Multiple European security officials told Insider that President Trump appeared to have tacit support among US federal agencies responsible for securing the Capitol complex in yesterday's coup attempt.
The supporters of President Donald Trump who stormed Congress to stop the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden's election victory were attempting a violent coup that multiple European security officials said appeared to have at least tacit support from aspects of the US federal agencies responsible for securing the Capitol complex.
Insider spoke with three officials on Thursday morning: a French police official responsible for public security in key section of central Paris and two intelligence officials from NATO countries who directly work in counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence operations involving the US, terrorism, and Russia.
They said the circumstantial evidence available pointed to what would be openly called a coup attempt in any other nation. None were willing to speak on the record because of the absolutely dire nature of the subject.
While they were unwilling publish proof that federal agency officials facilitated the chaos, Insider is reporting this information because it illustrates the scale and seriousness of yesterday's events: America's international military and security allies are now willing to give serious credence to the idea that President Trump deliberately tried to violently cancel an election, and that some federal law enforcement agents — by omission or otherwise — facilitated the attempt.
'Today I am briefing my government that we believe with a reasonable level of certainty that Donald Trump attempted a coup'
The NATO source set the stage, describing it in terms more commonly used to describe unrest in developing countries:
"The defeated president gives a speech to a group of supporters where he tells them he was robbed of the election, denounces his own administration's members and party as traitors, and tells his supporters to storm the building where the voting is being held," said the NATO intelligence official. "The supporters, many dressed in military attire and waving revolutionary style flags, then storm the building where the federal law enforcement agencies controlled by the current president do not establish a security cordon and the protesters quickly overwhelm the last line of police."
"The president then makes a public statement to the supporters attacking the Capitol that he loves them but doesn't really tell them to stop," the official said. "Today I am briefing my government that we believe with a reasonable level of certainty that Donald Trump attempted a coup that failed when the system did not buckle."
"I can't believe this happened."
A law enforcement official who trains with US forces believes someone interfered with the proper deployment of officers around Congress
The French police official believes that an investigation will find that someone interfered with the deployment of additional federal law enforcement on the perimeter of the Capitol complex because the official has direct knowledge of the proper procedures for security of the facility. The security of Congress is entrusted to the US Capitol Police, a federal agency that answers to Congress.
It is routine for the Capitol Police to coordinate with the federal Secret Service and Park Police, and local District of Columbia police, prior to large demonstrations. The National Guard, commanded by the Department of Defense, are often on standby too.
On Wednesday, however, that coordination was late or absent.
'It's obvious that large parts of any successful plan were just ignored'
"You cannot tell me I don't know what they should have done, I can fly to Washington tomorrow and do that job just as any police official in Washington can fly to Paris and do mine," said the official. The source directs public security in a central Paris police district filled with government buildings and tourist sites.
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