Right Before Jan. 6, Leaders Ordered Confiscation of Critical Equipment from Capitol Police: Report
In 2021, the left-leaning Roll Call published an article about the lack of proper protective gear for Capitol police during the violence on Jan. 6.
According to the article, “Most officers who fought that day did so without helmets, face shields or gas masks that would have better protected them from chemical irritants and blunt force imposed by the rioters.”
Setting aside the fact that the only chemical irritants the officers had to deal with were the ones they released themselves, the article raised an important question: Why were the Capitol Police officers, who are part of one of the most expansive and well-financed law enforcement agencies with a budget surpassing $460 million, not properly equipped with helmets?
A new Epoch Times article revealed the answer.
According to the article, days before the violence erupted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Captain Ben Smith, a U.S. Capitol Police officer, ordered former Capitol Police Lt. Tarik K. Johnson to confiscate “20 to 30” riot helmets from officers.
Johnson told The Epoch Times that he received this order without the knowledge of Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund. Although he was not given a specific reason for the confiscation, Johnson assumed it was because the helmets had expired because “if they were perfectly good helmets, why would you take them?”
This was an order that violated equipment protocols on multiple levels. Receiving the order to collect helmets, Johnson was told to have his officers bring them to his office. Johnson said in his 23 years on the force, he had never experienced this.https://t.co/hDy5a47JAr
— Steve Baker – TPC (@TPC4USA) June 8, 2023
During roll call, Johnson had sergeants announce the helmet collection, and officers brought their helmets to his office as instructed.
Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who was forced to resign on Jan. 7, 2021, told The Epoch Times that he was not aware of helmets being taken back and questioned the urgency and timing of the confiscation.
Sund said that they had just received a shipment of 104 helmets on Jan. 4 and that he had actually been trying to get those helmets out. “To hear TK [Johnson] say they’re pulling helmets back and not doing a one-for-one [exchange], that’s very concerning,” he said.
The disclosure about the helmet confiscation by Officer Johnson only adds fuel to the ever-growing controversy surrounding the USCP’s actions on Jan. 6.
Johnson previously stated that he repeatedly requested permission to evacuate the U.S. Senate via police radio just before 2:30 p.m. on that day. However, he received no response from commanders and proceeded with the evacuation independently.
An unreleased Capitol security video reviewed by The Epoch Times showed that as senators and staff rushed down the stairs, a large crowd of protesters was approaching the Senate in a nearby hallway. The timing of the evacuation left only seconds to spare before the protesters arrived. Johnson expressed concern that any further delay could have trapped senators inside the chamber. He attributed the radio silence to Yogananda Pittman, who was the assistant chief at the time.
“Tarik Johnson blamed radio silence from the USCP Command Center on Yogananda Pittman, then the assistant chief later acting police chief. Johnson has pushed in recent wks for Congress to subpoena Pittman for questioning…” https://t.co/ZxMliTFTjo
— Katrina Ski (@MtRushmore2016) June 11, 2023
Yogananda Pittman, who eventually became the acting police chief, started a new position as the chief of police at the University of California-Berkeley in February.
Taken separately, each of these “things that make you go hmm” and the hundreds more that have come out since the fated day can be attributed to bad timing, miscommunication, lack of coordination, mismanagement, or just bad luck.
But put all together, the mountain of evidence seems to grow taller every time you look at it, and it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
“The government is likely denying hundreds of January 6 defendants important exculpatory evidence.”
The #DOJ withheld over 8,000 hours of #Jan6 security video, leaving defendants without access to over 60% of the footage turned over to the #FBI. https://t.co/QGcuVzMR32
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) June 5, 2023
There’s an old adage that goes, “The more you repeat it, the more people believe it.”
The left, hand in glove with most of the media, has done a remarkable job of perpetuating the lies about Jan. 6 through a campaign of propaganda and the suppression of any line of questioning that goes against the approved narrative.
Thankfully, there are still some in the media that continue to dig for the truth.
Their work is crucial and must continue.
There are still too many unanswered questions about Jan. 6, and those whose lives have been destroyed by the media narrative deserve the truth.
And so do the American people.
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