'Very telling' government texts released from Jan. 6: 'Glad DC has strict gun control'
An ethics group on Wednesday announced that it had obtained numerous newly public text messages from Homeland Security officials on Jan. 6.
Internal text messages from the Federal Protective Service obtained by Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington (CREW) give a "never before seen look at how senior government law enforcement officials prepared for and responded to the insurrection on January 6th."
"We just got the texts from between DHS officials on Jan. 6 and the night before," the group wrote. "Very telling texts, like 'glad DC has strict gun control.'"
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"Much like the FBI and Secret Service, FPS, a component of the Department of Homeland Security, had advance warning that there could be a disturbance at the Capitol. On January 3rd, then-Principal Deputy Director and current Director of FPS Kris Cline received a text notifying him that '[t]here will also be marches to the Capitol that will likely use the mall as their route.' As pro-Trump protestors swarmed downtown DC the night of January 5th, Tex Alles, Deputy Under Secretary for Management at DHS, texted Cline and Chris Tomney, the Director of the Office of Homeland Security Situational Awareness, that he was “glad DC has strict gun control.” Tomney responded with one word: “yikes.”
The report then continues:
"At 1:36 pm on January 6th, Tomney expressed concern about the armed mob: 'With so many weapons found so far, you wonder how many are unknown. Could be sporty after dark.' Throughout the day, officials found an individual with a pistol and another apparently with pepper spray, a long gun, with a magazine and a rifle with a scope."
According to the report from CREW, officials were also notified of intelligence “suggesting that the Proud Boys will storm the FBI Building at 1400 hour.”
"Other officials were obviously overwhelmed by the crowd. At 9:33 am, one individual asked for an estimate of the crowd size and received “A LOT” in response. By 1:43 pm an individual texted that there were “1000s of people in the streets.” They were then told “do your best.”
At 3 pm, once the Capitol was under attack, an officer asked about deployment. They were told “You are not engaging at this time [redacted]. Get as close as you can,” mirroring instructions Park Police officers received as they responded to the mob.