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I heard a former Chief of Homeland Security of Obama's on the radio and she had an interesting take. She was surprisingly forgiving of the actions of the securi

I heard a former Chief of Homeland Security of Obama's on the radio and she had an interesting take. She was surprisingly forgiving of the actions of the security staff. The argument being that they do training exercises all the time, but there is no playbook for what to do if the president incites violence against his own Capitol. Split-second decisions made in a state of confusion and chaos which make sense from a security point of view could have enormous long term political implications. Up to a point, the risk of acting outweighs the potential reward.

treesknees 6y ago
I'm on the fence about this type of explanation. Individual police, I can agree were overwhelmed and were not trained or ready for this. But as organizations (Capital Police, Metro Police, FBI, etc.) this event was broadly known to be happening all over social media well in advance of Wednesday's event. There should have been a response as soon as that crowd made it to the steps of the building. What concerns me is how this could have played out if that rioting group was even 10% more organized than they were. Or if they were intending to destroy/damage the building beyond windows and doors. Could you imagine if instead of just taking selfies in the senate president's chair, they piled up the desks and lit them on fire? I hope this event sparks some changes in security protocols, because now any extremist group intending to disrupt government or make a bold statement know exactly how to do it and know they'll get far enough to do some serious damage.
- piva00 6y ago
  > But as organizations (Capital Police, Metro Police, FBI, etc.) this event was broadly known to be happening all over social media well in advance of Wednesday's event. Exactly my take on this. And why I got so baffled it actually happened. I, a Brazilian living in Sweden with a passing interest in US politics (just due to its repercussions to my life and countries), was aware of the radio chatter that something like this was bubbling. How can security forces of the most powerful country on Earth's history let this roll?
- tweetle_beetle 6y ago
  I think you might be missing the subtlety in argument I was relaying. The security staff know how to deal with extremist groups. But they were not dealing with an extremist group in the traditional sense - where the overwhelming majority of the population are in agreement that their actions are wrong e.g. 9/11, Boston Marathon, Orlando nightclub. They were dealing with a group claiming to act on behalf of the leader of one party in a two party system - in other words, a very significant percentage of the population. It wasn't failing to act, but confusion about choosing whether or not to act and to what extent. They were not prepared for a scenario where taking action could genuinely be a trigger for wide scale insurrection, violence and even civil war affecting millions - the trolley problem on steroids. > Or if they were intending to destroy/damage the building beyond windows and doors. They were - pipebombs and molotov cocktails were recovered. But as uncomfortable as it feels, it might not have been as simple as shooting the bad guys.
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ryosuke 6y ago
Given that this was an entirely predictable series of events, I think it's pretty damning in itself that there was no playbook to deal with this sort of uprising. While at the individual level it probably makes sense to err on the side of inaction, at the organizational level this is a massive failure.
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treesknees 6y ago

I'm on the fence about this type of explanation. Individual police, I can agree were overwhelmed and were not trained or ready for this. But as organizations (Capital Police, Metro Police, FBI, etc.) this event was broadly known to be happening all over social media well in advance of Wednesday's event. There should have been a response as soon as that crowd made it to the steps of the building. What concerns me is how this could have played out if that rioting group was even 10% more organized than they were. Or if they were intending to destroy/damage the building beyond windows and doors. Could you imagine if instead of just taking selfies in the senate president's chair, they piled up the desks and lit them on fire? I hope this event sparks some changes in security protocols, because now any extremist group intending to disrupt government or make a bold statement know exactly how to do it and know they'll get far enough to do some serious damage.

piva00 6y ago
> But as organizations (Capital Police, Metro Police, FBI, etc.) this event was broadly known to be happening all over social media well in advance of Wednesday's event. Exactly my take on this. And why I got so baffled it actually happened. I, a Brazilian living in Sweden with a passing interest in US politics (just due to its repercussions to my life and countries), was aware of the radio chatter that something like this was bubbling. How can security forces of the most powerful country on Earth's history let this roll?
tweetle_beetle 6y ago
I think you might be missing the subtlety in argument I was relaying. The security staff know how to deal with extremist groups. But they were not dealing with an extremist group in the traditional sense - where the overwhelming majority of the population are in agreement that their actions are wrong e.g. 9/11, Boston Marathon, Orlando nightclub. They were dealing with a group claiming to act on behalf of the leader of one party in a two party system - in other words, a very significant percentage of the population. It wasn't failing to act, but confusion about choosing whether or not to act and to what extent. They were not prepared for a scenario where taking action could genuinely be a trigger for wide scale insurrection, violence and even civil war affecting millions - the trolley problem on steroids. > Or if they were intending to destroy/damage the building beyond windows and doors. They were - pipebombs and molotov cocktails were recovered. But as uncomfortable as it feels, it might not have been as simple as shooting the bad guys.
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ryosuke 6y ago

Given that this was an entirely predictable series of events, I think it's pretty damning in itself that there was no playbook to deal with this sort of uprising. While at the individual level it probably makes sense to err on the side of inaction, at the organizational level this is a massive failure.

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