Police chief says US intel did not warn of scale of Capitol riot

The acting head of the Capitol police will testify before a House committee as Congress continues to probe the violence.

United States Capitol Police were aware of the possibility of violence from armed extremists when the Capitol was attacked by supporters of former President Donald Trump, but intelligence did not indicate the possible scale of the event and officers became overwhelmed by “insurrectionists”, the acting police chief is set to testify in a House hearing. Intelligence collected ahead of the January 6 assault on the Capitol suggested that the gathering would have the participation of armed “militia members, white supremacists, and other extremist groups,” Yogananda Pittman said in prepared testimony to be delivered on Thursday before the House Appropriations Committee. Pittman was the assistant chief of police of the department’s Protective and Intelligence Operations and was responsible for its Intelligence and Interagency Coordination Division (IICD) on the day of the riot, which came after weeks of Trump claiming that the election had been “stolen” and moments after the former president held a rally urging his supporters to “fight” the results.