You don't need to fence the whole area off. Just a few reinforced doors at strategic places would have stopped anyone without heavy equipment. Also they would h

You don't need to fence the whole area off. Just a few reinforced doors at strategic places would have stopped anyone without heavy equipment. Also they would have been a place for the police to stand their ground. Just all stairs going upwards should be easy to defend if the police stands their ground. Add a few police dogs and the officers wouldn't even have to engage themselves. There was a smaller crowd trying to enter the German parliament just a few weeks ago, politically pretty close to the rioters of Washington. A whole three policemen were able to stop them by just consequently standing their ground, not armend beyond batons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc-56opg-Xg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc-56opg-Xg