The Arlington firefighters ended up at the Capitol because, two days earlier, Washington Metro Police Chief Robert J. Contee had formally asked the Arlington County Police Department, along with police departments from Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland, and Arlington County in Virginia, to lend them some officers trained for protests and riots, according to the documents.
Arlington’s acting police chief Andy Penn said they’d send help for the “planned and unplanned first amendment activities,” according to emails.
At the time, the Capitol Police department had issued a security assessment warning that militia members, white supremacists and other extremists were heading to Washington to target Congress in what they saw as a “last stand” to support President Donald Trump.
Police were maced, trampled at Jan. 6 riot, new documents show
Hundreds of emails, texts, photos and documents obtained by the Associated Press show how a patchwork of law enforcement agencies from all directions tried to support Washington as protesters poured into town.
By MARTHA MENDOZA and JULIET LINDERMANAssociated Press
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U.S. Capitol Police push back rioters trying to enter the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6. Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press
Two firefighters loaned to Washington for the day said that, at one point, they were the only medics on the Capitol steps Jan. 6, trying to triage injured officers as they watched the angry mob swell and attack police.
By MARTHA MENDOZA and JULIET LINDERMAN
Associated Press
Two firefighters loaned to Washington for the day said they were the only medics on the Capitol steps Jan. 6, trying to triage injured officers as they watched the angry mob swell and attack police.
Law enforcement agents were âbeing pulled into the crowd and trampled, assaulted with scaffolding materials, and/or bear maced by protesters,â wrote Arlington County firefighter Taylor Blunt in an after-action memo. Some couldnât walk, and had to be dragged to safety.
Even some of the attackers sought medical help, and Blunt and his colleague Nathan Waterfall treated those who were passing out or had been hit. But some âfeigned illness to remain behind police lines,â Blunt wrote.
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