Capitol Police force is still reeling from the deadly January 6 attack, and officers are demanding answers
- Capitol Police officers want plans for how to deal with protests after the January 6 attack.
- Several officers told CNN they received conflicting information during the attack.
- Union officials are also preparing a vote of "no confidence" on the department's leadership.
Some Capitol Police officers are demanding answers almost a month after a pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol, and union officials are preparing a vote of "no confidence" on the department's leadership, CNN reported.
The attack left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, whose body was laid in honor in the Capitol on Tuesday night in recognition of his service during the siege.
Additionally, at least 38 officers on the force tested positive for the coronavirus in the weeks after the attack, NPR reported. CNN added that more than 100 officers were still recovering from significant physical wounds.
Several officers who were granted anonymity told CNN they were concerned that the department did not provide clear guidelines on the use of force and said some leaders weren't present and others gave conflicting commands.
Eva Malecki, a police representative, told CNN the events of that day "continue to be under investigation by several law-enforcement agencies."
One Capitol Police officer who worked the night shift before the attack previously told Insider that he and other officers expected to work the day of the riot but were sent home early and weren't called back after the attack.
He told Insider that everyone in the department was aware of a planned rally of President Donald Trump's supporters and that he even prepared a backpack full of protein bars and coffee expecting to work more hours - but instead was sent home at 10 a.m.
"Naively, I thought, well, they must know something that we don't," he said, adding: "Maybe they have intel showing they're not going to come up on the Hill" or "they don't think they're that violent."
Videos and images from the day showed people clashing with officers. In one video, a police officer was seen trapped in a doorway, compressed between two doors as a mob of people tried to enter the building. Two Black officers said rioters used racial slurs against them and added that some of their fellow officers appeared to be "catering" to the mob.
Christina Laury, an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, told the local outlet WJLA that by the time the MPD arrived on the scene the rioters had already taken over the Capitol ground. She said officers there were doing everything they could to keep rioters from accessing the building, even as they were being beaten by metal poles and sprayed with mace.
"I don't think we even understood the magnitude and the amount of people that were actually there," Laury told the outlet. "By the time I got there, officers were already getting, you know, sprayed with whatever these individuals had, which I believe they had bear mace, which is literally used for bears."
A Capitol representative did not reply to a request for comment from Insider.
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