Retired Lieutenant General Russel Honoré urged Congress to take action and pass additional funding to fund critical changes to improve emergency response from the United States Capitol Police following the January 6 uprising.
“This is their police force, this is not something that happens in Afghanistan or Iraq. These are the police officers, two of them died to protect them. It’s time for Congress to take action,” Honoré said. “They’ve got to get this done, they can’t wait for Jesus to fix this.”
Capitol Police Inspector General Michael A. Bolton told lawmakers Thursday that an injunction prohibiting officers from using their most powerful riot-control weapons, such as stabbing balls and 40mm launchers, endangered the Capitol on January 6.
Bolton added that officers were told not to use those weapons because they could have been life-threatening, saying the takeaway is that the officers should have been properly trained to use them.
Honoré led a task force to review Capitol security in the wake of the January 6 uprising, urging Congress to revive its security forces by adding 854 additional officers and a rapid response unit.
Honoré told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” that the Capitol is not safe until the National Guard is there to support the Capitol Police. He also said the Capitol is not structurally secure, as the doors and windows are not properly secured and the fencing has not yet been completed.
“The mission of Congress is to fund the police,” said Honoré. “We now have two different reports, both the IG report and Task Force 1-6, saying we need more officers, and that won’t start until the supplement is funded.”