The top brass at the U.S. Capitol Police ordered officers not to use their most aggressive non-lethal equipment, including stun guns, against the violent mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters that attacked the Capitol on January 6, USCP Inspector General Michael Bolton reportedly found in his investigation.
Don’t have an NYT account but I suspect this report won’t say much about the rationale for not using the same kinds of weapons used on protesters to clear them away from a photo op and provide a show of force for a weak, weak man. So that’s a contrast, innit?
Somebody invited an insurrection to overthrow the government. We all saw it happen. It was higher up than USCP. That is why Republicans do not want an independent investigation.
The plot sickens…
Feel like I’m picking on TPM writers today, but clarity matters: “…the USCP was given more advanced warning…”
“Advance” is the word you’re looking for.
Charge the brass at USCP from 1/6. They were in on it.
Those types of weapons are stored behind a security door that is clearly labeled “Break Glass in Case of BLM Gathering”.
When you can’t wield an upside down bible to ward off evil, you’re in a tough spot.
Former Capitol Police chief Steven Sund, who resigned in wake of the siege, testified during a Senate hearing in February that “None of the intelligence we received predicted what actually occurred.”
So lying under oath to Congress also?
Can we get the rioters back and deploy the stun guns this time? I want to see that.
MAYBE…it was a more “sophisticated or complex” warning, hence the confusion over what it meant? 
Maybe Officer Sicknick would be alive today if his superiors had given him a stun gun.
I admire your generosity of spirit! 
it’s possible there was no rational or even a connection from one to the other. Were USCP involved in clearing Jefferson Park? I think USCP and law enforcement just did not appreciate the risk from the Trumpers as naïve as that seems to us. I’m sure systemic racism played a roll but I’m thinking less conspiracy and more incompetence. Don’t give law enforcement too much credit.
I’m much more interested in what went on at the Pentagon in their slow response. Were they hesitant because of the heavy handed BLM response or following orders to not respond.
You actually question this bit?
I think you have to list among the factors here the understanding in any hierarchy that if the boss wouldn’t like you to do a thing, you’ll try to avoid doing that thing. This was a pro-Trump rally, and I think the leadership knew they should try more conservative tactics first and not come out breaking heads. There are other factors but I’d just assume that one’s possible.
yes, I do. I’m not a fan of grand conspiracies. I want to know exactly what happened and I’m happy to follow the evidence.
I think that is probably a big part of it.
I’ve maintained for a long while that Trump orchestrated an ‘inside job’ to prevent the military from responding and to create space to enable the insurrectionists to take advantage of their numbers to overwhelm the Capitol and disrupt the Congressional proceedings. Weapons are equalizers when you’re outnumbered, so a mysterious order not to use such weapons when the Capitol was directly under threat also suggests that decision was made in advance for some reason. I would suspect word came down through various channels and if you trace it you’ll find it originated in the Trump WH or Trump campaign.
I think many thought folks would just scream in the rotunda and make the news to make a political point on Trumpist defiance. Even if such folks who aligned with these various ‘stand down’ orders (this is Benghazi for real) didn’t know the full extent of what would happen, anyone trained in the security field would know how much more vulnerable members of Congress would be with such folks in the rotunda given their political agenda. It’s inexcusable.
We still don’t have enough information as to what communications the WH/Trump Campaign and their allies had with people at DoD or the Capitol Police regarding the Jan 6 event. What we do know is that Trump had planned Jan 6 for months, that his old buddy Roger Stone had many of his far right wing allies in attendance and that there was some coordination with the Trump campaign as to their presence. We also know that the DoD didn’t intervene until very late despite many pleas.
While the attack was happening, I remember wondering why the cops were not deploying tear gas and water cannons. Now I’m wondering why the cops were not allowed to deploy tear gas and water cannons.