Inspector general says police order to hold back riot-control weapons compromised Capitol on Jan. 6
Source: Washington Post
An order to hold back heavy riot-control weapons left Capitol Police at a grave disadvantage as front-line officers, vastly outnumbered, fought to protect Congress from a violent mob Jan. 6, the force’s inspector general told lawmakers Thursday, as he urged an overhaul of campus security.
Inspector General Michael Bolton told the House Administration Committee that a deputy assistant chief of police instructed officers not to use the weapons — including stingballs and 40mm launchers — out of concern that “they could potentially cause life-altering injury and/or death, if they were misused in any way.” Bolton did not identify the chief, but he said that had officers employed such measures, “it certainly would have helped us that day to enhance our ability to protect the Capitol.”
“The takeaway from that is: Let’s provide the training to our officers so they are used appropriately,” Bolton said, later adding: “Training deficiencies put officers .?.?. in a position not to succeed.”
More than a half-dozen congressional committees and one task force appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have opened inquiries into how law enforcement missed warning signals and failed to hold back the insurrection, during which hundreds of President Donald Trump’s supporters invaded the Capitol building in a deadly but failed bid to prevent Congress from certifying President Biden’s election win. But Bolton’s investigation, projected to continue for several more months, is expected to produce the most comprehensive analysis of how inadequate training and intelligence-gathering and operational “deficiencies” allowed the Capitol’s first line of defense to be overrun.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/capitol-police-inspector-general-hearing/2021/04/15/66407a96-9dfe-11eb-8005-bffc3a39f6d3_story.html
Inspector General Michael A. Bolton has no relation to the singer or John, as far as I can tell.
More seriously, IG Bolton's testimony can be read in full here.
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