Following the riot in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund says that members of the pro-Trump mob were engaged in a “criminal” act as they carried weapons through the Capitol building. According to the AP, Sund stated that some rioters “actively attacked” law enforcement officers, and “were determined to enter into the Capitol building by causing great damage.” He also revealed that some members of the mob had metal pipes and chemical irritants in their possession.
Sund and his team have been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism over the past 24 hours, but he has defended himself and the other officers. Sund stated that they “had a robust plan” to handle what they expected were going to be peaceful protesters. However, he says that what they ended up seeing was “criminal riotous behavior.” Sund also reported that over 50 Capitol and Washington police officers were injured in the riot, and that some Capitol Police officers had to be hospitalized over serious injuries.
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BREAKING: The chief of the U.S. Capitol Police says the violent mob that stormed the building wielded metal pipes, chemical irritants and other weapons against law enforcement. Steven Sund said protesters “actively attacked” police officers. https://t.co/USH5bEwnST
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 7, 2021
Following Sund’s comments, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was reported to have said that she expects Sund to resign from his position, over the chaos that ensued from the mob of Trump supporters. Pelosi has also reportedly confirmed the resignation of House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving, who reports to directly to the House Speaker. Additionally, Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer has stated that he will fire Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger.
“I will fire him as soon as Democrats have a majority in the Senate,” Schumer said in a statement. Schumer has been the Minority Leader in the Senate but will become the Majority Leader when Georgia’s newly-elected Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff are sworn in. The current Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has joined his Democrat peers in criticizing the Capitol police for a “massive failure” that allowed them to breach the Capitol building.
McConnell stated that a “painstaking investigation and thorough review must now take place and significant changes must follow.” He then went on to say that the “ultimate blame” lies with the who broke into the Capitol and the people who incited them. But he said that “does not and will not preclude our addressing the shocking failures in the Capitol’s security posture and protocols.”
