The ease with which Donald Trump’s followers managed to enter the Capitol to interrupt the certification of the election of Joe Biden as the new president of the United States was one of the things that caused the greatest surprise inside and outside the United States. .
How was it possible that a relatively small number of people raided the headquarters of the Congress of the most powerful country in the world?
The answer, however, is relatively simple.
The authorities simply did not use the immense force at their disposal to try to prevent it.
The why , however, is already a more complicated matter.
For now, what is undoubted is that although a march of The protest to the Capitol had been widely announced, and the takeover of Congress had been openly discussed by some groups related to Trump on social networks, the security operation arranged for the occasion was not especially great.
For example, unlike what happened during the marches to protest the death of African-American George Floyd in mid-2020, when the Capitol was militarized, this Wednesday the security of the parliamentary headquarters was left almost exclusively in the hands of the Capitol Police , a corps of 2, 000 agents who were quickly overwhelmed.
The troops assigned to the protection of the Capitol were quickly overwhelmed. A Request of the Mayor of Washington, Muriel Bowser, 340 National Guards had also been activated for the occasion, but the National Guard was not deployed in front of the Capitol, as It did occur – and in much larger numbers – during the protests of Black Lives Matter last June.
In fact, according to the British newspaper The Guardian, only 115 guards were on duty simultaneously, and the vast majority engaged in tasks traffic control .
And the reinforcements -in the form of more troops from the National Guard and the Washington DC police department- were only sent when it was already too late.
Unprepared Otherwise , the Capitol Police seem not to have been prepared for the occasion , being the object of harsh criticism by numerous politicians and commentators.
This Thursday, the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, announced the resignation of Sergeant Paul Irving, responsible for the security of that legislative body.
Pelosi also called for the resignation of Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund , with whom, she said , has not spoken since Wednesday’s events.
Many have denounced the great difference in the use of force by the authorities compared to protests led by black citizens. According to a police expert quoted by The New York Times, given the potential participation in the march of extremist groups with a history of violent clashes, one perimeter should have been erected around the nearby Capitolio area and a second one around the building itself.
“It didn’t seem like they had a clear operational plan to deal with the situation,” Val Demings, a Democratic congressman from Florida, told MSNBC channel.
And many – including President-elect Joe Biden – have also compared the scant resistance offered by agents against Trump supporters – who are overwhelmingly white – with the disproportionate use of force against protesters. Blacks from Black Lives Matter.
One of the assailants broke into the Democrat’s office Nancy Pelosi. The fact that some agents took selfies inside the Capitol with the assailants it only increased criticism of the police action.
In addition, some videos showed an agent erecting a barrier to allow the assailants to enter.
In others, police officers are seen escorting protesters through the Capitol without stopping them.
The Trump factor That difference Treatment was also evident in President Trump’s rhetoric, who told the Capitol raiders that they were “special” and “we love you ,” when in June he disqualified the participants in the protests against racism and police violence as “wild dogs.”
And, for many, the big difference between the aggressive security operations in June, and the little protection offered to the Capitol on Wednesday, has a lot to do with Trump himself.
The difference with the deployment of troops during the Black Lives Matter protests is remarkable. Effectively te, it was the president who ordered the gigantic deployment of the National Guard during the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Washington DC.
But Trump He did not do the same even after the assault on the Capitol was completed, which made him the acting Secretary of Defense , Christopher Miller, who ordered the mobilization of more guards.
And according to CBS, the events – which could have been avoided with a greater police presence – have led to members of Trump’s cabinet discuss the possible application of the amendment 25 of the U.S. Constitution, which provides how the vice president and the majority of the cabinet can temporarily remove a president from office.
Others speak of a possible new impeachment in Congress.
Numerous congressmen are also calling for a specific investigation into e the events of Wednesday, which should determine the causes of the obvious failures of the security.
“We must investigate the security breach in the Capitol today,” wrote the same Wednesday night on Twitter California Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters.
“Four days ago I warned our caucus and had an hour-long conversation with the police chief , who assured me that he did not it would allow the terrorists to enter the plaza and the Capitol would be safe, “he added.
Clearly, it was not.
Lots of doubts Reinforcements arrived when the Capitol had already been taken. Professor Clifford Stott, a specialist in crowd surveillance who works as an advisor to the UK government, says that “significant police failures and very shameful ”that were observed in Washington DC on Wednesday leave many questions to be resolved.
Currently, Professor Stott is analyzing the police response to the Black Lives Matter protests in Seattle a few months ago and says that, even taking into account the complex police structure in the US capital, there appears to have been a lack of preparation for any escalation on the part of Trump supporters.
“There was information available that there was a high probability that there would be a successful attempt like yesterday’s to enter the Capitol, “he told the BBC. “Not being able to predict it is what led them to be inadequately prepared.”
Professor Stott, who is known for his research on the psychology of group violence and vandalism, told the BBC that he found particularly interesting the general mood of “joy” among protesters who openly commit crimes.
“The crowd had a very purposeful Of course, and that was driven by the idea that their actions were legitimate, given the perception that their president, like their commander-in-chief, had authorized them to go and do this, ”he says.
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