An internal Capitol Police review from June 4, 2021, obtained by Just the News, reveals 53 specific areas in which the Capitol Police failed in handling the events of January 6, both in preparation and real-time execution.
This after-action review reveals major errors throughout the entire department, including delayed deployment of personnel and a major intelligence failure. It is specifically noted that the new leadership, appointed by Nancy Pelosi after she became Speaker, dismantled key intelligence operations that led to greater unpreparedness by the Capitol Police.
Despite many outside sources warning of a strong potential for violence on January 6, 2021, the report stated that it “was never expressed with the urgency that they planned to overtake the Capitol and target Members of Congress.”
The report said that the Capitol Police leadership used a “generic, all-encompassing quote” in the operational plan that failed to convey the threat level they needed to prepare for. The report also revealed that this intelligence failure was even greater due to Pelosi’s newly installed department leadership who dismantled the department’s open-source intelligence unit that scanned social media for threats.
“Individuals with the most experience extrapolating open-source material were not tasked with reviewing social media to glean intel related to the event,” the report said. “The social media unit was immediately and essentially dismantled under the new leadership. New office reassignments and steering away from the concepts of having subject matter experts may have contributed to the tragedy.”
In an interview with NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik, Just the News host John Solomon dug into this report, revealing the true ineptitude demonstrated by the Capitol Police on January 6.
Solomon addressed an “extraordinary moment” described in the after-action report in which the riot units were delayed arriving at the scene on January 6 because “their equipment was in a bus and nobody had the key.” The Capitol Police leadership had also “redeployed some of their riot units to do other perfunctory work.”
Solomon then asked Kerik, who used to run a police department that kept its riot units going, “How big a flub is this?”
“It’s a lack of leadership, it’s a lack of preparedness. This is an event… they were looking at for a week or two prior,” responded Kerik. “You mean to tell me that nobody, nobody, made any preemptive plans on how they were gonna deal with any protests, any crowd, any large gathering around the Capitol?”
“For their ‘quick reaction force’ to be doing other duties on that day… That’s crazy,” he added.
Solomon also asked Kerik to address the “stunning” gaps in Capitol Police intelligence, specifically noting that the leadership received “warnings from the FBI that there might be violence,” but failed to convey this message to the officers and commanders.
“Just a short while before January 6, they closed down the open-source intelligence unit that would monitor social media. How bad were those two decisions?” asked Solomon.
“That in itself is stunning,” replied Kerik. “We learned in the aftermath of 9/11 [that] there is nothing more important than intelligence… In this case, not only did the FBI warn them, but other law enforcement agencies – including the NYPD – warned them that there were things, there [was] chatter, there were things on social media that they should be looking at.”
Another key finding in the internal report revealed that, on January 6, the elevator to the fourth floor of the Capitol – which contains very sensitive information – had zero security. Anyone was able to get on the elevator and easily access the fourth floor.
Kerik expressed his shock at this news, saying, “This is basic, everyday security that should’ve been going on whether there was a protest outside or not… If you’re screwing that up, well then you’re damn sure you’re gonna have problems with your quick reaction force, with your intelligence.”
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