OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A Republican lawmaker who is looking into security failures ahead of the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol Building has identified some “people of interest” who he believes may have withheld crucial intelligence information.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), in an interview with Just the News, corroborated previous reports by the outlet that the Capitol Police intelligence unit had received substantial and detailed intelligence well in advance and that intelligence specifically identified extremist groups that intended to carry out acts of violence on January 6, along with some of the tactics they planned to employ.
But, he said, that information was not passed up the chain of command and did not reach then-Chief Steven Sund, who would have most likely responded by ordering his officers to be better prepared.
Loudermilk’s revelation suggests that somewhere along the line, people wanted the situation to get out of hand, perhaps for political purposes.
“We do know that the security failure began with an intelligence failure,” Loudermilk said Friday during a segment on the Just the News, No Noise television show.
“We have uncovered that there was significant intelligence that was provided to the intelligence division of the Capitol Police, starting in the beginning of December, all the way up through the morning of Jan. 6,” he added.
“Some of that intelligence actually laid out what the operational plan of some extreme groups were to enter the Capitol, take over Congress, even kill some Capitol police if they had to,” he also said. “This made it to the Intelligence Division. But it never made it any further. Even the chief of Capitol Police was not made aware of that level of intelligence.”
Loudermilk said his House Administration subcommittee has made significant strides in identifying particular individuals who may have mishandled or concealed the intelligence. And, he added, the subcommittee has begun asking more questions in an attempt to get to the bottom of what happened.
“Who was involved in this? Was it one person that just squelched the intelligence? Was it just a massive failure? Was it because of incompetence, or was it somebody who purposely suppressed that intelligence?” he asked. “There’s actually some people of interest that we’re talking to, and we’re looking into to see where that failure was.”
He added that it’s vital to get those answers so that the Capitol Building can be better protected in the future and to honor the officers who were deployed against the mob.
“The frontline officers, man, they fought valiantly that day,” he said. “But they were ill-equipped. They were not prepared, and none of them knew what was coming. But there were certain people in the Capitol Police that did.”
According to a report by Just the News last year, various federal and local law enforcement agencies provided the Capitol Police with crucial intelligence regarding potential violence well in advance of the January 6 event. The warnings specifically highlighted threats from groups such as Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, as well as the possibility of the Capitol’s tunnel system being targeted.
However, the report added that the warnings were not appropriately moved up the chain of command to Chief Sund.
“We analysts have been reporting for weeks that Patriot groups are commenting on social media their intentions to storm the U.S. Capitol with overwhelming numbers,” Capitol Police intelligence analyst Eric Hoar wrote in the Jan. 9, 2021, email to his bosses.
“I don’t know what was occurring behind the scenes, but I hope that information was briefed with the veracity it deserved, and not just a one-time Event Assessment,” the email continued.
Democrats have frequently blamed the incident on then-President Donald Trump’s rhetoric during a “Stop the Steal” speech earlier in the day.
But in that speech, he specifically told supporters to march “peacefully.”
