Multiple U.S. agencies question Capitol riot response

The departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, and the Interior have launched official inquiries about law enforcement’s preparedness for and response to last week’s breach of the U.S. Capitol. Inspectors general for those agencies said they plan to investigate whether the FBI adequately shared warnings about the violence ahead of time and if Capitol Police turned down an offer of help from the Pentagon in the days before the riots.

What have investigators learned about the perpetrators? In court filings in the case against Jacob Chansley, the so-called “QAnon Shaman” photographed rioting in a horned headdress, prosecutors said evidence “supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials.” At least one other man charged in the incident, retired Air Force officer Larry Rendell Brock Jr., intended to take hostages and possibly execute them, federal prosecutors said. Pictures show Brock carrying plastic zip-tie handcuffs through the U.S. Senate chamber. (Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin later walked back some of the claims: “There is no direct evidence at this point of kill-capture teams.”)

Dig deeper: Read Harvest Prude’s feature report on how the Capitol riots went down, including what she saw inside the building.

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated this report since its initial posting.