Capitol police chief defends response to ‘criminal’ rioters

WASHINGTON (AP):

The head of the US Capitol Police (USCP) defended his department’s response to the storming of the Capitol, saying on Thursday that officers “acted valiantly when faced with thousands of individuals involved in violent riotous actions”. Washington’s mayor called the police response “a failure”.

Chief Steven Sund, in his first public comment on the mayhem from Wednesday, said in a statement that rioters “actively attacked” Capitol police and other law-enforcement officers with metal pipes, discharged chemical irritants, and “took up other weapons against our officers”.

The siege, as the House and Senate were affirming President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory, was “unlike any I have ever experienced in my 30 years in law enforcement here in Washington, DC,″ said Sund, a former city police officer. ”Make no mistake: these mass riots were not First Amendment activities; they were criminal, riotous behaviour. The actions of the USCP officers were heroic, given the situation they faced.″

Lawmakers from both parties have pledged to investigate law enforcement’s actions and questioned whether a lack of preparedness allowed a mob to occupy and vandalise the building.

Mayor Muriel Bowser joined in the criticism of the police response. “Obviously, it was a failure or you would not have had people enter the Capitol by breaking windows and terrorising the members of Congress, who were doing a very sacred requirement of their jobs.″

A large crowd of Trump supporters had rallied near the White House on Wednesday morning, and the president told them that he would go with them to the Capitol. He didn’t. Instead he sent them off with incendiary rhetoric. “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country any more,” he said. “Let the weak ones get out,” he went on. “This is a time for strength.”

Capitol Police, who are charged with protecting Congress, turned to other law enforcement for help with the mob that overwhelmed the complex and sent lawmakers into hiding. Both law enforcement and Trump supporters deployed chemical irritants during the hours-long occupation of the complex before it was cleared Wednesday evening.

Four people died, including a woman who was shot and killed by police inside the Capitol. Three other people died after “medical emergencies” related to the breach, said Robert Contee, chief of the city’s Metropolitan Police Department.