You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

U.S. Capitol Security Officials Apologize for “Failings” in Response to Jan. 6 Insurrection

HeadlineJan 27, 2021

The Justice Department has so far charged over 150 people and identified another 400 as suspects in the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. At least 19 suspected rioters have been tied to far-right groups including the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Three Percenters, Texas Freedom Force and the conspiracy group QAnon.

On Tuesday, top U.S. Capitol security officials issued an apology for “failings” before and during the deadly Trump-incited assault, as they appeared before the House Appropriations Committee, which is investigating the attack. Acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman said, “By January 4, the Department knew that the January 6 event would not be like any of the previous protests held in 2020. We knew that militia groups and white supremacists organizations would be attending. We also knew that some of these participants were intending to bring firearms and other weapons to the event. We knew that there was a strong potential for violence and that Congress was the target.” Pittman became the acting chief of the Capitol Police after her predecessor, Steven Sund, resigned following the riot. She is the first African American and first woman to assume the role.

This comes as the commander of the D.C. National Guard says the Pentagon restricted his authority before the riot, delaying the deployment of troops after the Capitol Police chief called asking for help.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top