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The January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol was “essentially planned in plain sight on social media” and yet the FBI and Department of Homeland Security appeared to have “completely dropped the ball,” a Senate committee concluded in the latest highly critical assessment of the security failures.
A new report released by Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security Committee paints a freshly damning portrait of various intelligence failures by the FBI and DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis, agencies tasked with preventing domestic terrorism.
Internal communications from both agencies, obtained by Democrats on the panel, reveal new details about how top officials either ignored or dismissed clear indicators of potential violence by pro-Trump actors ahead of the US Capitol attack – leaving law enforcement unprepared for what ultimately unfolded that day.
At the same time, the report states that former President Donald Trump “was the primary cause of the insurrection,” which it says the bipartisan House January 6 select committee’s investigation demonstrated.
“President Trump, his lawyers, and elected officials seeking to curry favor repeated false claims that the 2020 election had been stolen, and that coupled with President Trump’s calls for a protest in DC on January 6 that would ‘be wild,’ directly contributed to this attack,” the Senate report states.
The report goes on to say, “But the fact remains that the federal agencies tasked with preventing domestic terrorism and disseminating intelligence – namely FBI and I&A – did not sound the alarm, and much of the violence that followed on January 6 may have been prevented had they done so.”
Asked about the Senate report, a DHS spokesperson told CNN that since the Capitol attack, the department “has strengthened intelligence analysis, information sharing, and operational preparedness to help prevent acts of violence and keep our communities safe.”
According to the spokesperson, the department’s office of intelligence and analysis (I&A) has taken “steps to enhance its capacity to collect and produce intelligence about homeland security threats.” Additionally, its “operations, policies and priorities” have been under review and recommendations are being developed.
“As Secretary Mayorkas has said, the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was a violent assault on our democracy,” the spokesperson said.
CNN has also reached out to the FBI to request comment.
Among its conclusions, the report states that there was a noticeable uptick in violent online rhetoric ahead of January 6, particularly on right-wing and pro-Trump social media sites, which was identified by intelligence analysts in both agencies yet never deemed to represent a credible threat.
“What is shocking is this attack was essentially planned in plain sight on social media. And yet it seemed as if our intelligence agencies completely dropped the ball,” Sen. Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat who chairs the committee, told reporters on Monday while previewing the report’s findings.
