The Secret Service appeared to minimize the threats that Jan. 6 protesters posed in the lead-up to the violence, according to newly released documents.
Nearly 900 pages of documents, released as part of a Freedom of Information Act request by Bloomberg News, shows that as thousands of protesters descended upon the nation’s capital, the Secret Service unit responsible for identifying such threats didn’t expect what was to come.
SIX TAKEAWAYS FROM LAST JAN. 6 HEARING BEFORE MIDTERM ELECTIONS
The documents, which included emails, threat assessments, and reports, show that the Secret Service Protective Intelligence & Assessment Division planned for extremist groups like the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to come to Washington, D.C., ahead of then-President Donald Trump’s speech but that they didn’t think there would be “civil disobedience.”
Among the documents was an 11-page intelligence report that broke down the protests that were scheduled for Jan. 6 and highlighted that the Proud Boys, a group that has members now on trial for their alleged crimes, would be in attendance.
The partially redacted intelligence report’s assessment concluded, “Many of the groups planning to engage in demonstration activities on Jan. 6, 2021, are the same which participated in demonstration activities on Nov. 14, 2020 and Dec. 12, 2020. Verbal and physical altercations ensued between pro-Trump and anti-Trump supporters during both events.”
The morning of the Jan. 6 rally, which featured a bellicose speech by Trump followed by hordes of his supporters storming the Capitol, the Secret Service handed out a situational awareness report noting that some 10,000 people were heading to the speech.
“Some members of the of the crowd are wearing ballistic helmets, body armor and carrying radio equipment and military grade backpacks,” the report read. The Secret Service “will continue to monitor all crowds in the area of the White House zone. No civil disobedience at this time.”
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The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack has been closely examining how the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies performed and reacted on the day of the riot. During its most recent hearing on Thursday, the committee discussed the warnings that law enforcement received prior to the siege.
The panel also voted unanimously to subpoena Trump in an effort to glean new information from the person at the center of the investigation.
