A newly revealed internal investigation found that a US Capitol Police officer directed “all outside units” on the morning of January 6 to only monitor for anti-Trump agitators “who want to start a fight,” not any “pro-Trump in the crowd.”
The officer’s directive via a radio broadcast, the existence of which was not previously known, was revealed by Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren during a House Administration Committee hearing on security failures around the January 6 attack, CNN reports.
In that transmission, the officer said: “Attention all units on the field, we’re not looking for any pro-Trump in the crowd. We’re only looking for any anti pro-Trump who want to start a fight,” according to Lofgren, who chairs the committee.
Lofgren said she was quoting from an account of the radio call, which was found by the Department Office of Professional Responsibility during its ongoing review of allegations related to officer conduct on January 6. She did not identify the officer.
Citing a Capitol Police spokesman, CNN reported that “the radio communication described occurred around 8 a.m. the day of the riot. The spokesman added that the communication was meant to guide officers to also look for clashes between pro-Trump protesters and counterprotesters.”
Lofgren’s description of the radio broadcast in question offers some rare insight into the kind of conduct from Capitol Police that is being looked at as part of the ongoing probe.
At least six US Capitol Police officers had been suspended for their actions in the January 6 riot. Of the 36 officers under investigation from January 6, 23 of the cases are complete. Thirteen of the cases remain under investigation, a department spokesperson told CNN.
The investigation revealed that “one of the suspended officers took a selfie with someone who was part of the mob that overtook the Capitol, Rep. Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat, said at the time. before adding that “another wore a “Make America Great Again” hat and started directing people around the building.
