The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York Police Department warned the U.S. Capitol Police about the possibility of violent riots ahead of the Jan. 6 seizure of Capitol Hill, according to senior law enforcement officials.
An unnamed source told NBC News that federal authorities, who had intelligence suggesting a conspiracy was underway, visited more than a dozen individuals under investigation and discouraged them from traveling to Washington.
“Prior to this event, the FBI obtained credible and actionable information about individuals who were planning on traveling to the protests who expressed a desire to engage in violence,” the senior FBI official told NBC News. “The FBI was able to discourage those individuals from traveling to D.C.”
Federal law enforcement officials have been widely panned for the sluggish response as violence broke out on Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon. House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving and his Senate counterpart, Michael Stenger, both resigned in the aftermath of the debacle.
Steve D’Antuono, who heads the FBI’s Washington field office, denied that authorities had any advanced warning of the attack.
“There was no indication that there was anything [planned] other than First Amendment-protected activity,” he said.
Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee supported this contention.
“There was no intelligence that suggested there would be a breach of the U.S. Capitol,” he said.
Authorities are continuing to investigate the sequence of events that led to the Capitol Hill siege, which resulted in a congressional lockdown and multiple deaths.
Contee identified four victims of the attack during a press conference held on Thursday and indicated that 68 people were arrested. A fifth casualty, U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, was also reported in connection to the riot.
