Misleading: Capitol Police Let Rioters In

Last week, a mob broke through a police barricade and entered the US Capitol, threatening US senators and congressmen. The police have been heavily criticized for letting the mob in, culminating in the resignation of police chief Steven Sund.

Among all of these allegations is this video. Capitol police are shown to be moving the barricade out of the way so the rioters could get through.

Many are claiming that the police are deliberately letting the mob through without resistance. One police officer even took a selfie with one of the rioters inside the capitol.

However, if one looks closely at the video, they might realize the sheer lack of protections the police have. While there were several of what some claim to be examples of incompetence by the Capitol police, the removal of barriers is understandable. There are quite a lot of rioters behind the frontline, who had apparently “formed a fist” in an attempt to punch through. This was confirmed by the person who shot the video, a reporter for TikTok.

Several Capitol police who did not back down were injured, with one even being killed.

Representative Tim Ryan said: “There were clearly enormous strategic and planning failures by the Capitol Police, by the Sergeant at Arms and anyone else who was a part of coordinating this effort.”

While Capitol police were not able to keep rioters back, it seems that the viral video of them allegedly allowing protesters in has been misinterpreted.