US Capitol attack: security officials blame missed FBI intelligence

Officials including the former chief of the Capitol Police say they failed to anticipate the violent mob of Donald Trump supporters invading the building

They are testifying in the first of several hearings examining what went wrong on January 6

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The American flag flies at half mast outside the US Capitol Building after the deadly attack on the building on January 6. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:30pm, 24 Feb 2021Updated: 1:30pm, 24 Feb 2021

Missed intelligence was to blame for the outmanned Capitol defenders’ failure to anticipate the violent mob that invaded the iconic building and halted certification of the US presidential election on January 6, the officials who were in charge of security that day said on Tuesday in their first public testimony on the insurrection.

The officials, including the former chief of the Capitol Police, pointed their fingers at various federal agencies – and each other – for their failure to defend the building as supporters of then-president Donald Trump overwhelmed security barriers, broke windows and doors and sent lawmakers fleeing from the House and Senate chambers.

Five people died as a result of the riot, including a Capitol Police officer and a woman who was shot as she tried to enter the House chamber with lawmakers still inside.

Former Capitol Police chief Steven Sund, who resigned under pressure immediately after the attack, and the other officials said they had expected the protests to be similar to two pro-Trump events in late 2020 that were far less violent. Sund said he had not seen an FBI field office report that warned of potential violence citing online posts about a “war”.

Sund described a scene as the mob arrived at the perimeter that was “like nothing” he had seen in his 30 years of policing and argued that the insurrection was not the result of poor planning by Capitol Police but of failures across the board.

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