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NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2021 THE OBSERVER — 7A Police command structure crumbled fast during Capitol riot By NOMAAN MERCHANT and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON — As the rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, many of the police offi cers had to decide on their own how to fi ght them off. There was no direc- tion. No plan. And no top leadership. One cop ran from one side of the building to another, fi ghting hand- to-hand against rioters. Another decided to respond to any calls of offi cers in distress and spent three hours helping cops who had been immobilized by bear spray or other chemicals. Three offi cers were able to handcuff one rioter. But a crowd swarmed the group and took the arrested man away with the handcuffs still on. Interviews with four members of the U.S. Capitol Police who were overrun by rioters on Jan. 6 show just how quickly the com- mand structure collapsed as throngs of people, egged on by President Donald Trump, set upon the Capitol. The offi cers spoke on condition of anonymity because the department has threatened to suspend anyone who speaks to the media. “We were on our own,” one of the offi cers told The Associated Press. “Totally on our own.” The offi cers 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 offi - cers 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 offi cers for a rou- tine day. Three offi cers 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, Yoga- nanda Pittman, who is now interim chief, was heard over the radio telling the force to “lock the building down,” with no further instructions, two offi cers said. One specifi c order came from Lt. Tarik Johnson, who told offi cers not to use deadly force out- side the building as the rioters descended, the offi - cers recounted. The order almost certainly prevented deaths and more chaos, but it meant offi cers didn’t pull their weapons and were fi ghting back with fi sts and batons. Johnson has been sus- pended after being captured on video wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat while moving through John Minchillo/AP Photo, File Rioters try to break through a police barrier Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. crowds of rioters. Johnson told colleagues he wore the hat as a tactic to gain the crowd’s confi dence as he tried to reach other offi cers who were pinned down by rioters, one of the offi cers said. A video of the incident obtained by the Wall Street Journal shows Johnson asking rioters for help in getting his colleagues. Johnson, who could not be reached for comment, was heard by an offi cer on the radio repeatedly asking, “Does anybody have a plan?” Ample warning, ample staffi ng 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 depart- ments. Minneapolis, for example, has 840 offi cers and a $176 million budget. Despite plenty of online warnings of a possible insurrection and ample resources and time to pre- pare, the Capitol Police planned only for a free speech demonstration on Jan. 6. They rejected offers of support from the Pentagon three days before the siege, according to senior defense offi cials and two people familiar with the matter. And during the riot, they turned down an offer by the Justice Department to have FBI agents come in as rein- forcements. The offi cials spoke to the AP on condi- tion of anonymity to dis- cuss the decision-making process. The riot left fi ve people dead, including Capitol Police Offi cer Brian Sick- nick, who was hit in the head by a fi re extinguisher. Another offi cer died in an apparent suicide after the attack. The attack has forced a reckoning among law enforcement agencies. Fed- eral watchdogs launched a sweeping review of how the FBI, the Pentagon and “We were under the impression it was just going to be a lot of yelling, cursing.” — A Capitol Police offi cer who responded to the riot other agencies responded to the riot, including whether there were failures in infor- mation sharing and other preparations that left the historic symbol of democ- racy vulnerable to assault. Top decision-makers have offered differing explanations for why they didn’t have enough personnel. Sund told The Wash- ington Post that he was worried about the pos- sibility for violence and wanted to bring in the National Guard, but the House and Senate sergeants at arms refused his request. To bring in the Guard, the sergeants at arms would have had to ask congres- sional leaders. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, said congressional leaders had not been informed of any request for the National Guard before the day of the riot. The offi ce of Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, declined to comment. It’s not clear why the threat was not taken more seriously. John Donohue, a 32-year veteran of the New York Police Department who advises the Capitol Police on intelligence matters, sent a memo on Jan. 3 warning of the potential for an attack on Congress from the pro- Trump crowd, according to two law enforcement offi cials with knowledge of the memo fi rst reported by The Washington Post. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal memo. Donohue was well- versed in the extremist threat. At a congressional hearing in July, before he starting advising the Cap- itol Police, Donohue told lawmakers the federal gov- ernment needed a system to Federal report says pandemic hit seafood industry hard WASHINGTON — The coronavirus pandemic has taken away about a third of the commercial fi shing industry’s rev- enue, according to a federal report released on Friday, Jan. 15. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- tration said revenues from catch brought to the docks by commercial fi shermen fell 29% over the course of La GRANDE AUTO REPAIR 975-2000 www.lagrandeautorepair.com MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE Joe Horst ACDelcoTSS the fi rst seven months of the year. Revenues declined every month from March to July, including a 45% decrease in July, the report said. The NOAA report said the seafood industry at large has been hit hard by restaurant closures, social distancing protocols and the need for safety measures. NOAA’s fi ndings back up earlier reports from inde- pendent scientists that said seafood harvesting and con- sumption were both down. NOAA’s report also said 74% of aquaculture and related businesses expe- rienced lost sales by the second quarter of 2020. International markets were also negatively affected by disruptions to seafood har- vesting, shipping and pro- cesses, the report said. — Associated Press better monitor social media for domestic extremists. “America is at a cross- roads,” he said in his tes- timony. “The intersection of constitutional rights and legitimate law enforcement has never been more at risk by domestic actors as it is now as seditionists actively promote a revolution.” Tens of thousands of National Guard mem- bers have now been called to secure the Capitol in advance of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday, Jan. 20. A spokesperson for Cap- itol Police did not respond to questions Friday, Jan. 15. No meetings, no planning was only told that morning to pick up a riot helmet. He said he had training on dealing with large crowds, but not on how to handle a riot. “We were under the impression it was just going to be a lot of yelling, cursing,” he said. As Trump called on his supporters to go to the Cap- itol, telling them to “fi ght like hell,” members of the House and Senate were inside the building to cer- tify Biden’s victory over Trump in the Electoral College. Crowds of Trump sup- porters, many of them linked to far-right or white supremacist groups, began gathering on both sides of the Capitol. An offi cer working the western front of the building, which faces the White House and where risers were set up for the inauguration, quickly real- ized that the crowds were not peaceful. The rioters began breaking down short fences and systematically clipping off “Area Closed” signs, the offi cer said. Videos from the event show the crowd climbing the walls on the western side and eventually breaching the building. One offi cer listed the various weapons used to hit him and people near him: batons, fl agpoles, sec- tions of fencing, batteries, rubber bullets and canis- ters of bear spray that went further than the chemicals the offi cers 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 offi cer said. Most of the insurrec- tionists left without being arrested, which offi cers who spoke to the AP say was because it was next to impossible to arrest them given how badly the force was outnumbered. That was underscored by the rioters taking away a man who offi cers had tried to arrest inside the Capitol. “The group came and snatched him and took him away in cuffs,” one offi cer said. “Outside of shooting people, what are you supposed to do?” Prepare for unexpected power outages with a Generac home standby generator SCHEDULE YOUR FREE IN-HOME ASSESSMENT TODAY! For major events, the Capitol Police normally holds meetings to brief offi - cers on their responsibil- ities and plans in case of an emergency. Three of the offi cers interviewed by the AP said there were no meetings on or before Jan. 6. It’s also unclear whether the department held over its overnight shift or called in more offi cers early to help those who would be on duty that day. “During the 4th of July concerts and the Memorial Day concerts, we don’t have people come up and say, ‘We’re going to seize the Capitol,’” one offi cer said. “But yet, you bring every- body in, you meet before. That never happened for this event.” Another offi cer said he 877-557-1912 FREE 7-Year Extended Warranty* A $695 Value! 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