US armed forces with 'shoot-to-kill' order were deployed in DC ahead of Jan 6 riot: Report

Ahead of the first anniversary of the horrifying US Capitol riots, a new report has revealed that highly trained and heavily armed tactical teams with ‘shoot-to-kill- authority' were “pre-deployed” in Washington DC last year on January 6 in a bid to protect then US Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress. 

According to an exclusive report by Newsweek, on the weekend of 2-3 January 2021, senior leaders of the FBI, US Marshals Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) met to discuss contingency plans and possible threats ahead of the Joint Session of Congress where now US President Joe Biden's electoral victory was sealed. The forces gathered at Quantico, around 50km from Capitol Hill. The teams’ pre-deployment was approved by acting Donald Trump attorney-general Jeffrey Rosen, and they were tasked with swooping into the city in the event of a major emergency. 

Neither the contingency plans nor their actions that day were public knowledge before Monday. As per the report, under the plan, law enforcement against that makeup “catastrophic response units” were given sweeping orders to do whatever was necessary for officials’ defence, even if it meant taking a life. The forces included commandos from the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team, the Render Safe team and FBI SWAT, along with ATF Special Response Teams and the US Marshals’ Special Operations Group.

The decision to deploy the special elite forces in Washington DC was not requested or known of by US Capitol Police or the DC Metro Police forces, or even members of Congress. Therefore, they proved to be ill-prepared for the events which unfolded on January 6 at the Capitol building, offering almost no persistence to rioters as they stormed the legislature. 

DOJ focused on 'high risk' operation instead of 'crowd control'

Back in May, Jeffrey Rosen had testified saying that his department had been focused on “high risk” operations that day rather than “crowd control”. He confirmed that his office had directed various entities to take cautionary steps to alert or pre-position tactical teams if needed for support on January 6. 

“I believe that DOJ reasonably prepared for contingencies ahead of January 6, understanding that there was considerable uncertainty as to how many people would arrive, who those people would be, and precisely what purposes they would pursue,” Rosen had told lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee.

According to Newsweek, the FBI tactical teams ended up being deployed at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and they were pre-deployed the weekend ahead of the horrifying riot. In the event of an explosive or other terror attack, the teams were then to travel to the site of the incident by helicopter. If the intelligence indicated a potential threat to FBI Headquarters or its field office in Washington, units were to move to downtown areas of the capital on the morning of January 6.

When the Trump supporters breached the Capitol’s parameters, members of the Hostage Rescue Team were among the first law enforcement officers in the building. The team assisted present law enforcement in securing Pence and his family in an underground area of the Capitol complex. The agents were also deployed as “selective security” for members of Congress trying to evade protesters, the Newsweek report said. The military was also present in the DC metropolitan area on January 6, 2021, though the extent of their efforts or coordination with the DOJ teams is unknown.

(Image: AP)