Whistleblower: Capitol Police Chiefs Withheld Intel, Stood Aside During Jan. 6th Riot

Capitol Police Chiefs Yogananda Pittman and Sean Gallagher intentionally stood aside and did nothing as rioters stormed into the US Capitol Building on Jan. 6th, claims a former member of the Capitol Police who was on duty during the attack.

“What I observed was them mostly sitting there, blankly looking at the TV screens showing real time footage of officers and officials fighting for the Congress and for their lives. It is my allegation that these two with intent and malice opted to not try and assist the officers and officials, blame others for the failures, and chose to try and use this event for their own personal promotions,” said the whistleblower, who was confirmed by three witnesses as having spent at least one hour with Pittman and Gallagher during the attack.

“The failures and inactions of these two prior to and on the 6th unquestionably contributed to the death of officers and the serious physical and emotional injury of hundreds of other members of law enforcement,” continued the whistleblower in a 16-page letter to Congressional leaders.

Pittman and Gallagher received “game changing information” regarding the likelihood that armed civilians had access to maps of the Capitol campus days before the attack, continues the letter, and Pittman lied to Congress when she claimed to have shared that information with her colleagues. “This document was incredibly important and damning to Assistant Chief Pittman and the Deputy Chief Gallagher, which is why I allege they lied and stated it was shared with the command staff,” wrote the whistleblower.

The police chiefs also knew that many of the organizations that had received permits to hold events near the Capitol on Jan. 6th were front groups for “Stop the Steal,” a movement that sought to delegitimize and protest the results of the election.

“The fact that…Stop the Steal was surrounding the Capitol from every side by separate entities was never relayed to operational commanders,” argues the letter. “In fact, the IIAD reported the opposite to commanders that the demonstrations were separate events and groups.” Given this information, Pittman and Gallagher should have cancelled the event or at least called in the National Guard. “Why did they approve the operational plan for the 6th if they knew the intelligence?”

The answer seems clear to me: The police chiefs cared more about wounding Donald Trump’s reputation than protecting the lives of their fellow officers. 

In a meek response to the whistleblower, a spokesperson for the Capitol Police said that many of the issues raised in the letter to lawmakers had already been addressed, including practices related to intelligence-sharing. 

The department “has implemented…many of the critical recommendations called for” by the Senate following a review of the Jan. 6th riot conducted by retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré,” said the spokesperson. “USCP leaders, under new Chief Tom Manger, are committed to learning from prior mistakes and protecting our brave officers, who fought valiantly on Jan. 6th, so we can continue to carry out the Department’s critical mission…the work that keeps the US Capitol and the people who work here safe.”

Author’s Note: No matter what your political views, I think we can all agree that something weird happened on Jan. 6th. Violent civilians should never have been able to enter one of the “most secure” buildings in America, no matter what the cause.

Sources:

Capitol Police whistleblower delivers scathing rebuke to 2 of its senior leaders Jan. 6

Furious Jan. 6 whistleblower letter alleges Capitol Police leaders lied to Congress