Acknowledging that the Capitol Police department "failed to meet its own high standards" during the Jan. 6 riot, the agency's acting chief apologized to a House committee on Tuesday. The police department knew there was a "strong potential for violence" that day but didn't do enough ahead of the attack on the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump to prevent it, according to Yogananda Pittman's prepared remarks, CNN reports. "By January 4th, the Department knew that the January 6th event would not be like any of the previous protests held in 2020. We knew that militia groups and white supremacists organizations would be attending," Pittman's statement says. "We also knew that some of these participants were intending to bring firearms and other weapons to the event."
Capitol Police increased its deployment at the building to 1,200 officers, per CBS, but that was "no match for the tens of thousands of insurrectionists," Pittman said. "The Department should have been more prepared for this attack," the acting chief added. The officers on her force are considering a no-confidence vote on department leaders who were in charge on Jan. 6. That includes Pittman, who was the operational chief. CNN quotes a source as saying she "never took control of the radio or commanded officers what to do in any way, shape or form." Timothy Blodgett, the House's acting sergeant at arms, agreed in a statement that there were failures. Capitol security will have to be tightened, he said. Pittman said she takes responsibility for her department's mistakes. "We will do better going forward," she promised, "but we need to make changes." (One Capitol Police officer was applauded at Biden's inauguration.)
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