How was the mob of Trump supporters able to so easily breach security at the U.S. Capitol? That's the question that a lot of people are asking in the wake of the violence that gripped the nation Wednesday.
Steve DeAngelo, co-founder of Harborside Cannabis Collective in Oakland, is a longtime activist who grew up in Washington D.C. and over the years attended many protests near the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building.
As Trump loyalists pushed past barriers around the Capitol building, there appeared to be little resistance from Capitol Police.
DeAngelo says his experience at protests was starkly different.
“The U.S. Capitol Police never ever would have even allowed us to get up to the steps of the Capitol, much less to get through the security of the building. We would have been shot dead on site. So it’s really weird to me to see the U.S. Capitol Police allowing this massive invasion of the Capitol, especially by people we already know are armed.”
He says police appeared to have a different standard when dealing with supporters of the President.
“It’s scary. It’s scary to see them invading the Capitol, it’s even scarier seeing the Capitol Police tolerating it.”
Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund has released a statement saying that the agency did have a robust plan to address protests. Some members of Congress are calling for an investigation into why that plan failed to stop the invasion.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called on Sund to resign and announced Thursday that House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving, responsible for security in the House of Representatives, is stepping down.