Acting Capitol Police Chief Apologizes for the Department Failing To Prepare for Capitol Riot

The acting head of the Capitol Police is apologizing for the department’s failure to adequately prepare for protests on January 6, where rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

In a statement, Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda D. Pittman said the department “failed to meet its own high standards” in preparing to secure the Capitol ahead of the riot and as people stormed the building.

While she noted the riot did not stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote count, she said the department’s “inability to immediately secure the U.S. Capitol emboldened insurrectionists and horrified millions of Amerian.”

“I am here to offer my sincerest apologies on behalf of the department,” she said, adding, “Let me be clear: the Department should have been more prepared for this attack.”

Pittman said the department knew by January 4 that militia groups and “white supremacist organizations” planned to attend a protest of the certification, and it planned “to meet these challenges.”

“But we did not do enough,” she added.

Pittman proceeded to detail some of the security measures the department planned, such as requiring “all available officers” to work that day and increasing the number of “Civil Disturbance Units” — which included “four hard platoons equipped with less lethal munitions.”

She also said the department “activated its SWAT team to extract violent demonstrators or those with weapons from the rally and to engage in counter sniper activity.”

Additionally, she said former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund asked the Capitol Police Board to declare a state of emergency, and “authorize a request to secure National Guard support.”

“The Board denied the request, but encouraged Chief Sund to contact the D.C. National Guard to determine how many Guardsman should be sent to the Capitol on short notice, which he did,” she said.

Read the statement below: