Retired Lt. General Russel Honoré urged Congress to act and pass supplemental funding to finance critical changes to improve the U.S. Capitol Police’s emergency response in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
“This is their police force, this is not something that happens in Afghanistan or Iraq. These are the policemen, two of them have died protecting them. It’s time for Congress to act,” said Honoré. “They need to get this done, they can’t wait for Jesus to come fix this.”
U.S. Capitol Police Inspector General Michael A. Bolton told lawmakers Thursday that an order barring officers from using their most powerful riot control weapons, like sting balls and 40-mm launchers, compromised the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Bolton added that officers were told not to use those weapons because they could’ve been life threatening, and said that the takeaway is that the officers should have been properly trained to use them.
Honoré led a task force to review the U.S. Capitol security in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection, and urged Congress to revamp its security forces by adding 854 more officers and a rapid response unit.
Honoré told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” that the U.S. Capitol is only secure now the National Guard is there to back up the Capitol Police. He also said that, structurally, the U.S. Capitol is not secure as the doors and windows have not been fixed properly, and the engineered fencing has not yet been completed.
“The mission of Congress is to fund the police,” Honoré said. “We’ve had two different reports now, both the IG report and Task Force 1-6, saying we need more officers, and that will not start until the supplemental is funded.”
