35 U.S. Capitol Hill officers under investigation over attack
Six officers have been suspended without pay in connection with the Jan. 6 siege
35 U.S. Capitol officers have been placed under investigation or suspended with pay in connection to last month’s insurrection.
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Six police officers have been suspended with pay over the Jan. 6 siege and 29 officers are now under investigation, according to a spokesperson, Fox 5 reported on Thursday.
“Our Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating the actions of 35 police officers from that day. We currently have suspended six of those officers with pay. Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman has directed that any member of her department whose behavior is not in keeping with the Department’s Rules of Conduct will face appropriate discipline,” the statement read.
The investigations come a month after supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S Capitol in a bid to stop the Electoral College certification of President Joe Biden. The attempted coup resulted in five deaths, including a Capitol police officer. Many others suffered injuries after the mob breached the upper chamber which resulted in lawmakers fleeing for their safety.
To date, there have been 250 arrests in relation to the siege on the Capitol. It has been suspected that the rioters may have possibly had some inside help. Rep. Tim Ryan claimed that an officer took a selfie with one of the rioters, per CNN.
As theGrio previously reported, Congressman Jim Clyburn appeared on CNN’s State of the Union on Jan. 10 to voice his suspicions.
“I’m saying that I have an unmarked office that you gotta know exactly where it is. It is where I spend most of my time doing my work as the Majority Whip. I have a staff. We work pretty hard trying to keep up with members, trying to make sure they do an effective job of managing the votes once they get to the floor,” Clyburn said.
“And that office is where I do most of my work, and for some reason, these people showed up at that office, but the office where my name is above the door, on the door, and my position above the door was not disturbed.”
Clyburn continued, “I’m just saying. They didn’t go to where my name was, they went to where I usually hang out, so that to me suggests that something untoward was going on.”
The response to the Capitol attack has also been called into question as many believed that some officers did not do enough to prevent the siege. Pittman also issued a statement of apology to Congress.
Read More: Pelosi says independent commission will examine Capitol riot
“We also knew that some of these participants were intending to bring firearms and other weapons to the event,” Pittman said, according to Politico. “We knew that there was a strong potential for violence and that Congress was the target. The Department prepared in order to meet these challenges, but we did not do enough.”
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