General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOn January 6, Park Police were instructed to take no law enforcement action and "let it happen"
WHO. GAVE. THIS. ORDER?And WHY?
https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/park-police-overwhelmed-hours-before-capitol-breach-on-jan-6th/
Ok theyre at the Lincoln Statue with shields and masks?
10-4 and [inaudible] taking pictures right now with a flag that says Fuck Antifa.
Despite the escalating situation, the officers and react team were then given instructions to not intervene.
A new unit called in, telling the units on the scene to monitor only. Please do not take any type of enforcement action. Let it happen.
Yeah, were waiting on yall, an officer responded.
Even when react gets there, monitor only. Let it happen unless we have major major issues.
At the same time, a call came in from the Washington Monument.
Just for situational awareness were gonna need react squads in the flag circle area just for safety theres a guy, a white male walking around the flag circle with a pitchfork, an officer reported.
The station coordinator repeated the same instructions:
Ok maam 10-4, per [previous instructions] just monitor only at this time.
A minute later, the react squad arrived at the Lincoln Memorial and were told again to monitor only.
. . .
CousinIT
(9,239 posts)crickets
(25,962 posts)UpInArms
(51,280 posts)and those who supported this understand how awful he is, we are going to have terrible troubles
triron
(21,995 posts)n/t
Response to UpInArms (Reply #2)
malaise This message was self-deleted by its author.
KPN
(15,642 posts)durablend
(7,460 posts)"We just need to ignore him and he'll just 'go away' "
dalton99a
(81,450 posts)Midnight Writer
(21,745 posts)Botany
(70,489 posts)responded to the rioters attack on the Nation's capitol and our democracy on their own. After losing the
election Trump fired the Sec. of Defense and installed Christopher Miller.
lostnfound
(16,171 posts)Reads like an order to stand down to me. But a perpetually optimistic friend says it was reasonable to 1) not provoke heightened tension with larger force or 2) not enable an armed contingent of national guard insurrection-sympathizers to have easy access
My thoughts are 1) they never care about attacking BLM and antiwar protestors with everything theyve got and 2) are there that many people in the national guard whose loyalty to insurrectionists supersedes their commitments against insubordination?
Baitball Blogger
(46,699 posts)triron
(21,995 posts)Baitball Blogger
(46,699 posts)It's been nine months. Someone would have leaked how this happened,
jaxexpat
(6,818 posts)Why does wearing a uniform seem to change the wearer's perspective of elemental justice? And also, maybe these "officers" need a different line of work.
Butterflylady
(3,542 posts)The consequences will be fatal." Heck we all know rump has mob mentality.
KPN
(15,642 posts)from their own actions and complicity and they know it. The whole frigging Repug Party knows it. . And the are counting on the Dems to not have the backbone and will to prosecute with vengeance.
Response to Baitball Blogger (Reply #9)
Name removed Message auto-removed
PatSeg
(47,397 posts)The person who gave the order undoubtedly was only following orders. I still can't believe what that monster has gotten away with.
uponit7771
(90,335 posts)DFW
(54,341 posts)I'm not talking about who passed it on down the chain of command. With whom did it originate?
THAT is the person who needs about 72 hours of straight, sleepless interrogation.
ancianita
(36,023 posts)investigating, obviously.
While the coordinator testifies, they should be made to submit documents that confirm what they say they were ordered to "coordinate" that day and who ordered them.
hibbing
(10,096 posts)cstanleytech
(26,281 posts)if someone here with experience in law enforcement and dealing with large crowds would chime in over the orders given it would be appreciated.
As for what I would want to know is if the orders given were likely the correct ones for the right reason or the wrong ones for the wrong reason when dealing with issues such as this.
NH Ethylene
(30,808 posts)But clearly does not make sense for a crowd chanting 'hang Pense' and breaking into the Capitol Building.
llashram
(6,265 posts)no doubt at all. Treason I tell you, treason!!!
Mad_Machine76
(24,406 posts)obamanut2012
(26,068 posts)Chaos would happen, and they would have a "legal" reason to declare martial law or something. Counter protestors knew something like this would happen, and stayed home.
I think lack of counter protestors and Pence listening to Quayle scuttled their coup plans.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)cadoman
(792 posts)It says here Pamela Smith does. So put her on the stand and ask questions. Maybe she just made an honest mistake given the facts on the ground at the time. Maybe she was somehow pressured or coerced. Or maybe she was in on the insurrection attempt.
I do wonder how the officers were instructed to interpret "major issues". We literally have a mob of armed white supremacist insurrectionists and that's not a major issue??
Martin68
(22,791 posts)Hav
(5,969 posts)The article's title is about the police being overwhelmed. They were seriously outnumbered and needed to wait for other forces to come in. It doesn't sound too crazy to avoid steps that could escalate an explosive situation even more when you don't have the manpower to handle it.
People are too fast in my opinion to act as if they willingly let a coup happen. It's worth it to read more of that article to get a feeling for how hectic it was. The mentioned quotes in the OP were before everything turned to shit.
Takket
(21,555 posts)i don't find it all that surprising that police would be told not to aggressively try to disperse a crowd especially when they are severely outnumbered.
That wasn't the problem here.
The problem was, why were they outnumbered to begin with? I remember journalists who cover Washington and protests their entire careers musing after the terrorist attack that they had seen great police presence for even the most mundane gatherings and protests that presented no real threat.
The police were intentionally left woefully understaffed based on established norms and the threat assessment of that day. surely those orders filtered their way down from above. We already knew drumpf and his cronies were putting pressure on congresspersons and even the vice president to "stop the steal" and not certify. It doesn't take a great leap of logic to conclude that drumpf would have, having failed to sway Pence to commit a coup, wanted the protestors to stop Biden from being certified so the country would be thrown into chaos and he could complete his coup and remain president.
The jan 6 commission's duty is to untangle ever call, email, correspondence of any kind. drumpf is not talking directly to the police and telling them to let the capitol attack happen. that isn't how it works in the mob. you imply something to your top lieutenants who talk to their guys who talk to their guys and then it gets down on the ground.
The other half of all this is the response to the attack. when the police were begging for help that didn't come for hours. Same thing. what are the normal procedures, and who decided to let that small undermanned for at the capital be hung out to dry.
stopdiggin
(11,295 posts)with the numbers at hand, there was little that the LE on site could do in a practical sense.
And we probably should keep in mind that a considered and conscious decision (made in consensus with political, security and LE leaders) led to show of force having been taken off the table before the protesters ever arrived .. probably in response to misgivings about earlier heavy handed tactics in the Capital. Did this turn out to be seriously and almost fatally misguided? Sure did. But, at the same time - not all of it stemmed from nefarious plotting and purpose.
lostnfound
(16,171 posts)If they were unable to identify the voice they should state so.
lindysalsagal
(20,666 posts)without someone asking you to keep your hands still. I knew they were gone and ignoring the crowds. I'm guessing it was 2 people away from tgf. No more than that. They couldn't afford to use regular channels for such an order.
Champp
(2,114 posts)#LockUpTraitorRepublicans now going viral all over the cosmos.