Live Updates: Capitol’s Ex-Security Officials Point to Intelligence Failures Before Riot

Top security officials who were at the Capitol during the attack are testifying at a hearing, as are police officials who responded. The Senate confirmed Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. President Biden is planning to travel to Houston on Friday to review the storm recovery in Texas.
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Ex-Capitol security officials blame other agencies and communication failures in the riot.

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Senate confirms Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be Biden’s ambassador to the U.N.

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The Bidens will visit Texas on Friday to review storm recovery and vaccine efforts.

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Ex-Capitol security officials blame other agencies and communication failures in the riot.
The joint meeting of two Senate committees was the first time the public has heard former Capitol Police Chief Steven A. Sund, one of the top security officials at the Capitol on the day of the assault last month.
The joint meeting of two Senate committees was the first time the public has heard former Capitol Police Chief Steven A. Sund, one of the top security officials at the Capitol on the day of the assault last month.Credit…Erin Scott for The New York Times

Three former top Capitol security officials and the chief of the Washington police blamed federal law enforcement and the Defense Department on Tuesday for intelligence failures ahead of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and for slow authorization of the National Guard as the violence escalated.

“None of the intelligence we received predicted what actually occurred,” former Capitol Police Chief Steven A. Sund told senators who are investigating security failures related to the attack. He called the riot “the worst attack on law enforcement and our democracy that I have seen” and said he witnessed insurrectionists assaulting officers not only with their fists but also with pipes, sticks, bats, metal barricades and flagpoles.

“These criminals came prepared for war,” Chief Sund said.

Chief Sund, Paul D. Irving, the former House sergeant-at-arms, and Michael C. Stenger, his former Senate counterpart, each said they had not seen a report from an F.B.I. field office in Norfolk, Va., that flagged an anonymous social media thread that warned of a looming war at the Capitol despite planning meetings with the bureau and others in federal law enforcement.

They pointed to a breakdown in communication of some of the intelligence. Chief Sund testified he now knows the F.B.I. report had reached the Capitol Police the day before the attack, but he had not personally seen it. He said that a Capitol Police officer assigned to a law enforcement joint terrorism task force received the document the night before the riot and sent it to an intelligence division official on the force.

“It did not go any further than that,” Chief Sund said.

Robert J. Contee, the chief of Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department, laid the blame for the slow deployment of the National Guard solely on the Defense Department, noting that the Army had expressed reluctance to send in the troops as the violence escalated.

“I was stunned at the response from Department of the Army,” Chief Contee said.

The joint meeting of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Rules and Administration Committee was the first time the public has heard Mr. Sund and Mr. Iriving, the top two security officials at the Capitol on the day of the assault. Both resigned after the attack.
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transcript
‘Hold the Line, Patriots’: Scenes From the Capitol Riot
Our cameras captured the mayhem, confusion and chaos outside the Capitol as Trump supporters entered and disrupted certification of the Electoral College results.

“… the police are … I’m just giving you guys a heads-up. They already secured the White House. I’m just giving you a heads-up. Hold the line, patriots. Hold the line. National Guard is on their way.” Crowd: “The steal is real. The steal is real …” “The steal is real.” [cheering] “They’re not operating by our [expletive] laws. This is real. And theirs is fake.” [cheering] “Put the knife away.” “Y’all are out here, they’re gone. Why are we here?” “Yeah, but you’re holding a knife.” “He just [expletive] got in my face, a man.” “That’s a good point, but you got a knife.” “A man just got in my face.” “I know. It’s wrong, it’s wrong.” “OK, well talk to him. Don’t talk to a woman that jumped in my face.” “You got a lot of people here to defend you. A lot of people.” “I will [expletive] kill anybody.” “U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” [coughing] “U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” “Every one of us in the front line got hit really hard with pepper spray. A lot of it. And so that pushed us back. But they’re still working on getting inside the building and taking their stand.” “U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” “Listen up. Hey! Listen up! We need to go take down MSNBC, CNN, you know where all this [expletive] started and put out the fire. They started the fire.” “We’re not here to be violent. We are not here to be violent. We’re not here to be violent with you guys.” “Who has water?” “Me.” “Water, water.” “The ones who protected you. The ones who stood by your side when you were being attacked.” “Traitors! Traitors! Traitors!” “Now you’re attacking us.” “[Expletive] garbage people. Such a [expletive] shame.” “My 5-year-old son’s more of a [expletive] man than you are!” “Move! Move!”

2:55‘Hold the Line, Patriots’: Scenes From the Capitol Riot
Our cameras captured the mayhem, confusion and chaos outside the Capitol as Trump supporters entered and disrupted certification of the Electoral College results.CreditCredit…Win Mcnamee/Getty Images

They have come under scrutiny amid reports that they did not act swiftly enough to call for the National Guard.

Mr. Irving took issue with former Chief Sund’s account that the former sergeant-at-arms rejected National Guard support because of “optics.” He also disputed Mr. Sund’s timeline of events on Jan. 6 that indicated Mr. Irving waited half an hour before approaching political leaders about calling in the guard.

“Certain media reports have stated that ‘optics’ determined my judgment about using those National Guard troops. That is categorically false,” Mr. Irving said. “‘Optics’ as portrayed in the media did not determine our security posture; safety was always paramount when evaluating security for Jan. 6.”

Still, he acknowledged the security failures. “We now know we had the wrong plan,” he said.

Some Republicans have sought to undermine the severity of the attacks by claiming that they were unplanned. In response to questions from Senator Gary Peters, Democrat of Michigan and chairman of the Homeland Security committee, Mr. Sund, Mr. Conte and Mr. Irving all said that they believed the siege was coordinated.

“These people came with equipment, climbing gear,” Mr. Sund said, adding that two explosive devices placed near the Capitol distracted the authorities. Mr. Conte said that there is evidence the attackers used hand signals and coordinated their use of irritants, like bear spray.

In response to questioning, Mr. Sund said that Capitol Police had not been trained on how to deal with a mass infiltration and that many officers had not been equipped with riot gear. Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, seemed somewhat surprised by the disclosures, calling for such training and for protective gear for officers including helmets and gas masks.

Capitol Police Capt. Carneysha Mendoza testified to the violence she confronted Jan. 6. After she was called in early to duty at 1:30 p.m., she fought to keep rioters from damaging the Capitol, nearly breaking her arm and suffering burns from gas deployed in the Rotunda.

“I received chemical burns to my face that still have not healed to this day,” Captain Mendoza told senators.

After fighting the mob for four long hours, she spent the next day at the hospital with the family of Officer Brian Sicknick, who collapsed after suffering injuries during the siege and later died.

“It’s sad to see us attacked by our fellow citizens,” Captain Mendoza added.

— Luke Broadwater The New York Times