This Friday marks two years since a colorful and violent mob of American felons decided to forcibly storm the U.S. Capitol following the directives of former President Donald Trump, who to this day continues to insist on the unfounded theories of electoral fraud that provoked one of the most shameful episodes in recent U.S. history.
That attack to stop the confirmation of Joe Biden’s triumph left 140 injured, and five dead, two of them Capitol Police officers, revealing the poor preparation of some overmatched agents who were later shown to have been left to their own devices after the investigations that came in confirmed that offices such as the FBI knew of the real risk of possible riots.
One of those who was there was then Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, forced out of office a day after the attack amid heavy criticism for his handling of those riots. However, he has always reproached the FBI and the Departments of Homeland Security and Defense for not having warned them of the real danger they were in.
Now, on the occasion of the publication of his book on that episode, ‘Courage Under Attack: Besieged and Outnumbered 58 to 1 on January 6’, Sund has once again insisted on that, although he has assumed the part of the blame he may have as the head of the Capitol Police at the time.
«I have no problem with the responsibility falling on me. I will take the consequences to the extent I deserve it. There are things I could have and should have done better,» he said in an interview with CBS, in which he said he felt «very concerned» that it could happen again.
Sund also criticized the military bureaucracy that prevented the deployment of the National Guard in time and said he still does not understand those who «decided not to send help to the men and women» who needed it, as well as former President Trump for directing the crowd to the Capitol.
On the occasion of the second anniversary, his successor in office, Tom Manger, has emphasized that two years after those incidents, the Capitol Police is now «clearly better», but warned that in the face of «the current threat climate» it is essential to remain vigilant.
Manger explained that there is a real threat to U.S. institutions, particularly against elected officials. «If the unthinkable happens, we will be ready,» he said.
WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY Biden is also scheduled to lead a White House event this Friday in remembrance of what happened that day. The event may serve to deepen not only in the threats that the United States has been warning about since those events, but also in the conclusions of the congressional commission that investigated what happened.
Before the end of the year, that House committee published a final report in which security failures were relegated to an appendix, while the figure of Trump occupied a large part of its pages, in which it was recommended that criminal charges be brought for his role in what happened.
By now some 900 people have been charged for participating in the riots, of which 470 of them have pleaded guilty. Most have been charged with assault and resisting arrest, civil disorder, obstructing a legal proceeding, trespassing on a building or restricted land, or more serious charges such as sedition and conspiracy.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
