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Capitol fencing comes down six months after Jan. 6 attack
By Jasmine Hilto and Ellie Silverman
July 10, 2021|Updated July 10, 2021 at 7:23 p.m. EDT
The metal fencing and concrete barriers that encircled the Capitol after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the complex on Jan. 6. gave way Saturday to an open plaza filled with families lounging on picnic blankets, dogs on leashes and visitors in sunglasses and hats.
The sidewalks where soldiers once stood holding their guns in protection of the complex now filled with walkers with strollers and bike riders.
Children ran and chased each other across the lawns leading up to the steps that were taken over by rioters six months before. Groups of families huddled close together for photos in front of the landmark building.
Heazel Trimer, 45, from North Carolina, stood along a pathway facing the Capitol as her daughter Sophia, 11, walked ahead of her.
Trimer stopped and looked back at the tall, white pillared building.
“Our democracy, our voices were attacked on that day,” she said through tears. “For us to still be here, and be able to walk up to it, it’s beautiful. It says that we’re resilient. It says that we’re better than that.”
Crews began taking down pieces of the fencing early Friday evening. More barriers were piled onto trucks and forklifted away Saturday morning.
The perimeter had become one of the last remaining symbols of the failed security response to the riots that disrupted Congress from confirming President Biden’s election victory and led to the deaths of five people. The fencing had also become a political flash point in recent months, with officials denouncing permanent enclosures that would restrict public access to the building that previously had about 2.5 million visitors per year.
“The Capitol grounds were meant to be used as a park, a place for sledding, a place to come and enjoy the open air, and we want it to return to that use,” said Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), the District’s nonvoting delegate in the House who has been trying to get the fence taken down.
On Friday, workers in bright neon vests plugged away from row to row, some standing atop concrete barriers to balance themselves as they drilled at the bolts holding the fence together.
The sun peaked from beneath the clouds after rain halted their progress, but it didn’t stop workers for long. As they made their way around the northern perimeter on New Jersey and Constitution avenues, a truck with yellow flashing lights and a Capitol Police escort followed alongside them. Bystanders looked on and snapped photos.
The next day, with the barriers gone, people filled the Capitol grounds.
Emily Durham, 22, and Colleen Calhoun, 23, both residents of D.C., said that they heard the fences were coming down and knew they had to stop by.
Durham said that while she did want the fence up for protection and security, the sight of it on her walks made her sad.
“Now that it’s down and we’re able to walk around this beautiful day . . . it almost feels like normal again,” Durham said as she tugged at the leash of Harris, a black dog named after the vice president.
So far, more than 500 people have been charged with federal crimes in the attack, when some Trump supporters brawled with police, broke windows and endangered lawmakers.
The House narrowly approved a $1.9 billion security bill in May that includes strengthening the Capitol building with reinforced windows and doors and additional surveillance, among other measures. The legislation now faces an uphill battle for Senate approval.
All of the fencing was expected to be removed within three days and the Architect of the Capitol can “expeditiously reinstall the temporary fencing should conditions warrant,” according to a memo sent to lawmakers Wednesday. Capitol Police will continue to monitor threats and the Capitol will still remain closed to public visitors, according to the memo.
The fencing has been scaled down significantly since the riot’s immediate aftermath, when the razor-wire enclosure circled the Capitol, Supreme Court and federal buildings and soldiers in fatigues monitored checkpoints. This spring, that enforcement shrank to securing just the dome. But 12 days after the road near the Capitol reopened in April, a car plowed into two Capitol Police officers, killing William “Billy” Evans, a father of two and an 18-year veteran of the department. The driver was fatally shot.
The second deadly attack at the Capitol in less than three months since the riot and after a year of widespread protests throughout the District sparked additional debate on how to defend the nation’s capital.
Residents of Capitol Hill have expressed concern for months with the fortification of their neighborhood and the restrictions to the Capitol.
“Part of what’s beautiful about our Capitol, and what’s very different than capitols around the world, is that we do have this access. It’s not closed off, it’s intended for every citizen to have access to it,” said Allison Cunningham, 37, a longtime resident of Capitol Hill.
Cunningham started a petition against the fence as soon as she heard of the proposal for making it permanent by the Capitol Police’s acting chief, Yogananda D. Pittman, at the end of January. Garnering over 34,000 signatures from across the region and country, Cunningham said she heard from other neighbors who wanted to work together to find better security solutions, which led to the creation of their community-based group, Don’t Fence the Capitol.
Cunningham said the fence not only took away from people’s everyday lives and routines like walking their dogs and riding bikes, but also served as a “painful reminder” of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Members of Don’t Fence the Capitol arrived to the complex Saturday morning, setting up their red wagon on the East side and passing out doughnuts with a smile to passersby. The day had finally come when they could return to the place they called “our backyard.”
Gabrielle Doyle, 58 and a resident of Capitol Hill, still remembers hearing the sounds from her home of rioters charging the Capitol on Jan. 6.
One call after another, friends and family phoned her from her homeland of Ireland and from Canada, where she once lived, asking her if she was okay and checking on her safety.
“They were all watching, they were all shocked. . . . Everybody saw as it happened,” Doyle said.
Then, the fence was put up.
The once daily routine of walking the grounds was stripped away and the ease of getting around the Capitol, and walking toward the National Mall, was two miles longer, Doyle said.
“The fence changed everything about our sense of life here,” she said. “To enjoy the place that we lived, we had to walk around barbed wire . . . and soldiers.”
Standing alongside neighbors and volunteers Saturday as she handed out doughnuts, Melanie Horne, 29, said it was “a silver lining” to be at the Capitol once again, opening just in time before her deployment out of the country for a year in her role in emergency humanitarian assistance.
Horne said the community organization understands that the day was also “bittersweet” for those who felt more secure with the fence, but said there are other thoughtful solutions including more funding for U.S. Capitol Police.
Now able to resume her daily walks, Doyle said she’s headed to her favorite spot, one she hasn’t been to “in so long.”
A tree that was planted in 1920, the year her mother was born, a reminder of her.
A truck piled high with fencing drives past the newly reopened Capitol grounds on Saturday.
By Jasmine Hilto and Ellie Silverman
July 10, 2021|Updated July 10, 2021 at 7:23 p.m. EDT
The metal fencing and concrete barriers that encircled the Capitol after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the complex on Jan. 6. gave way Saturday to an open plaza filled with families lounging on picnic blankets, dogs on leashes and visitors in sunglasses and hats.
The sidewalks where soldiers once stood holding their guns in protection of the complex now filled with walkers with strollers and bike riders.
Children ran and chased each other across the lawns leading up to the steps that were taken over by rioters six months before. Groups of families huddled close together for photos in front of the landmark building.
Heazel Trimer, 45, from North Carolina, stood along a pathway facing the Capitol as her daughter Sophia, 11, walked ahead of her.
Trimer stopped and looked back at the tall, white pillared building.
“Our democracy, our voices were attacked on that day,” she said through tears. “For us to still be here, and be able to walk up to it, it’s beautiful. It says that we’re resilient. It says that we’re better than that.”
Crews began taking down pieces of the fencing early Friday evening. More barriers were piled onto trucks and forklifted away Saturday morning.
The perimeter had become one of the last remaining symbols of the failed security response to the riots that disrupted Congress from confirming President Biden’s election victory and led to the deaths of five people. The fencing had also become a political flash point in recent months, with officials denouncing permanent enclosures that would restrict public access to the building that previously had about 2.5 million visitors per year.
“The Capitol grounds were meant to be used as a park, a place for sledding, a place to come and enjoy the open air, and we want it to return to that use,” said Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), the District’s nonvoting delegate in the House who has been trying to get the fence taken down.
On Friday, workers in bright neon vests plugged away from row to row, some standing atop concrete barriers to balance themselves as they drilled at the bolts holding the fence together.
The sun peaked from beneath the clouds after rain halted their progress, but it didn’t stop workers for long. As they made their way around the northern perimeter on New Jersey and Constitution avenues, a truck with yellow flashing lights and a Capitol Police escort followed alongside them. Bystanders looked on and snapped photos.
The next day, with the barriers gone, people filled the Capitol grounds.
Emily Durham, 22, and Colleen Calhoun, 23, both residents of D.C., said that they heard the fences were coming down and knew they had to stop by.
Durham said that while she did want the fence up for protection and security, the sight of it on her walks made her sad.
“Now that it’s down and we’re able to walk around this beautiful day . . . it almost feels like normal again,” Durham said as she tugged at the leash of Harris, a black dog named after the vice president.
So far, more than 500 people have been charged with federal crimes in the attack, when some Trump supporters brawled with police, broke windows and endangered lawmakers.
The House narrowly approved a $1.9 billion security bill in May that includes strengthening the Capitol building with reinforced windows and doors and additional surveillance, among other measures. The legislation now faces an uphill battle for Senate approval.
All of the fencing was expected to be removed within three days and the Architect of the Capitol can “expeditiously reinstall the temporary fencing should conditions warrant,” according to a memo sent to lawmakers Wednesday. Capitol Police will continue to monitor threats and the Capitol will still remain closed to public visitors, according to the memo.
The fencing has been scaled down significantly since the riot’s immediate aftermath, when the razor-wire enclosure circled the Capitol, Supreme Court and federal buildings and soldiers in fatigues monitored checkpoints. This spring, that enforcement shrank to securing just the dome. But 12 days after the road near the Capitol reopened in April, a car plowed into two Capitol Police officers, killing William “Billy” Evans, a father of two and an 18-year veteran of the department. The driver was fatally shot.
The second deadly attack at the Capitol in less than three months since the riot and after a year of widespread protests throughout the District sparked additional debate on how to defend the nation’s capital.
Residents of Capitol Hill have expressed concern for months with the fortification of their neighborhood and the restrictions to the Capitol.
“Part of what’s beautiful about our Capitol, and what’s very different than capitols around the world, is that we do have this access. It’s not closed off, it’s intended for every citizen to have access to it,” said Allison Cunningham, 37, a longtime resident of Capitol Hill.
Cunningham started a petition against the fence as soon as she heard of the proposal for making it permanent by the Capitol Police’s acting chief, Yogananda D. Pittman, at the end of January. Garnering over 34,000 signatures from across the region and country, Cunningham said she heard from other neighbors who wanted to work together to find better security solutions, which led to the creation of their community-based group, Don’t Fence the Capitol.
Cunningham said the fence not only took away from people’s everyday lives and routines like walking their dogs and riding bikes, but also served as a “painful reminder” of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Members of Don’t Fence the Capitol arrived to the complex Saturday morning, setting up their red wagon on the East side and passing out doughnuts with a smile to passersby. The day had finally come when they could return to the place they called “our backyard.”
Gabrielle Doyle, 58 and a resident of Capitol Hill, still remembers hearing the sounds from her home of rioters charging the Capitol on Jan. 6.
One call after another, friends and family phoned her from her homeland of Ireland and from Canada, where she once lived, asking her if she was okay and checking on her safety.
“They were all watching, they were all shocked. . . . Everybody saw as it happened,” Doyle said.
Then, the fence was put up.
The once daily routine of walking the grounds was stripped away and the ease of getting around the Capitol, and walking toward the National Mall, was two miles longer, Doyle said.
“The fence changed everything about our sense of life here,” she said. “To enjoy the place that we lived, we had to walk around barbed wire . . . and soldiers.”
Standing alongside neighbors and volunteers Saturday as she handed out doughnuts, Melanie Horne, 29, said it was “a silver lining” to be at the Capitol once again, opening just in time before her deployment out of the country for a year in her role in emergency humanitarian assistance.
Horne said the community organization understands that the day was also “bittersweet” for those who felt more secure with the fence, but said there are other thoughtful solutions including more funding for U.S. Capitol Police.
Now able to resume her daily walks, Doyle said she’s headed to her favorite spot, one she hasn’t been to “in so long.”
A tree that was planted in 1920, the year her mother was born, a reminder of her.
A truck piled high with fencing drives past the newly reopened Capitol grounds on Saturday.
I love it
Opinion | America Punishes Only a Certain Kind of Rebel (Published 2021)
Impunity paves the way for resurrection.
6 Months After Riot, Capitol Police Face Multiple Crises
The department that protects Congress is damaged and depleted following the Jan. 6 assault, with funding, staffing and operational problems plaguing a deeply demoralized force.
Officer James Blassingame of the Capitol Police says he still avoids certain hallways at the Capitol, struggles with feelings of guilt and routinely has flashbacks of fighting off the violent mob. Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times
By Luke Broadwater
July 12, 2021Updated 4:50 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON — As the mob pushed its way through the Capitol’s Crypt on Jan. 6, Officer James Blassingame was slammed back against a stone column and nearly overrun. He saw hate in the eyes of the rioters, hoisting Trump flags and “Make America Great Again” hats, as they urinated on the walls where American icons have served and called him racist slurs.
“Legitimately, I did not think I was going to make it home,” Officer Blassingame, 40, and a 17-year veteran of the Capitol Police force, said in a recent interview in which he described his experience in detail.
He did survive, but the horrors of Jan. 6, when supporters of President Donald J. Trump violently breached the Capitol, had a profound effect on Officer Blassingame. He was injured in the head and back. He said he avoids certain hallways at the Capitol, struggles with feelings of guilt and routinely has flashbacks of fighting off the mob.
And his personal trauma mirrors a broader crisis within the U.S. Capitol Police, which is badly damaged, demoralized and depleted six months after the attack.
“We have people retiring like crazy; we have people quitting,” said Officer Blassingame, who filed a lawsuit with another officer against Mr. Trump for damages for their physical and emotional injuries. “I have friends of mine who have literally come in and quit. They don’t even have jobs.”
Half a year after the Capitol riot, the 2,000-member police force charged with protecting Congress finds itself at perhaps its biggest crossroads in its nearly two-century existence. Its work force is traumatized and overworked as its ranks have been hollowed out by a flood of departures. The agency is facing possible furloughs as it teeters on the brink of running out of funding as overtime costs outpace its budget for salaries. It has been besieged by criticism by members of both parties for the stunning security failures that allowed the assault to occur. And on top of it all, its officers have become the target of conspiracy theories by Republican lawmakers who, following Mr. Trump’s lead, have suggested that a Capitol Police officer premeditated the killing of Ashli Babbitt, a rioter who was shot steps away from the door to the House chamber.
“There’s a lot of exhaustion,” says Representative Tim Ryan, Democrat of Ohio, the chairman of a subcommittee that oversees the Capitol Police. “They’re tired. I think they feel betrayed and unappreciated. And they were betrayed on Jan. 6, primarily by the leadership. They’re embarrassed about how it went down.”
The agency says more than 70 officers have retired or resigned since the Jan. 6 attack, which cost the lives of two members of the force who battled the rioters: Officer Brian D. Sicknick, who died from a stroke, and Officer Howard Liebengood, who took his own life. Officials say the departure rate is slightly higher than normal, but Gus Papathanasiou, the chairman of the Capitol Police union, said he believed the rate was far worse than was being disclosed.
“This year has been the worst I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” said Mr. Papathanasiou, who has served on the force for nearly 20 years.
Image
Capitol Police officers paying respects to Officer Brian D. Sicknick, who died of a stroke after battling rioters, during a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda in February.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times
More than 80 Capitol Police officers reported being seriously injured at the riot, though that number, too, is most likely higher, because many have opted not to report their injuries, according to Capt. Carneysha Mendoza, the commander of the Civil Disturbance Unit, who had facial burns that lasted weeks.
During the mayhem on Jan. 6, officers lacking helmets sustained brain injuries, cracked ribs and shattered spinal discs. One was stabbed with a metal fence stake. Another lost the tip of his right index finger. Still more were smashed in the head with baseball bats and flag poles. Dozens, if not hundreds, of officers are expected to experience post-traumatic stress disorder, experts say.
Only weeks later, a third officer, Billy Evans, was killed when a man crashed his car into the barricade he was guarding in the driveway of the Capitol.
In June, a 127-page joint report by two Senate committees presented a damning portrait of the agency’s preparations and response at multiple levels. Its leaders did not take seriously grave and specific threats of violence at the Capitol and against lawmakers, it found, and the force lacked the training and preparation to respond effectively when those threats materialized.
Documents obtained by The Times from a public records request filed by the group Property of the People, show that the F.B.I. warned the Capitol Police and the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police that extremist groups would be attending the Jan. 6 protests and “planned to use specific radio frequencies for their communication.” The District’s emergency communications office then programmed some hand-held radios to those frequencies and gave them to the Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department to use for monitoring, the documents show.
The dissemination of the radios, which was confirmed by the Capitol Police, is more evidence that law enforcement agencies were well aware of the involvement of organized extremists in the “stop the steal” protests and the threats against the Capitol.
Investigators have also looked into allegations that some Capitol Police officers were complicit in the riot. As part of the sprawling discovery process in the criminal cases stemming from the attack, the Justice Department has agreed to give defense lawyers copies of reports into those accusations, according to court papers filed on Monday.
Increasingly, there are calls for a near-complete overhaul of the agency. Top members of Congress say the acting Capitol Police chief, Yogananda D. Pittman, cannot continue to lead the agency, after the union representing officers voted shortly after the riot that it had “no confidence” in her and six other senior officials in the department.
But efforts to turn the page have been rocky. After the attack, Steven A. Sund, the Capitol Police chief, resigned along with the top House and Senate security officials, a move that left raw feelings on the force among some who remain deeply loyal to Mr. Sund.
Capitol Police leaders say the agency is making major changes. They have instituted better training that involves holding joint sessions with the National Guard and sending officers to learn from agencies in Seattle and Virginia Beach. The force plans to purchase more protective equipment and surveillance technology, funded in part by a loan from the Department of Defense. It will begin opening field offices around the country, starting in California and Florida, to help monitor and quickly investigate threats against members of Congress wherever they occur.
And the agency has increased its mental health services since the riot, including bringing in police from other agencies for peer counseling and adding two new emotional support dogs, named Lila and Filip.
Image
More than 80 Capitol Police officers reported being seriously injured during the riot, though the real number is likely higher.Credit...Kenny Holston for The New York Times
But other proposed upgrades cannot be funded without additional support from Congress, which is locked in a stalemate over the money amid Republican opposition to a $1.9 billion emergency security bill, including concerns about militarizing the Capitol with a quick reaction force of National Guard troops.
Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, has warned that the Capitol Police force will run out of money by August if the Senate fails to pass the security funding bill that the House approved in May over unanimous opposition from Republicans.
Already, Mr. Leahy said, the Capitol Police has delayed purchases of “critical equipment,” such as helmets and protective gear, because of the looming funding lapse. A wellness program that was intended to further address mental health concerns in the agency has been put on a “back burner,” he said.
The situation, he said, amounts to Congress turning its back “on those who fought, bled and died on that day.”
Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the appropriations panel, said his party had proposed a much narrower bill that would provide money for the Capitol Police while lawmakers studied what security upgrades might be needed.
That roughly $630 million proposal, a draft of which was obtained by The Times, would provide about $97 million for the Capitol Police, but did not include money for security improvements at the complex.
“We should pass now what we all agree on,” Mr. Shelby said in a statement to The Times on Friday. “The Capitol Police and National Guard are running out of money, the clock is ticking, and we need to take care of them.”
The funding impasse compounds a mounting sense of betrayal that many Capitol Police officers say they have experienced as some Republicans loyal to Mr. Trump, whose lies of a stolen election egged on the mob on Jan. 6, have worked to deny, downplay or justify the attack. Last month, 21 House Republicans voted against awarding Congressional Gold Medals to Capitol Police officers who responded to the riot. Senate Republicans blocked the formation of an independent bipartisan commission to investigate what happened, even after officers on duty that day and the family of Officer Sicknick personally pleaded with them to allow it to go forward.
In recent weeks, some Republicans have spread conspiracy theories, such as the baseless claim that the F.B.I. was secretly behind the Capitol siege. And some have latched onto the shooting of Ms. Babbitt, who was part of a mob that broke through a glass door only steps away from lawmakers when she was fatally shot, to suggest that the Capitol Police were targeting Mr. Trump’s supporters.
Image
A Capitol Police officer walking past riot shields near a door that the mob breached, months after the attack.Credit...T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times
Some lawmakers have credited the Capitol Police officer who shot Ms. Babbitt with saving their lives, but one House Republican, Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona — who has a history of associating with extremists and white nationalists — accused the officer of “lying in wait” to carry out an “execution.”
Mr. Trump has recently begun questioning the shooting and why the name of the officer who shot Ms. Babbitt has not been released, a question raised by a growing number of Republicans, including Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who has said that lawmakers should “demand justice” for Ms. Babbitt.
The Capitol Police, like Congress, is not subject to public records requests, and lawyers representing the officer say he has received death threats. The Justice Department in April closed its investigation of the shooting and declined to pursue criminal charges against the officer, though Ms. Babbitt’s husband has sued to force the release of investigative files related to the shooting and her family has threatened to seek damages from the Capitol Police for her killing.
To officers who responded to the mob on Jan. 6, the reaction by Republicans loyal to Mr. Trump only adds to an already untenable situation they are facing inside a broken department.
“We go to work every day to protect Congress, and these people won’t even have our back,” Officer Blassingame said. “The officers did our job — no member of Congress was injured on that day. For them to not have our back, it’s extremely disheartening.”
The department that protects Congress is damaged and depleted following the Jan. 6 assault, with funding, staffing and operational problems plaguing a deeply demoralized force.
Officer James Blassingame of the Capitol Police says he still avoids certain hallways at the Capitol, struggles with feelings of guilt and routinely has flashbacks of fighting off the violent mob. Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times
By Luke Broadwater
July 12, 2021Updated 4:50 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON — As the mob pushed its way through the Capitol’s Crypt on Jan. 6, Officer James Blassingame was slammed back against a stone column and nearly overrun. He saw hate in the eyes of the rioters, hoisting Trump flags and “Make America Great Again” hats, as they urinated on the walls where American icons have served and called him racist slurs.
“Legitimately, I did not think I was going to make it home,” Officer Blassingame, 40, and a 17-year veteran of the Capitol Police force, said in a recent interview in which he described his experience in detail.
He did survive, but the horrors of Jan. 6, when supporters of President Donald J. Trump violently breached the Capitol, had a profound effect on Officer Blassingame. He was injured in the head and back. He said he avoids certain hallways at the Capitol, struggles with feelings of guilt and routinely has flashbacks of fighting off the mob.
And his personal trauma mirrors a broader crisis within the U.S. Capitol Police, which is badly damaged, demoralized and depleted six months after the attack.
“We have people retiring like crazy; we have people quitting,” said Officer Blassingame, who filed a lawsuit with another officer against Mr. Trump for damages for their physical and emotional injuries. “I have friends of mine who have literally come in and quit. They don’t even have jobs.”
Half a year after the Capitol riot, the 2,000-member police force charged with protecting Congress finds itself at perhaps its biggest crossroads in its nearly two-century existence. Its work force is traumatized and overworked as its ranks have been hollowed out by a flood of departures. The agency is facing possible furloughs as it teeters on the brink of running out of funding as overtime costs outpace its budget for salaries. It has been besieged by criticism by members of both parties for the stunning security failures that allowed the assault to occur. And on top of it all, its officers have become the target of conspiracy theories by Republican lawmakers who, following Mr. Trump’s lead, have suggested that a Capitol Police officer premeditated the killing of Ashli Babbitt, a rioter who was shot steps away from the door to the House chamber.
“There’s a lot of exhaustion,” says Representative Tim Ryan, Democrat of Ohio, the chairman of a subcommittee that oversees the Capitol Police. “They’re tired. I think they feel betrayed and unappreciated. And they were betrayed on Jan. 6, primarily by the leadership. They’re embarrassed about how it went down.”
The agency says more than 70 officers have retired or resigned since the Jan. 6 attack, which cost the lives of two members of the force who battled the rioters: Officer Brian D. Sicknick, who died from a stroke, and Officer Howard Liebengood, who took his own life. Officials say the departure rate is slightly higher than normal, but Gus Papathanasiou, the chairman of the Capitol Police union, said he believed the rate was far worse than was being disclosed.
“This year has been the worst I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” said Mr. Papathanasiou, who has served on the force for nearly 20 years.
Image
Capitol Police officers paying respects to Officer Brian D. Sicknick, who died of a stroke after battling rioters, during a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda in February.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times
More than 80 Capitol Police officers reported being seriously injured at the riot, though that number, too, is most likely higher, because many have opted not to report their injuries, according to Capt. Carneysha Mendoza, the commander of the Civil Disturbance Unit, who had facial burns that lasted weeks.
During the mayhem on Jan. 6, officers lacking helmets sustained brain injuries, cracked ribs and shattered spinal discs. One was stabbed with a metal fence stake. Another lost the tip of his right index finger. Still more were smashed in the head with baseball bats and flag poles. Dozens, if not hundreds, of officers are expected to experience post-traumatic stress disorder, experts say.
Only weeks later, a third officer, Billy Evans, was killed when a man crashed his car into the barricade he was guarding in the driveway of the Capitol.
In June, a 127-page joint report by two Senate committees presented a damning portrait of the agency’s preparations and response at multiple levels. Its leaders did not take seriously grave and specific threats of violence at the Capitol and against lawmakers, it found, and the force lacked the training and preparation to respond effectively when those threats materialized.
Documents obtained by The Times from a public records request filed by the group Property of the People, show that the F.B.I. warned the Capitol Police and the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police that extremist groups would be attending the Jan. 6 protests and “planned to use specific radio frequencies for their communication.” The District’s emergency communications office then programmed some hand-held radios to those frequencies and gave them to the Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department to use for monitoring, the documents show.
The dissemination of the radios, which was confirmed by the Capitol Police, is more evidence that law enforcement agencies were well aware of the involvement of organized extremists in the “stop the steal” protests and the threats against the Capitol.
Investigators have also looked into allegations that some Capitol Police officers were complicit in the riot. As part of the sprawling discovery process in the criminal cases stemming from the attack, the Justice Department has agreed to give defense lawyers copies of reports into those accusations, according to court papers filed on Monday.
Increasingly, there are calls for a near-complete overhaul of the agency. Top members of Congress say the acting Capitol Police chief, Yogananda D. Pittman, cannot continue to lead the agency, after the union representing officers voted shortly after the riot that it had “no confidence” in her and six other senior officials in the department.
But efforts to turn the page have been rocky. After the attack, Steven A. Sund, the Capitol Police chief, resigned along with the top House and Senate security officials, a move that left raw feelings on the force among some who remain deeply loyal to Mr. Sund.
Capitol Police leaders say the agency is making major changes. They have instituted better training that involves holding joint sessions with the National Guard and sending officers to learn from agencies in Seattle and Virginia Beach. The force plans to purchase more protective equipment and surveillance technology, funded in part by a loan from the Department of Defense. It will begin opening field offices around the country, starting in California and Florida, to help monitor and quickly investigate threats against members of Congress wherever they occur.
And the agency has increased its mental health services since the riot, including bringing in police from other agencies for peer counseling and adding two new emotional support dogs, named Lila and Filip.
Image
More than 80 Capitol Police officers reported being seriously injured during the riot, though the real number is likely higher.Credit...Kenny Holston for The New York Times
But other proposed upgrades cannot be funded without additional support from Congress, which is locked in a stalemate over the money amid Republican opposition to a $1.9 billion emergency security bill, including concerns about militarizing the Capitol with a quick reaction force of National Guard troops.
Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, has warned that the Capitol Police force will run out of money by August if the Senate fails to pass the security funding bill that the House approved in May over unanimous opposition from Republicans.
Already, Mr. Leahy said, the Capitol Police has delayed purchases of “critical equipment,” such as helmets and protective gear, because of the looming funding lapse. A wellness program that was intended to further address mental health concerns in the agency has been put on a “back burner,” he said.
The situation, he said, amounts to Congress turning its back “on those who fought, bled and died on that day.”
Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the appropriations panel, said his party had proposed a much narrower bill that would provide money for the Capitol Police while lawmakers studied what security upgrades might be needed.
That roughly $630 million proposal, a draft of which was obtained by The Times, would provide about $97 million for the Capitol Police, but did not include money for security improvements at the complex.
“We should pass now what we all agree on,” Mr. Shelby said in a statement to The Times on Friday. “The Capitol Police and National Guard are running out of money, the clock is ticking, and we need to take care of them.”
The funding impasse compounds a mounting sense of betrayal that many Capitol Police officers say they have experienced as some Republicans loyal to Mr. Trump, whose lies of a stolen election egged on the mob on Jan. 6, have worked to deny, downplay or justify the attack. Last month, 21 House Republicans voted against awarding Congressional Gold Medals to Capitol Police officers who responded to the riot. Senate Republicans blocked the formation of an independent bipartisan commission to investigate what happened, even after officers on duty that day and the family of Officer Sicknick personally pleaded with them to allow it to go forward.
In recent weeks, some Republicans have spread conspiracy theories, such as the baseless claim that the F.B.I. was secretly behind the Capitol siege. And some have latched onto the shooting of Ms. Babbitt, who was part of a mob that broke through a glass door only steps away from lawmakers when she was fatally shot, to suggest that the Capitol Police were targeting Mr. Trump’s supporters.
Image
A Capitol Police officer walking past riot shields near a door that the mob breached, months after the attack.Credit...T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times
Some lawmakers have credited the Capitol Police officer who shot Ms. Babbitt with saving their lives, but one House Republican, Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona — who has a history of associating with extremists and white nationalists — accused the officer of “lying in wait” to carry out an “execution.”
Mr. Trump has recently begun questioning the shooting and why the name of the officer who shot Ms. Babbitt has not been released, a question raised by a growing number of Republicans, including Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who has said that lawmakers should “demand justice” for Ms. Babbitt.
The Capitol Police, like Congress, is not subject to public records requests, and lawyers representing the officer say he has received death threats. The Justice Department in April closed its investigation of the shooting and declined to pursue criminal charges against the officer, though Ms. Babbitt’s husband has sued to force the release of investigative files related to the shooting and her family has threatened to seek damages from the Capitol Police for her killing.
To officers who responded to the mob on Jan. 6, the reaction by Republicans loyal to Mr. Trump only adds to an already untenable situation they are facing inside a broken department.
“We go to work every day to protect Congress, and these people won’t even have our back,” Officer Blassingame said. “The officers did our job — no member of Congress was injured on that day. For them to not have our back, it’s extremely disheartening.”
5 Members Of Texas Family Arrested In Capitol Attack Case
The family that riots together gets arrested together.
By Sebastian Murdock
Five members of one Texas family were arrested Tuesday for their alleged participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
“Washington D.C. here we come… #StopTheSteal #TrumpIsMyPresident,” Kristi Munn captioned a Facebook photo that showed her and five other members of her family in the lead-up to the day’s attack, which left five people dead and more than 140 police officers injured.
The photo included her father, Tom Munn; his wife, Dawn; and Kristi Munn’s siblings Josh and Kayli. Another sibling who is a minor also attended the riot but was not named in the Justice Department’s charging documents unsealed Tuesday, nor was the minor charged. The family drove from Borger, Texas, to Washington, D.C., according to the documents.
Justice Department Members of the Munn family identified by the FBI.
The FBI, with the help of a tipster who knows the family, used social media posts from the Munns to build its case against them. Three of the Munn children’s former teachers also helped authorities identify them.
In one post following the attack, Tom Munn bragged about the day’s events.
“Patriots began chanting ‘they are stealing our country’ and ‘press forward’ as they were carrying the wounded out through us,” Tom Munn said in a post. “The only damage to the capital [sic] building was several windows and sets of doors.”
Munn said the crowd was “ANGRY!!!” and falsely claimed that “Antifa began marching through the middle of us towards the capital [sic].”
Video taken by Kristi Munn showed her inside the Capitol building, as did security cameras throughout the Capitol. She too bragged about the family’s exploits on Facebook.
“They gassed us all. We never fought back !” she wrote in a comment on Jan. 7. “We pushed forward and asked them to join us !! So proud of my Patriots.”
The five family members have each been charged with four federal crimes, including disorderly conduct inside the Capitol.
Another member of the family, Kelsi Munn, did not attend the riot, but posted photos of her family members who did, bragging about their participation.
“The biggest and best female empowerment I have ever seen in my life!!!” Kelsi Munn captioned the pictures, which showed her family inside and outside the Capitol. “These are the women in history 50 years from not [sic] I wanna read about!!!”
www.huffpost.com
The family that riots together gets arrested together.
By Sebastian Murdock
Five members of one Texas family were arrested Tuesday for their alleged participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
“Washington D.C. here we come… #StopTheSteal #TrumpIsMyPresident,” Kristi Munn captioned a Facebook photo that showed her and five other members of her family in the lead-up to the day’s attack, which left five people dead and more than 140 police officers injured.
The photo included her father, Tom Munn; his wife, Dawn; and Kristi Munn’s siblings Josh and Kayli. Another sibling who is a minor also attended the riot but was not named in the Justice Department’s charging documents unsealed Tuesday, nor was the minor charged. The family drove from Borger, Texas, to Washington, D.C., according to the documents.
Justice Department Members of the Munn family identified by the FBI.
The FBI, with the help of a tipster who knows the family, used social media posts from the Munns to build its case against them. Three of the Munn children’s former teachers also helped authorities identify them.
In one post following the attack, Tom Munn bragged about the day’s events.
“Patriots began chanting ‘they are stealing our country’ and ‘press forward’ as they were carrying the wounded out through us,” Tom Munn said in a post. “The only damage to the capital [sic] building was several windows and sets of doors.”
Munn said the crowd was “ANGRY!!!” and falsely claimed that “Antifa began marching through the middle of us towards the capital [sic].”
Video taken by Kristi Munn showed her inside the Capitol building, as did security cameras throughout the Capitol. She too bragged about the family’s exploits on Facebook.
“They gassed us all. We never fought back !” she wrote in a comment on Jan. 7. “We pushed forward and asked them to join us !! So proud of my Patriots.”
The five family members have each been charged with four federal crimes, including disorderly conduct inside the Capitol.
Another member of the family, Kelsi Munn, did not attend the riot, but posted photos of her family members who did, bragging about their participation.
“The biggest and best female empowerment I have ever seen in my life!!!” Kelsi Munn captioned the pictures, which showed her family inside and outside the Capitol. “These are the women in history 50 years from not [sic] I wanna read about!!!”
5 Members Of Texas Family Arrested In Capitol Attack Case
The family that riots together gets arrested together.
Brianna Keilar asks John Bolton if Trump is a fascist
Former national security adviser John Bolton questions whether former President Donald Trump was incapable of thinking coherently for more than 15 seconds at a time. Source: CNN
Former national security adviser John Bolton questions whether former President Donald Trump was incapable of thinking coherently for more than 15 seconds at a time. Source: CNN
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Two men charged with conspiracy in alleged scheme to attack Democratic headquarters in Sacramento
Federal authorities have arrested two men in California who allegedly wanted to start a movement to overthrow the government and discussed blowing up the Democratic headquarters in Sacramento in a new, major case of would-be domestic terrorists motivated by former President Donald Trump's election defeat.
In January, Rogers had told Copeland, "I want to blow up a democrat building bad," and Copeland responded in agreement, writing, "Plan attack."
The pair discussed "war" after President Joe Biden's inauguration, the Justice Department said. They also discussed attacking George Soros, a billionaire donor who supports liberal causes, and Twitter, which by then had removed Trump from the social media platform.
IEDs (pipe bombs) seized by the Department of Justice from defendant Ian Benjamin Rogers.
Federal authorities have arrested two men in California who allegedly wanted to start a movement to overthrow the government and discussed blowing up the Democratic headquarters in Sacramento in a new, major case of would-be domestic terrorists motivated by former President Donald Trump's election defeat.
In January, Rogers had told Copeland, "I want to blow up a democrat building bad," and Copeland responded in agreement, writing, "Plan attack."
The pair discussed "war" after President Joe Biden's inauguration, the Justice Department said. They also discussed attacking George Soros, a billionaire donor who supports liberal causes, and Twitter, which by then had removed Trump from the social media platform.
IEDs (pipe bombs) seized by the Department of Justice from defendant Ian Benjamin Rogers.
Stay yo azz in jail.
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fuckers getting 8months while blackfolks with a nugget of weed or voting by mistake getting years !
You know he did alot of snitching to get his sentence dropped down, they all will in the end.
He should be fed up. These idiots are out here literally killing people with their foolishness.
And the funny thing is they are killing their own people
Let them die
Trump blew campaign cash by paying MyPillow CEO to make an ad for him — and it was an epic disaster
One of the many stories to come out of the 2020 presidential campaign was that President Donald Trump blew through $1.1 billion and didn't move the needle in his polling. Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker's new book, I Alone Can Fix It, details a bizarre bet between disgraced former campaign...www.rawstory.com
Sean Hannity Urges ‘Take COVID Seriously’ as Fox News Coronavirus Talk Draws Scrutiny
Fox News' Sean Hannity urged viewers to get vaccinated but other hosts have been openly skeptical of government efforts to tame coronavirus.
variety.com
Sean Hannity Urges ‘Take COVID Seriously’ as Fox News Coronavirus Talk Draws Scrutiny
By Brian Steinberg
Courtesy of Fox News
Fox News has come under scrutiny in recent weeks for the mixed messages it has sent viewers about getting vaccinated against coronavirus. Steve Doocy might promote getting vaccinated on “Fox & Friends,” but primetime host Laura Ingraham has suggested U.S. government efforts to get Americans to take their shots should make people wary.
“Someone comes up to your door outside wearing a mask, showing up at your house claiming to work for the government asking you personal medical questions,” Ingraham said on her show earlier this month. “What could possibly go wrong there?” Tucker Carlson, another Fox News primetime stalwart, has also criticized government efforts to get people vaccinated, telling viewers to be wary of efforts to undermine personal freedoms.
At Fox News, executives appear to be drawing a line between what is good health-wise and whether viewers should have to give up personal freedoms to do so. But that has created a volley of different stands on the issue, with Fox News running a public-service campaign in February urging viewers to “keep up the fight” against the pandemic, and “Fox & Friends” co-anchor Brian Kilmeade generating controversy Monday by comparing people who didn’t want to get vaccinated to “cliff divers,” noting “It seems a little dangerous, but I’m not going to judge you. And if you go ahead and put yourself in danger, and you feel as though this is not something for you, don’t do it. But don’t affect my life.”
On Monday, two of Fox News’ best known faces, Doocy and Sean Hannity, made blunt pleas to the audience to get vaccinated. “If you have the chance, get the shot. It will save your life,” Doocy said yesterday’s “Fox & Friends.” Hannity’s comments were even more impassioned: “Please take COVID seriously, I can’t say it enough. Enough people have died. We don’t need any more deaths.”
Viewers of Fox News may see a back and forth over coronavirus protocols, but Fox News employees have not. Fox News’ parent company, Fox Corp., has in recent weeks told employees they must get vaccinated in order to enjoy greater freedoms at work. Los Angeles-based employees of Fox Corp. were told recently that they had to wear mask “regardless of your vaccination status,” due to rising cases in California. In June, employees were told that to be considered “fully vaccinated” at work they had to provide proof of getting vaccinated to the company in order to obtain a “Fox Clear Pass” that would allow them to go without masks in the office. “Employees who may be fully vaccinated but who have not entered their vaccination information into Workday will be considered unvaccinated under Company policies,” a June memo said.
The way Fox News handles the subject is likely to have more ripples in days to come. The nation is growing more concerned about the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant, which is likely to cause great harm to people who remain unvaccinated.
Video Shows Former Special Forces Stabbing Officer With Flagpole On Jan. 6
The Department of Justice released footage this week of a retired Special Forces officer hitting a police officer in the eye with a flag pole on January 6.
The Department of Justice released footage this week of a retired Special Forces officer hitting a police officer in the eye with a flag pole on January 6.
Newly-Released Audio From Interviews Shows Trump's Thoughts On Jan. 6
Washington Post reporter Philip Rucker joins Morning Joe to discuss newly-released audio from interviews he along with Carol Leonnig conducted with former President Trump for the new book 'I Alone Can Fix It'.
Washington Post reporter Philip Rucker joins Morning Joe to discuss newly-released audio from interviews he along with Carol Leonnig conducted with former President Trump for the new book 'I Alone Can Fix It'.
Trump is fuckin' nuts and so are his supporters
Nuttier as squirrel shit
YOooooooo......
DHS warns of right-wing violence fueled by Trump's August reinstatement delusions
The warning came during a House Committee on Homeland Security briefing
By JON SKOLNIK
PUBLISHED JULY 1, 2021 8:28PM (EDT)
www.salon.com
The Department of Homeland Security issued a warning to Congress on Wednesday over potential right-wing violence fueled by former President Trump's widely panned theory that he will be reinstated as president next month.
The warning came during a House Committee on Homeland Security briefing, where John Cohen, a top counterterrorism official, said the department is probing a sea of online chatter from various communities of ideological extremists.
Early last month, sources close to the former president told the New York Times' Maggie Haberman that "Trump has been telling a number of people he's in contact with that he expects he will get reinstated by August." While the theory is entirely bereft of any legal or historical legitimacy, many interpreted it as an implicit call to arms for Trump's loyal fan base to stage a violent assault once more.
During the session, Cohen addressed rising crime throughout the U.S. over the last year, which experts have attributed to a recent spike in gun violence.
One senior official noted to CNN that there has also been a spike in violent extremism, which he speculated could be tied to the recent suspension of longstanding coronavirus restrictions and stay-at-home orders.
"You're going to have more people out," he explained. "You're going to have more people in public places. And you increase the opportunities for individuals or groups of individuals who are interested in conducting attacks."
An FBI report from May found that there were 32 deaths in the U.S. stemming from domestic terror in 2019, a record high since 1980. Most of these deaths were carried out by white supremacists.
A DHS spokesperson told Politico that the department is "focused on the nexus between violence and extremist ideologies" and is working to "prevent acts of domestic terrorism inspired by disinformation, conspiracy theories and false narratives spread through social media and other online platforms."
Earlier this month, a Morning Consult/POLITICO survey found that nearly a third of the former president's base believes that Trump will be reinstated. One Trump supporter at a rally in Ohio even warned CNN viewers of a "civil war" if the former president is not ushered back into office.
A DHS National Terrorism Alert System (NTAS) Bulletin obtained by ABC News claimed that "in recent weeks, domestic violent extremists (DVEs) motivated by various violent ideologies have continued to advocate violence and plan attacks.
It continued: "As of 16 June, racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist-white supremacists (RMVE-WSs) were sharing downloadable links to a publication discussing targeting mass gatherings, critical infrastructure and law enforcement officers."
Intelligence officials are on especially high-alert with the Fourth of July weekend approaching, which will be flooded with mass gatherings. One senior law enforcement told ABC News that Independence Day – combined with rise in homicides and domestic terror – could create a "perfect storm" for violence.
The warning came during a House Committee on Homeland Security briefing
By JON SKOLNIK
PUBLISHED JULY 1, 2021 8:28PM (EDT)
DHS warns of right-wing violence fueled by Trump's August reinstatement delusions
The warning came during a House Committee on Homeland Security briefing
www.salon.com
The Department of Homeland Security issued a warning to Congress on Wednesday over potential right-wing violence fueled by former President Trump's widely panned theory that he will be reinstated as president next month.
The warning came during a House Committee on Homeland Security briefing, where John Cohen, a top counterterrorism official, said the department is probing a sea of online chatter from various communities of ideological extremists.
Early last month, sources close to the former president told the New York Times' Maggie Haberman that "Trump has been telling a number of people he's in contact with that he expects he will get reinstated by August." While the theory is entirely bereft of any legal or historical legitimacy, many interpreted it as an implicit call to arms for Trump's loyal fan base to stage a violent assault once more.
During the session, Cohen addressed rising crime throughout the U.S. over the last year, which experts have attributed to a recent spike in gun violence.
One senior official noted to CNN that there has also been a spike in violent extremism, which he speculated could be tied to the recent suspension of longstanding coronavirus restrictions and stay-at-home orders.
"You're going to have more people out," he explained. "You're going to have more people in public places. And you increase the opportunities for individuals or groups of individuals who are interested in conducting attacks."
An FBI report from May found that there were 32 deaths in the U.S. stemming from domestic terror in 2019, a record high since 1980. Most of these deaths were carried out by white supremacists.
A DHS spokesperson told Politico that the department is "focused on the nexus between violence and extremist ideologies" and is working to "prevent acts of domestic terrorism inspired by disinformation, conspiracy theories and false narratives spread through social media and other online platforms."
Earlier this month, a Morning Consult/POLITICO survey found that nearly a third of the former president's base believes that Trump will be reinstated. One Trump supporter at a rally in Ohio even warned CNN viewers of a "civil war" if the former president is not ushered back into office.
A DHS National Terrorism Alert System (NTAS) Bulletin obtained by ABC News claimed that "in recent weeks, domestic violent extremists (DVEs) motivated by various violent ideologies have continued to advocate violence and plan attacks.
It continued: "As of 16 June, racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist-white supremacists (RMVE-WSs) were sharing downloadable links to a publication discussing targeting mass gatherings, critical infrastructure and law enforcement officers."
Intelligence officials are on especially high-alert with the Fourth of July weekend approaching, which will be flooded with mass gatherings. One senior law enforcement told ABC News that Independence Day – combined with rise in homicides and domestic terror – could create a "perfect storm" for violence.