The events of January 6th, 2021 will live in American infamy, not unlike some of the other historic dates that are often coupled with the I word.
But now, even more alarming than the actions that we saw on that fateful day are the inactions leading up to the attempted insurrection.
A bipartisan probe led by two Senate committees has found that U.S. Capitol Police and other authorities were in possession of more alarming intelligence clues ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the complex than previously documented.
The findings are part of a report issued Tuesday by the Senate Rules and Homeland Security committees looking into the series of failures of intelligence, security preparations and emergency response before and during the insurrection.
Among new public details, the panels say Capitol Police had seen information from a pro-Trump website that included comments about the Capitol’s tunnel system and that encouraged demonstrators to bring weapons to subdue members of Congress and police and reverse the presidential election’s results.
The online chatter was troubling.
“This is do or die. Bring your guns,” one comment read in part, the report said.
The website also had comments that demonstrators should surround every building with a tunnel entrance or exit, be prepared to drag down police, and that they could “enter the Capitol as the Third Continental Congress and certify the Trump Electors,” referring to an alliance of militia groups.
Despite this information, (and much more), the officers at the Capitol on that day were easily overrun, with some even going so far as to take selfies with some of the militia marauders.
