A few weeks ago, I pointed out that the Capitol Police had 2,000 sworn officers. Far more than enough to secure Congress from a few hundred rioters.
Now the new acting chief, who fits the identity politics demographic profile, mentioned that 1,200 Cappies were actually on duty.
She said the Capitol Police had 1,200 people working on site when the attack occurred, which was “no match” for “the tens of thousands of insurrectionists.”
That’s complete nonsense.
There were only a few hundred people, current inflated fed estimates go as high as 700 and include people who were let in, who actually got inside.
(Some people attacked police outside without going inside. And many of those who went inside were peaceful.)
Police deployment is not a 1:1 ratio. But the Cappies were not fighting tens of thousands of people. Most of whom were peaceful protesters. They were not overwhelmed. They were disorganized. Had the Capitol Police locked down Congress and secured the building internally, none of this would have happened.
Instead, some Capitol Police escalated a confrontation with protesters outside leading to violence, while the fairly few officers inside did everything from allow people inside and take selfies with them to unnecessarily using deadly force against them. Internal organizational and personal politics likely played a role in these decisions. The media has focused on accusing some Capitol Police of sympathizing with the protesters, it has ignored the reality that some escalated the violence because of political hostility. Either way the Capitol Police made a complete mess of the situation and Pittman’s excuse is nonsense.
The Capitol Police were not overrun. They were badly deployed leaving a skeleton force inside. With 1,200 officers, they had more than enough people to secure Congress.
During the briefing, the acting House sergeant-at-arms, Timothy P. Blodgett, also said it was “clear there was a failure of preparation,” citing poor communications and a weak perimeter defense of the Capitol.
That’s a lot closer to the truth.
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