The Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was either a security failure, an intelligence failure — or both.
How could security forces in the nation’s capital be so swiftly and completely overwhelmed by rioters who stated their plans openly on a range of social media sites? President Trump had even tweeted on Dec. 19: “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”
Washington, D.C., is known for its multitude of law enforcement agencies — a fact reflected in the agencies involved in security on Jan. 6. The Metropolitan Police Department has jurisdiction on city streets; the U.S. Park Police on the Ellipse, where Trump’s rally took place; the U.S. Secret Service in the vicinity of the White House; and the U.S. Capitol Police on the Capitol complex.
And then there is the National Guard. In the 50 states and Puerto Rico, the Guard is under the command of the governor. In Washington, D.C., however, the Guard is under the command of the president, though orders to deploy are typically issued by the secretary of the Army at the request of the mayor. Others weighed in on the use of the Guard on Jan. 6 — but exactly how that decision was made is the subject of debate.
Here is a timeline of events before, during and after the insurrection at the Capitol. We will update it as more details become known.
Late 2020
The Department of Homeland Security produces a threat assessment — but it is an overview, a DHS spokesperson told NPR, focusing on the “heightened threat environment during the 2020-2021 election season, including the extent to which the political transition and political polarization are contributing to the mobilization of individuals to commit violence.”
The New York Police Department sends a packet of material to the U.S. Capitol Police and the Washington Field Office of the FBI. This raw intelligence — bits and pieces of information scraped from various social media sites — indicates that there will likely be violence when lawmakers certify the presidential election on Jan. 6.
But the DHS and the FBI do not create an intelligence report focused specifically on the upcoming pro-Trump rally. That’s important because these reports go beyond raw intelligence — they validate information and put it into context which helps local law enforcement develop a plan. These threat assessments or intelligence bulletins are typically written as a matter of course ahead of high-profile events. It’s not clear why this didn’t happen.
Monday, January 4
The Metropolitan Police Department arrests Enrique Tarrio, leader of the far-right Proud Boys group. He’s released the next day and told to leave Washington, after being charged with destruction of property and possession of high-capacity firearm magazines.
The police had noted that D.C. law prohibits anyone from carrying a firearm within 1,000 feet of any First Amendment activity.
U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund asks permission from House and Senate security officials to request that the D.C. National Guard be placed on standby, in case the protest gets out of control. The Washington Post reports: “House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving said he wasn’t comfortable with the ‘optics’ of formally declaring an emergency ahead of the demonstration, Sund said. Meanwhile, Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger suggested that Sund should informally seek out his Guard contacts, asking them to ‘lean forward’ and be on alert in case Capitol Police needed their help.”
Tuesday, January 5
The FBI Field Office in Norfolk, Va. issues an explicit warning that extremists have plans for violence the next day, as first reported by the Post. It releases its advisory report after FBI analysts find a roster of troubling information including specific threats against members of Congress, an exchange of maps of the tunnel system under the Capitol complex, and organizational plans like setting up gathering places in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and South Carolina where extremists can meet to convoy to Washington.
FBI Norfolk shares what they have discovered with counterparts in D.C., the Post reports. The head of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, Steven D’Antuono, later says that information is shared with the FBI’s “law enforcement partners” through the bureau’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. That includes the U.S. Capitol Police, U.S. Park Police, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and other agencies.
Officials convene a conference call with local law enforcement to discuss the Norfolk warning. The NYPD and Norfolk information contains raw intelligence that isn’t yet validated or analyzed. Sources tell NPR the information was worrisome because of its specificity, but was based on one or two sources — generally not enough to start deploying police or the National Guard.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser announces that the MPD will be the lead law enforcement agency and will coordinate with the Capitol Police, Park Police and Secret Service. “To be clear, the District of Columbia is not requesting other federal law enforcement personnel and discourages any additional deployment without immediate notification to, and consultation with, MPD if such plans are underway,” Bowser tweets.
In a letter to the Justice Department, Bowser says “we are mindful” of events in 2020 — likely referencing the June 1 clearing of peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square by Park Police and other federal law enforcement not answerable to the city. Police advanced through the crowd with little warning, firing tear gas and smoke canisters shortly before Trump appeared outside for a photograph in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church. NPR later reported that Park Police asked the National Guard if they had a “heat ray” weapon they could deploy. The National Guard said no.
That day appears to have profoundly influenced the mayor’s approach to Jan. 6. In her letter, Bowser describes the difficulty and confusion of policing large crowds while working around other law enforcement personnel without proper coordination and identification.
Bowser requests, and receives, a limited force from the D.C. National Guard. The soldiers number 340, though they are unarmed and their job is to help with traffic flow — not law enforcement — which is to be handled by D.C. police.
Officials including Chief Sund of the Capitol Police brief U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., the chair of the House Administration Committee. “I was told by the police chief and the sergeant-at-arms that everything is under control and they had provided for every contingency,” Lofgren later told The New York Times. “That turned out to be completely false.”
Wednesday, January 6
Just before noon Trump begins to address the crowd at the Ellipse, behind the White House. He falsely claims that “this election was stolen from you, from me, from the country.”
Trump calls on his supporters at the rally to march on the U.S. Capitol, saying he will walk with them. Instead, he returns to the White House.
Around 1:00 p.m. “We see this huge crush of people coming down Pennsylvania Ave. toward the Capitol,” reports NPR’s Hannah Allam. “We follow the crowd as it goes up to the Hill, toward the Capitol. There’s scaffolding set up for the inauguration already,” she adds. “But as far as protection, all we really saw were some mesh barriers, some metal fencing and only a small contingent of Capitol Police. And we watched them being quickly overwhelmed.”
The FBI says multiple law enforcement agencies receive reports of a suspected pipe bomb at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee. Fifteen minutes later, there are reports of a similar device at the Democratic National Committee headquarters. The agency offers a $50,000 reward for information.
