Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund wrote an 8-page letter detailing the events that occurred at the Capitol on January 6. In the letter addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sund’s timeline of events seems to directly refute the Democrats’ claim that the insurrection on Capitol Hill was incited by a speech given by President Donald Trump on the same day. The Democrats’ entire impeachment case against Trump rests solely on the assumption that his speech caused the disturbing events that unfolded inside the Capitol as a joint session of Congress met to certify the electoral votes of the 2020 Presidential Election.
In the letter, Sund, who stepped down as Chief shortly after the insurrection occurred, states that his department “did not fail,” adding that the Capitol Police acted according to the intelligence available prior to the events. There was never any information showing they would be facing a group of “thousands of well-coordinated, well-equipped violent criminals,” intent upon attacking law enforcement officers as they sought to gain access to the Capitol itself.
Sund asserts that he would like to “set the record straight” on the events that took place: “There has been much conflicting information presented by various officials and the media regarding preparations and actions taken at the Capitol that day, and I would like to set the record straight from my perspective.”
Sund adds, “I also wish we had better intelligence and warnings as the possibility of this type of military-style armed insurrection. The entire intelligence community seems to have missed this.” Recently, there have been reports claiming that President Trump had offered ten thousand National Guard troops to be in DC on January 6th, but those offers went ignored. According to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, “That accountability needs to rest where it ultimately should be and that’s on Capitol Hill.”
Former Chief Sund adds in his letter that many in the crowd that overtook the Capitol “were wearing radio earpieces indicating a high level of coordination,” while several others carried “weapons, chemical munitions, protective equipment, explosives and climbing gear.” These statements call into question the statements from the Democrats where they say the attack was spontaneous and caused by the words President Trump spoke that day, despite his call that supporters “peacefully and patriotically” make their voices heard by members of Congress.
Sund’s letter also states that the crowd of coordinated attackers breached the Capitol line of security at 12:52 PM, stating in his letter, “We were monitoring the actions and demeanor of the crowd, which at the time did not raise any concerns, when we received word at 12:52 p.m. that a pipe bomb had been located at the Republican National Committee headquarters, immediately adjacent to Capitol Grounds. We responded immediately to coordinate and send resources to the scene, including a number of officers, officials, and a bomb squad. We also dispatched resources to look for other explosive devices, suspects, and vehicles. At almost the exactly same time, we observed a large group of individuals approaching the West Front of the Capitol.”
The timing of the breach, 12:52 PM, is notable because President Trump did not conclude his speech until about 1:13 PM, making it impossible that the group that breached the Capitol did so under the former president’s direction. The fact that President Trump’s speech was given about 20-30 minutes’ walking distance from the Capitol makes it even less likely that his words caused the insurrection.
Sund’s letter also states that the Capitol Police’s past experiences with “MAGA” rallies at the Capitol were handled successfully and peacefully with few if any, arrests or injuries. You may access the full letter from former Chief Sund here.
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