The Capitol Police Had One Mission. Now the Force Is in Crisis.
The department’s performance during the rampage at the Capitol has cast a harsh light on an agency that has been unused to public scrutiny.
Members of the Capitol Police looked through a broken window while Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol last week.Credit.Ahmed Gaber/Reuters
Published Jan. 14, 2021Updated Jan. 20, 2021
As old as the Capitol itself, the Capitol Police began in 1801 with the appointment of a single guard to oversee the move of Congress from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. His task, according to a court filing, was to “take as much care as possible with the property of the United States.”
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A New Jersey Democrat alleged Tuesday night that members of Congress led guests on what she described as “reconnaissance” ahead of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Politics
“But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?” –James Madison, Federalist 51
“They had one weapon left and both knew it: treachery.” –Frank Herbert, Dune “They had learned nothing, and forgotten nothing.” –Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord
Inaugural
“State Capitals Tighten Security Amid Threat Of Armed Protests Ahead Of Inauguration” [NPR]. “States are taking steps to tighten security at their capitol buildings following a warning by the FBI to prepare for armed protests in the days leading up to the the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. Many state capitals have already seen protests by people upset by President Trump’s loss in the election. On Wednesday, the president put out a statement responding to reports of more demonstrations. ‘I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind,’ Trump said in a written statement. ‘That is not what I stand for, and it