Capitol Coup: Rules of Engagement

The failure of the United States Capitol Police to protect the People’s House on Wednesday, January 6, is a seismic event in American history.

Since the September 11, 2001, attacks the Capitol police have been staffed, deployed, armed and equipped to interdict an aggressive and substantive al Qaeda style attack.

Officers armed with automatic weapons stare down from their posts or patrol with dogs.

Their elevated fields of fire are commanding, allowing them to easily sweep the approaches to the building and control the ground.

If they want to.

On game day, when it really mattered, it wasn’t foreign terrorists but pro-Trump/anti-democracy Americans who laid bare the extraordinary unfitness of Capitol Police leadership.

On display was a complete lack of a coherent strategy or tactics.

Where were the forward pickets and mounted units to provide a clear warning to the crowd to disperse and then thin it down to hardcore combatants?

Where was the preemptive and sustained tactical use of non-lethal weaponry such as chemical irritants to further disperse the insurgents and sow confusion in their ranks?

Where was the hardened and final “do not cross” perimeter where the stand and fight scenario would play out?

This was not the unfortunate smashing of windows in a business district but rather an attempt to overthrow the elected government of the United States as they confirmed a presidential vote.

These are tactical failures but also evidence of a lack of clear Rules of Engagement (RoE) as the combatants stormed our seat of government.

They acted with far more purpose than the Capitol Police.

The Capitol police leadership is said to have refused reinforcements and ready reserves to hold the line and plug gaps.

At some point, deadly force was appropriate and necessary but its lack further points to inadequate RoE.

Intruders literally had to be at the doors of the chambers before the necessary action was taken.

The abject failure of the Capitol Police on Wednesday after their summertime show of force, proves they had the capacity to marshal forces and deploy in depth, they simply chose not to.

The question is why?