US Senate report details missed intelligence prior to January 6 attack on US Capitol
June 9, 2021 Leave a comment
A BIPARTISAN REPORT BY two committees of the United States Senate has highlighted crucial intelligence that was missed or disregarded by government agencies prior to the insurrection of January 6, 2021. Five people died during a concerted attempt by thousands of supporters of the then-President Donald Trump to storm the US Capitol Complex and invalidate the election victory of Joe Biden. Over 450 participants in the insurrection are now facing charges for storming the Capitol.
The report (.pdf) was produced jointly by the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. It took the two committees five months to issue their findings, which are based on thousands of internal documents and closed-door interviews with senior government officials. Officials interviewed include the then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and General Mark Milley, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The report details failures in the areas of intelligence collection and exploitation, security preparations and emergency response measures both prior to and during the insurrection. It states that the US Capitol Police was in possession of intelligence from a pro-Trump website, in which militants were urging participants in the president’s “March to Save America” rally to “bring guns”. Armed demonstrators were also urged to surround every exit from the US Capitol Complex, in order to trap members of Congress and their staff inside the building.
However, the intelligence gathered from websites and social media platforms was not utilized, not communicated to officers, or simply dismissed by the US Capitol Police, according to the Senate report. Additionally, once the insurrection was underway, the Department of Defense did not authorize the deployment of the Washington DC National Guard until a full three hours after it was requested to do so by the police.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the US Capitol Police said it welcomed the joint Senate report on the January 6 insurrection. It added, however, that “at no point prior to the 6th [of January did its analysts] receive actionable intelligence about a large-scale attack” on the US Capitol Complex. This is likely to be the last Congressional investigation into the attack on the US Capitol Complex, as Republican Senators have blocked the creation of an independent 9/11-type commission to investigate it.
► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 09 June 2021 | Permalink
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US citizen wanted for January 6 attack on Capitol seeks political asylum in Belarus
November 9, 2021 by Joseph Fitsanakis 1 Comment
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN WHO allegedly participated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol appears to have fled abroad and is said to be seeking political asylum in Belarus. Five people died as a result of a concerted attempt by thousands of supporters of the then-President Donald Trump to storm the United States Capitol Complex and invalidate the electoral victory of Joe Biden. Over 650 individuals are now facing federal charges for participating in the insurrection.
According to reports, California resident Evan Neumann was among those participating in the attack. Neumann, 48, is reportedly a handbag manufacturer who until recently lived in the well-to-do city of Mill Valley, near San Francisco. In March of this year, he was charged with six counts of criminal activity, including felonies for participating in a civil disorder and assaulting a police officer. He now appears to have fled the United States and to be seeking political asylum in the former Soviet Republic of Belarus, which is often referred to as Europe’s last dictatorship.
In a widely publicized television news segment aired on November 7, Neumann told the state-owned Belarus 1 news channel that he had been advised by “his lawyer […] to flee to Europe”. He had therefore traveled to northern Europe, ostensibly for business, from where he entered Switzerland by train, before traveling to Germany and Poland. From Poland he entered Ukraine in April, where he rented an apartment and planned to settle permanently. He claims, however, that he was “being followed by agents” of the SBU, the Security Service of Ukraine.
One night in August, Neumann “crossed illegally by foot into Belarus”, trekking through thick forest and swamps, and “dodging wild boars and snakes”. He is now seeking political asylum in Belarus. He is hoping to avoid American justice, given that Belarus does not share an extradition treaty with the United States. Under its authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus has faced concerted criticism from Western nations about its human rights record and fraught election practices. In the November 7 news segment, Neumann described the outstanding federal charges against him as “unfounded”, and said that they amounted to “political persecution”.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 09 November 2021 | Permalink
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