Jim Hines (D) makes a terrifying observation.

[drray23]

He rightfully points out that the capitol security is sorely lacking. As he puts it we were not attacked by a militia group with military training. It was just a disorganized mob.
I shudder to think what bloodbath it could have been if trained operatives attacked the capitol. We better seriously beef up security.

[soothsayer]

1. I'd say so

[PJMcK]

2. There's a movie, of course

Olympus Has Fallen

[drray23]

6. yes i have seen it. it was gerard butler staring in it right ? nt.

[R B Garr]

12. Great movie! Time to watch it again.

[First Speaker]

26. There were two simultaneous Bad-Guys-Take-Over-The-White-House films in 2013...

...Olympus Has Fallen, and White House Down. *Olympus* is much the better film...

[bearssoapbox]

46. I think Olympus Has Fallen was just on.

I think it was Tuesday it was on.

If the cowards from Wednesday had, had 100th of the organization and equipment of the invaders in the movie there would have been a much different outcome.

But the defenses and training shown in the movie was more adequate and complete.

If the movie terrorists, with the training they had, had gone up against the inept forces from Wednesday the Capital would have been a pile of smoking ruins or a hole in the ground with who knows how many workers and civilian innocent's killed.

[NYC Liberal]

3. The resources are there. They were purposefully withheld.

[dchill]

10. That's painfully obvious.

DHS - Nowhere in sight.
Natl Guard - Not sent in until much too late.
Capitol police - Understaffed.

Trump set this up. With help.

[Nay]

11. And Secret Service -- no where to be seen. Capitol Police? They were letting

the rioters IN.

This was preplanned.

[StarfishSaver]

25. Secret Service wasn't the problem

They don't have responsibility for the Capitol complex. Kamala Harris and Pence had their personal details with them, but those agents are focused only on their protectees' personal safety, which mostly means getting them out of harms way.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

27. Who protects Speaker Pelosi?

I know she has beefed up security due to her position

[StarfishSaver]

29. She has a plainclothes Capitol Police detail

[Hassin Bin Sober]

31. Thanks

[wnylib]

28. I do not think that Capitol police

were complicit. Nobody anticipated a massive mob of thousands would attack the Capitol building. They were prepared instead for street scuffles and harrassment.

What number of police could have held off thousands of people stampeding into the Capitol?

They should have had NG backup. That is the president's responsibility because the NG are under his authority in DC due to its federal status. Trump refused to call them out until Biden's speech demanding that Trump take action.

[StarfishSaver]

32. I don't have reason to think at this point they are complicit

But they were definitely unprepared and, as you said, should have had backup.

I do, however, think it's possible that some individual officers were sympathetic and may have assisted the breach.

It's not that "nobody" anticipated this - Mayor Bowser and some Members of Congress urged them to be prepared for such an occurrence.

[wnylib]

39. Did they really tell Capitol police

to prepare for a mob of who would storm the Capitol buiding by the THOUSANDS?

They might have expected a hundred or even two hundred of the most radical ones to try to get inside the Capitol. But more than a thousand? I am skeptical that they expected that.

I am well aware that there are RW extremist sympathizers on police forces. I have posted here several times about the infiltration of US police departments by supremacists and militia members. I also know beyond a doubt that Black and other minority members are arrested, beaten, and murdered by police for peaceful protests. I am not an apologist for police racism and brutality.

I am just looking at the situation as it was. Police lined the Capitol to guard it. There were not enough to deal with the enormity of the crowd and the sheer physical strength of that mob size, all fired up on adrenalin after Trump's speech. There were other groups of insurrectionists in other parts of the city requiring police presence. And there were the normal, everyday police responsibilities going on at the same throughout the city.

I have listened to interviews of people who were at the scene. They describe the movement of the mob to the Capitol while other mob groups remained behind or moved in other directions. They tell of cops who tried to block the doors with their bodies and got shoved aside by the power of the mob. They tell of people in the mob using teargas and flash bangs on the police.

The fault is with Trump. Mayor Bowser requested, at least a day in advance, to have National Guard backup with the police. Trump did not provide it. He wanted this to happen as a terrorist threat of his ability to use his terrorist followers to disrupt government on his behalf.

Blaming police is misdirected. The blame is fully on Trump and the members of Congress who helped to stoke anger with their inflammatory rhetoric, lies about the election, and political grandstanding.

[StarfishSaver]

42. Local police was preparing for mobs of thousands and they knew thousands of people were gathering

and heading to the Hill. They should have been better prepared. But since they weren't, as soon as it looked like they were in trouble, they should have called in backup. The DC Police stood ready but were told they weren't needed.

Bowser asked for NG backup for the city, not for the Capitol since that's not her jurisdiction. Trump's failure to authorize it for her was ridiculous, but didn't affect this situation because her requested NG wouldn't have been sent to the Capitol. But she did offer - as is normal - for DC police to provide assistance to Capitol Police, but Capitol Police leadership declined the help. It wasn't until much later in the day that Capitol Police asked DC police to come in and help them clear the steps, plaza and West front, which they did and got the place cleared out really quickly, because they're good at that.

[intelpug]

51. mob of thousands

Is there an estimate on the number of people involved in this mob? I mean were the police numbers enough to handle this?

[wnylib]

52. How large is the Capitol police force?

Is it large enough to handle a mob of several thousand?

I had not heard that the Capitol police refused help from DC police. It seems strange that they would not have called for and accepted help from DC police since the rioters were using tear gas and flash bangs on the police at the Capitol. I don't picture them as martyrs willing to take one for Trump.

Whatever the case, the Guard should have been there. It should not have taken a speech from Biden for Trump to send in the Guard.

[StarfishSaver]

54. 1700

But many of those officers are spread out around the complex. There are several House and Senate Office buildings and other congressional buildings that are protected by Capitol Police.

According to the Washington Post, Capitol Police assured the city they had all of the resources they needed.

[wnylib]

55. There is another thread here that

I have not got to yet with the title that the head of the Capitol police was appointed by Trump. Might or might not be significant, but if the head of the Capitol police is a pal of Trump, it could explain why outside help was turned down, even though police on the scene were under attack and overwhelmed.

[IsItJustMe]

45. I will put it to you this way. If they were not complicit than they completely inept and derelict

in discharging their duties. Either one is bad and unacceptable.

[StarfishSaver]

49. They were also severely outnumbered

Which isn't on the rank and file officers but on the higher ups.

[Orrex]

18. Exactly.

It's much like pointing out that "trickle-down economics" doesn't work. Au contraire! It works exactly as intended.

The same is true here: capitol security behaved exactly as directed.

[SunSeeker]

21. Exactly. What's wrong with this picture:

[wnylib]

41. When BLM were outside the Capitol, Trump

called in Guardsmen and various unidentified forces to attack the protesters. When the terrorists mobbed the Capitol during the certification process, the only people available to deal with it were DC cops who were spread thin among the various groups in other parts of the city as well as at the Capitol.

This would not have got out of hand like it did if Trump had provided the Guard that Mayor Bowser requested in advance. He did not call up the Guard until after Biden's speech demanding action from Trump.

During the BLM protests, the Guard and the various enforcers called to the scene had tear gas and flash bangs that they used on peaceful protesters. When Trump's terrorists attacked the Capitol, it was the terrorists who had tear gas and flash bangs that they used against cops, who were too few in number to deal with a mob of thousands.

[Nay]

60. THANK YOU. The resources were available, but went unused because certain

elements in the present government wanted chaos.

[DBoon]

4. "beef up security" must remove police coordinating with the mob

It is long past time to terminate police officers with violent extremist ties.

[drray23]

8. there are reports that some capitol police officers

are getting fired.

[Nay]

13. They should be prosecuted as well, for being co-conspirators with the terrorists. nt

[Old Crow]

15. 100% (N/T)

[spudspud]

24. Agreed. /nt

[C_U_L8R]

5. The magat terrorists said they'd be back. With weapons.

They're just too dim to realize they're the bad guys.

[Orrex]

19. They should be hunted down an arrested in their homes

And, if they resist, their homes should be flattened with them inside.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

56. This👆

[MustLoveBeagles]

7. K&R

Watching that go down was terrifying.

[d_r]

9. In the story the handmaid's tale

An attack on congress is what allowed for giliad

[greenjar_01]

14. Mumbai hotel style attack...

They have a multi-billion dollar budget, the Capitol police.

Of course, one wonders whether it was a matter of confidence/preparation, or a matter of willingness.

[bigtree]

16. foreign operatives embedded among the rioters?

...taking pictures, recon.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[C_U_L8R]

20. Nice mug shot

I hope those souvenirs and selfies were worth ruining the rest of your maga life. Enjoy prison, traitors.

[Diraven]

34. Embarrassingly

This guy is from my district:
https://www.nwahomepage.com/northwest-arkansas-news/man-photographed-in-nancy-pelosis-office-could-be-from-northwest-arkansas/

[Acornsouth]

17. YA THINK?

[StarfishSaver]

22. This could have been a tragic disaster if those people had had half a brain among them

[wolfie001]

23. People need to be fired!

Heads need to roll. This is total bullshit!

[IronLionZion]

30. Dems control both houses now and president in 2 weeks

so Pelosi and Schumer could get it done. There are so many reforms to pass now for VP Harris to break the tie and President Biden to sign.

[sandensea]

33. More than just sorely lacking: they LET them in (!)

Link to tweet

[OverBurn]

43. They should go to prison. In fucking Gitmo.

[sandensea]

53. +1

Starting with the (Cheeto-appointed) head of Capitol Police:

Link to tweet

("Did I do good, Papa Trump? Huh? Huh?" )

[Hermit-The-Prog]

35. How about we remove MAGAts from the police force(s)?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

36. Ex-military woman shot breaking into corridor of Speaker's office area. SHE KNEW WHERE SHE WAS GOING

She had 14 years of service, so discipline, planning, and sense of mission. It would have been a highly prized target for her.

She was a criminal engaged in a dangerous criminal act, breaking and entering at least, during a riot that endangered staff and elected members of Congress.

It's good luck, and also due to policy of engagement I think, that she was the only one shot.

She should not have been surprised to be shot, and having been in the armed forces she certainly was prepared.

SHE KNEW WHERE SHE WAS GOING.

[RainCaster]

37. This job belongs to the Marines

Normally, I'm not a military kinda guy, but the USMC provides security to the USN bases and embassies; and they are skilled at serious site security.
No, our government should not appear to be a military organization. I realize that some may infer that by seeing uniformed and armed security at the people's house. Get used to it; you can't go into any court house in our country without passing through a magnetometer managed by armed police.

I make this suggestion because our citizens need to be secure when they come to visit or work in our government. The current capital security does not offer this.

[StarfishSaver]

44. Or they could have just accepted Mayor Bowser's offer of the DC police assistance

which they declined.

[FakeNoose]

38. They acted like college campus rent-a-cops today

[IsItJustMe]

40. Let's face it. From the video footage I saw, these police abandoned their post at a drop of a

feather. I would never want someone having my back with the disposition that these police showed today. It was utterly shameful.

[Ace Rothstein]

47. D.C. is going to be a police state for the foreseeable future.

[True Dough]

48. I said that to my wife tonight

Same observation as Hines. If an armed and trained group had infiltrated the Capitol today, it would have been a bloodbath. We would have lost many valuable lives. Shudder to think it.

And yet, Donny survived a four-year presidency somehow.

[StarfishSaver]

50. Yes. We are all lucky most of these people were little more than yahoos

As bad as it is, it could have been much worse.

[BrightKnight]

57. Yeah, but the police were not shooting back.

They were trying to avoid a blood bath.

[drray23]

61. if you try to storm the white house , pentagon, any military installation

you would be shot. Same should apply for capitol.

[malaise]

58. Congress cannot depend on the Federal Government for protection

when the Executive is the enemy of the people.

[Vivienne235729]

59. "Beef up" insinuates more of the same crap. Capital pd needs to be

Gutted and rebuilt from the top down. The new people need to be vetted.

[BobTheSubgenius]

62. The response to the mob looked so weak as to appear staged.

Some individual officers seemed to be doing their limited best, but others, if not complicit, seemed fine with having it happen.

[GopherGal]

63. For the State of the Union

the standard security precautions famously include a "designated survivor" cabinet member chosen to be in a separate secure location because so much of the US power structure is concentrated in a single place. It seems like there should be a similarly cautious security protocol in place any time the two houses of congress are in joint session. Some Capitol Police officer casually moving aside a gate to allow entry of "protestors", no matter how apparently peaceful, would have no place in such a protocol (except maybe to prompt his/her colleagues to tackle/arrest him/her!)

This is just one (of many, I'm sure) aspect of the more general problem that the US Capitol needs to have competent professional security, including reliable liaison with DC Metro police and nearby national guard and local/state police units.