For some European military, Trump allegedly attempted a coup, aided by federal law enforcement officials
Supporters of President Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday to stop the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden's election victory were attempting a violent coup that several European security officials said appeared to have at least unspoken support. fringes of the US federal agencies responsible for protecting the Capitol complex.
On Thursday morning, Insider spoke to three officials: a French police officer responsible for public security in a key section of central Paris and two intelligence officers from NATO countries who work directly in counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence operations involving the United States. terrorism and Russia.
They said the available circumstantial evidence points to what would openly be called a coup attempt in any other nation. No one was willing to put the statements in the minutes due to the gravity of the matter.
While they have provided no evidence that federal agency officials have facilitated the chaos, Insider reports this information because it illustrates the breadth and severity of Wednesday's events: America's international military and security allies are now willing to give serious credit to the idea that Trump deliberately attempted to violently overturn an election and that some federal law enforcement officers - by omission or otherwise - facilitated the attempt.
"Today I inform my government that we believe with a reasonable level of certainty that Donald Trump has attempted a coup."
A NATO source has laid the groundwork, using terms more commonly used to describe the turmoil in developing countries.
"The defeated president gives a speech in front of a group of supporters where he tells them he was robbed of the elections, denounces the members of his administration and the party as traitors and tells his supporters to storm the building where they are held. the votes, ”the NATO intelligence official said.
"Supporters, many dressed in military clothing and waving revolutionary-style flags, subsequently storm the building where the current president-controlled federal law enforcement agencies do not establish a security cordon, and protesters quickly overwhelm the latest police line.
"The president then makes a public statement to supporters attacking the Capitol saying he loves them, but he doesn't actually tell them to stop," the official said. “Today I inform my government that we believe with a reasonable level of certainty that Donald Trump has attempted a coup which failed when the system did not give way.
"I can't believe it happened."
A law enforcement official training with US forces believes that someone interfered with the proper deployment of police officers around Congress.
The French police official said he believed an investigation would find someone interfered with the deployment of additional federal law enforcement officers in the perimeter of the Capitol complex; the officer has direct knowledge of the appropriate procedures for the safety of the facility.
The security of Congress is entrusted to the US Capitol Police, a federal agency that responds to Congress.
It is customary for Capitol Police to coordinate with Federal Intelligence, Park Police, and local police in Washington, DC, prior to major demonstrations. The National Guard, commanded by the Department of Defense, is also often on standby.
On Wednesday, however, that coordination was late or absent.
"It goes without saying that much of any proper security plan has simply been ignored."
“You can't tell me I don't know what they should have done. I can fly to Washington tomorrow and do that job, just like any Washington police officer can fly to Paris and do my job, ”the official said. The official directs public security in a central Paris police district filled with government buildings and tourist sites.
"These are general principles" for the management of demonstrations, "and they apply to any situation," the official said. "This is why we train with US federal law enforcement to handle these very issues, and it is obvious that much of any successful plan has simply been ignored."
The National Guard, which was heavily deployed to quell Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, did not show up to assist police until two hours after the action began on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
A video shows the police doing nothing as the rioters enter the building
A video appeared to show some police officers opening a barrier to allow a group of protesters to approach the Capitol dome. Another video shows a police officer allowing a rioter to take a selfie with him inside the Capitol as demonstrators wandered around the building without control.
Kim Dine, who served as the Capitol Police Chief from 2012 to 2016, told the Washington Post that he was surprised that Capitol police allowed protesters to climb the steps of the Capitol. He said he was also baffled by the fact that few rioters were arrested on the spot.
Larry Schaefer, who has worked for the Capitol Police for more than 30 years, told ProPublica something like this: “This is a planned demonstration and known for unleashing violence in the past and threats to carry weapons - why you shouldn't prepare. how have we done in the past? "
Capitol police did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Systematic failures
The French police officer detailed multiple errors which they consider systematic:
- large crowds of protesters had to be handled much earlier by the police, who instead controlled the scene of the first group of protesters Trump addressed, then ignored the crowd as they approached the Capitol.
- "They should have been surrounded, managed and directed immediately, and that pressure was never put in place."
- As the crowd was not handled and directed, the official said, the protesters were able to gather unhindered around the Capitol, where the next major failure occurred.
- “It is unthinkable that there was not a strong police cordon around the perimeter of the complex. Fences and barricades are useless without a strong police deployment. That's when you start making arrests, targeting key people who seem violent, anyone who attacks an officer, anyone who breaks the barricades. You have to prove that crossing the border will end badly and will end in arrest ".
- “I can't believe that the failure to create a proper bead was a mistake. These are highly qualified police officers, but they are federal, and that means they ultimately answer to the president. This must be investigated ”.
- "By the time the crowd reached the steps of the building, the situation was already at an advanced stage. The police are there to protect the building from terrorist attacks and crime, not an infantry battalion. Everything had to be handled from hundreds of meters away unless the police were willing to open fire, and I can respect the fact that they weren't ”.
'Thank God it didn't work, because I can't imagine how difficult it would be to sanction the US financial system'
The third official, who works in counterintelligence for a NATO member country, agreed that the situation could only be viewed as a coup attempt, no matter how poorly planned and likely to fail, and said its implications could being too big to be immediately understood.
"Thank God it didn't work, because I can't imagine how difficult it would be to sanction the US financial system," the official said. By sanctions, he means the imposition of diplomatic, military and commercial blockades that democratic nations usually reserve for dictatorships.
“The largest damage worldwide will be extended in terms of reputation, which is why Putin doesn't care at all that Trump lost. He must be happy to take his chips and count his winnings, which consist in the fact that from the Trump era it will be an incredibly rapid decline in American prestige and high moral standards.
"Every moment Americans spend in self-inflicted chaos helps China, helps Putin and, to a lesser extent, helps mini-dictators like [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orban, who thrive on cynicism towards politics, human rights and democracy, ”the official said. “They won't miss Trump; they will be happy to see his departure shrouded in drama so they can enjoy the poisoned political climate “.
