Pro-Trump protesters attack Capitol Hill in Washington as security fails over US power symbol

The bloody chaos within the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday came after the police force guarding the legislative complex was overtaken by a crowd of pro-Trump supporters in what law enforcement officials called a catastrophic failure.

The siege of the Capitol, home to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, represents one of the biggest security mistakes in recent U.S. history, current and former law enforcement officials said, turning it into one of the most recognizable symbols of power. American in a country of political violence.

The move came amid visible warning signs of possible violence from hard-line supporters of President Donald Trump, who are fueled by Trump's baseless allegations of stolen elections hoping to block the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

Security was initially taken almost entirely by the U.S. Capitol Police, with a force of about 2,000 members for control of Congress and dedicated to protecting the Capitol.

For reasons that remained unclear, other U.S. federal government security forces did not arrive on time as protesters surrounded Congress headquarters.  

The counting of presidential election votes by Congress, normally a formality, was preceded by weeks of threats on social media that planned pro-Trump protests could turn violent.

Despite those alarms, the Capitol Police force did not seek prior assistance to secure the building from other federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security, according to a senior official.

And National Guard reinforcements, called by the city mayor, were not mobilized until more than an hour after protesters had broken through the barricades for the first time.

In stark contrast, those agencies were aggressively deployed by the Trump administration during police brutality protests last summer in Washington and elsewhere in the United States.

Policia e Kapitolit nuk iu përgjigj kërkesave për komente.

Oficerët e forcës janë trajnuar për të mbajtur protestuesit larg shkallëve të jashtme të mermerit të Kapitolit, për të mbrojtur kompleksin si një kështjellë. Por ka kaq shumë dritare dhe dyer në kompleksin e shekullit të 19-të, sa është e vështirë për t'i mbrojtur të gjitha, tha Terrance Gainer, i cili shërbeu si shef i Policisë së Kapitolit, zyrtari kryesor i tij i zbatimit të ligjit.

Ndërsa futeshin në zemër të qeverisë Amerikane, ata mund të shiheshin në kamera duke lëvizur lirshëm nëpër sallat historike - duke u lëkundur nga një ballkon, duke kaluar nëpër zyrat e Kryetarit të Dhomës Nancy Pelosi, dhe madje duke u ulur në karrigen e rezervuar për Senatin zyrtari kryesues.

" I have great faith in the men and women who defend Congress, but it will have to be fully accountable. "We will have to dive deep into what went wrong," Gainer said.

Lawmakers inside the building blamed a lack of preparation for the historic security breach. "I think the police did a good job in the circumstances, but clearly there was not enough planning, " said Representative Vicente Gonzalez, a Texas Democrat. Reuters