agent has been suspended from employment and salary, as he has confirmed.
NEW DEPLOYMENT OF THE NATIONAL GUARD
The National Guard has decided to deploy another 6,200 troops to Washington to assist agents on the ground.
It is expected that 1,000 troops will arrive from New York state, while Maryland and New Jersey will send about 500 each, according to sources from the Department of Defense have revealed to CNN, which indicate that other states, such as Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia they will also send troops.
Thus, they will remain in Washington for a period of 30 days to ensure the security of the Capitol and the surrounding area beyond January 20, the date of Biden’s inauguration. Previously, the National Guard had deployed 1,100 personnel in response to the assault on the Capitol.
For her part, the mayor of the city, Muriel Bowser, has reported that in total there are 68 people arrested during the assault, 36 of them for violating the curfew, 25 for breaking the curfew and breaking into the Capitol , five for illegal possession of firearms and another two for illegal possession of other types of weapons.
