Police command structure crumbled fast during Capitol riot - AP interview with police officer there during the riot -

[SilentPanda]

As the rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, many of the police officers had to decide on their own how to fight them off. There was no direction. No plan. And no top leadership.

One cop ran from one side of the building to another, fighting hand-to-hand against rioters. Another decided to respond to any calls of officers in distress and spent three hours helping cops who had been immobilized by bear spray or other chemicals.

Three officers were able to handcuff one rioter. But a crowd swarmed the group and took the arrested man away with the handcuffs still on.

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The officers who spoke to the AP said they were given next to no warning by leadership on the morning of Jan. 6 about what would become a growing force of thousands of rioters, many better armed than the officers themselves were. And once the riot began, they were given no instructions by the department's leaders on how to stop the mob or rescue lawmakers who had barricaded themselves inside. There were only enough officers for a routine day.

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Three officers told the AP they did not hear Chief Steven Sund on the radio the entire afternoon. It turned out he was sheltering with Vice President Mike Pence in a secure location for some of the siege. Sund resigned the next day.

His assistant chief, Yogananda Pittman, who is now interim chief, was heard over the radio telling the force to "lock the building down," with no further instructions, two officers said.

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One specific order came from Lt. Tarik Johnson, who told officers not to use deadly force outside the building as the rioters descended, the officers recounted. The order almost certainly prevented deaths and more chaos, but it meant officers didn't pull their weapons and were fighting back with fists and batons.

Johnson has been suspended after being captured on video wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat while moving through crowds of rioters. Johnson told colleagues he wore the hat as a tactic to gain the crowd's confidence as he tried to reach other officers who were pinned down by rioters, one of the officers said. A video of the incident obtained by the Wall Street Journal shows Johnson asking rioters for help in getting his colleagues.

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The Capitol Police has more than 2,300 staff and a budget that's grown rapidly over the last two decades to roughly $500 million, making it larger than many major metro police departments. Minneapolis, for example, has 840 officers and a $176 million budget.

One officer listed the various weapons used to hit him and people near him: batons, flagpoles, sections of fencing, batteries, rubber bullets and canisters of bear spray that went further than the chemicals the officers themselves had. Some of the rioters showed their badges from other law enforcement agencies, claiming they were on the side of the Capitol Police, the officer said.

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Police command structure crumbled fast during Capitol riot

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, many of the police officers had to decide on their own how to fight them off. There was no direction. No plan.

apnews.com

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

Heads better roll for this.

 

[Herb Alpert]

This is the dumbest coup attempt history has ever seen

 

[DvdGzz]

Lucky there weren't even more deaths. I wonder what more will happen in the coming days.

 

[cartoon_soldier]

Edit: Removed as Cop might have had a good reason for wearing the Maga hat.

 

[Chuck]

Not sure why you cut this bit about the maga hat cop out...

Johnson told colleagues he wore the hat as a tactic to gain the crowd's confidence as he tried to reach other officers who were pinned down by rioters, one of the officers said. A video of the incident obtained by the Wall Street Journal shows Johnson asking rioters for help in getting his colleagues.

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Also from the WSJ

The officer, identified by The Wall Street Journal as Lt. Tarik Khalid Johnson, has told colleagues the images weren't what they seemed. The MAGA cap was a ruse that was part of an unusual plan to rescue more than a dozen trapped police officers during the Jan. 6 riot, the officers said he told them. And one witness said the lieutenant's action enabled a set of doors to the Capitol to be closed, shutting off an entry point to more intruders.

Lt. Johnson, 45 years old, is one of three officers suspended after rioters overran law enforcement and endangered the lives of members of Congress as they were certifying the Electoral College votes to elect Joseph Biden as president. Investigations are active into several other officers' actions that day, according to a congressional aide.

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[Solace]

This is the dumbest coup attempt history has ever seen

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Which is pretty fitting for Trump et al.

 

[Herb Alpert]

Which is pretty fitting for Trump et al.

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Yeah lol
I guess one has the diabolic 4D chess masterplans they deserve.

 

[Feep]

Five. Hundred. Million. Dollars. For almost absolutely no resistance, no coordination, no anything.

A neighborhood watch patrol could have done better. Every single person involved should be disgraced out of the profession and/or in jail.

 

[Elfotografoalocado]

How can the police department of the Capitol have a budget of 500 million dollars?

 

[astroturfing]

why was the cop wearing a MAGA hat only suspended? he sided with the racist terrorist traitors, shouldn't he be considered one and be detained and charged and put in prison to rot? he's just walking free...? goddamn ridiculous, unbelievable. but not surprising.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

How the fuck did that chief get promoted to the position. Really, it takes an extraordinary amount of incompetence to fuck up on a scale like this. And that's at best. At worst, it was demonstrative of the racism on display when compared to their response against BLM.

 

[Valiant]

why was the cop wearing a MAGA hat only suspended? he sided with the racist terrorist traitors, shouldn't he be considered one and be detained and charged and put in prison to rot? he's just walking free...? goddamn ridiculous, unbelievable. but not surprising.

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Because thats how things are done in a society, they are investigated.

And the cop seems to have a story that lead to helping some doors to be closed as shown above.

Anyway its for the investigators to figure out.

 

[Afrikan]

why was the cop wearing a MAGA hat only suspended? he sided with the racist terrorist traitors, shouldn't he be considered one and be detained and charged and put in prison to rot? he's just walking free...? goddamn ridiculous, unbelievable. but not surprising.

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Keep reading.

 

[dabig2]

The Capitol Police has more than 2,300 staff and a budget that's grown rapidly over the last two decades to roughly $500 million, making it larger than many major metro police departments. Minneapolis, for example, has 840 officers and a $176 million budget.

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Obviously the solution here is to dump even MORE money into making our capitol police great again. That always works.

How can the police department of the Capitol have a budget of 500 million dollars?

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Here's an article from '16 showing the 15 years of escalation up to that point. Trump admin then just ran with it.

Capitol Police: A Spending Force - Roll Call

The United States Capitol Police may be the biggest, fastest growing and most far-reaching law enforcement agency the public knows almost nothing about. The size of the force has almost doubled in the past 25 years, to nearly 2,300, bigger than the municipal police departments in Atlanta, St...

www.rollcall.com

Nevada's Amodei summarizes the dynamic this way: "You can't just give them whatever they want, but you don't want to be the guy who cut them back and then something went wrong."

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Or at least that's the base excuse. It's also why we so easily boost our military industrial complex and keep funding ICE and their concentration camps.
Of course the logic is rarely used for public welfare spending. We will slash an education budget or food assistance real quick, despite what those help prevent.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Not sure I'm ready to believe the cop only had a MAGA hat on as "a clever ruse." I don't doubt he was trying to get to pinned officers or anything or that it aided in the cooperation he got from the crowd, but it seems much more likely he was showing them he sympathized with them and leveraged the benefit he got from that rather than some kind of quick thinking Bugs Bunny disguise.

I just think that's an awfully convenient explanation. It's hard for me to accept at face value. Hopefully it does turn out true and I can concede my skepticism was misplaced. I'd be happy to be wrong.

 

[Tovarisc]

Not sure I'm ready to believe the cop only had a MAGA hat on as "a clever ruse." I don't doubt he was trying to get to pinned officers or anything or that it aided in the cooperation he got from the crowd, but it seems much more likely he was showing them he sympathized with them and leveraged the benefit he got from that rather than some kind of quick thinking Bugs Bunny disguise.

I just think that's an awfully convenient explanation. It's hard for me to accept at face value. Hopefully it does turn out true and I can concede my skepticism was misplaced. I'd be happy to be wrong.

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So he is MAGA Chad / Sympathizer which is why he actively worked against other MAGA Chads and rescued his colleagues from situations where they were threated by said MAGA Chads? 🤔

Wouldn't actual MAGA Chad / Sympathizer... you know... work with said MAGA Chads in order to further causes goals on that day?

If story he told and somewhat supported by his colleagues is just some gaslight to try hide his MAGA-ness then he isn't really that good MAGAstan as he hindered progress of insurrection.

 

[Loud Wrong]

Did the cop who took a selfie with rioters only do so to slyly obtain evidence against the insurrectionists? What a clusterfuck.

 

[PanickyFool]

How can the police department of the Capitol have a budget of 500 million dollars?

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Goes to show you that focusing on funding prior accountability does not provide for a better civil service.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Wouldn't actual MAGA Chad / Sympathizer... you know... work with said MAGA Chads in order to further causes goals on that day?

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You can be sympathetic towards something in principle without participating in it. He's still got his job and his friends to worry about. There are plenty of "professional" Trumpers who think the mob was justified and agree with their ideology while also thinking they took it too far. They are supportive of the agenda while avoiding any kind of personal liability. Something right wingers are exceptionally good at are stoking the crazies, facilitating the crazies, then condemning the crazies - but only as innocent patriots with legitimate grievances who took it too far.

So based on the kind of response we have historically seen from authority figures in situations like these, that's the first place my mind goes. But I only post this to explain my suspicion and not make any sort of hard accusation. Like I mentioned originally, I would be glad to be wrong. He has his story and I hope it checks out. I just want to be really sure before I applaud the quick thinking of a cop in a MAGA hat at an infamous event where security was notoriously laissez-faire.

 

[Deleted member 9241]

Not sure I'm ready to believe the cop only had a MAGA hat on as "a clever ruse." I don't doubt he was trying to get to pinned officers or anything or that it aided in the cooperation he got from the crowd, but it seems much more likely he was showing them he sympathized with them and leveraged the benefit he got from that rather than some kind of quick thinking Bugs Bunny disguise.

I just think that's an awfully convenient explanation. It's hard for me to accept at face value. Hopefully it does turn out true and I can concede my skepticism was misplaced. I'd be happy to be wrong.

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I was watching things unfold live 700 miles away eating potato chips and I looked over at my wife at one point and said if I was one of those cops I would have a MAGA hat in my back pocket in case I was cornered by a mob. It's pretty easy to see the cop was using his head in the situation.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I was watching things unfold live 700 miles away eating potato chips and I looked over at my wife at one point and said if I was one of those cops I would have a MAGA hat in my back pocket in case I was cornered by a mob. It's pretty easy to see the cop was using his head in the situation.

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I certainly hope that is the case.

 

[Ragnar Blackmane]

Yeah, when it comes to Johnson it's best to wait and see what comes out of the investigation.

MAGAs and Qs are that stupid and/or blinded that they truly think all law enforcement and military are actually on their side (except for some false-flag imposters). Putting on a MAGA hat is all the difference it would take between them attacking you or them letting you get through the crowd without issue and probably even helping you in doing it and it doesn't take particularly big thinking to realize that. It also seems like he was trying to get to the besieged officers on the video footage, when he could have just joined the crowd, done nothing and take selfies with the MAGAs or actively given them instructions, like others did. For all we know Johnson got to the officers, got them into the building and he locked the door when they were all inside.

There is no excuse for the fucks that just let the first rioters through side doors or the one who took selfies with them though.

 

[jroc74]

That part about the cop with the MAGA hat, thats the first thing I thought of when I saw the video of him asking some of the rioters for help with the officers.

Good luck for his defense tho.

 

[Mathieran]

They all seemed to get the order to let the traitors calmly walk away at the end.

 

[meowdi gras]

All the collaborators in that department need to be weeded out and imprisoned for conspiracy.

 

[TheLetdown]

Dude says he put on a MAGA hat to gain their confidence.

Remember all those times cops donned BLM shirts to deescalate the situation?

 

[Hollywood Duo]

Atleast the chief resigned

 

[Daphne]

They'd be better off halving the budget and staff but only have the people who will do the actual job. Most importantly, the leadership who will do it.

 

[Strike]

This is the dumbest coup attempt history has ever seen

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We were lucky...this time.

 

[Coolluck]

Dude says he put on a MAGA hat to gain their confidence.

Remember all those times cops donned BLM shirts to deescalate the situation?

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Sounded more like infiltration from the description. BLM protestors weren't attempting a coup. Plus we all know cops were the ones escalating those encounters.