Shockwaves continue to roll through the Capitol Police as Assistant U.S. Capitol Police Chief Chad Thomas resigned Monday, The Hill reported.
“For your awareness, USCP Assistant Chief Chad Thomas is no longer serving as Commander of Uniformed Operations and will be separating from the department,” the U.S. Capitol Police said in a notification to lawmakers obtained by The Hill.
Thomas is the latest to go in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol where hundreds of former President Donald Trump supporters stormed the governmental building as Congress officially tabulated Electoral College results and declared President Joe Biden the winner.
Three officers from Capitol Police and the local D.C. police department, as well as two civilians died because of the riot, according to the report.
Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died Jan. 7 as the result of two strokes, both a Capitol Police and a D.C. officer committed suicide in the weeks since the riot.
More than 50 other officers were injured, some were hospitalized, according to The Hill.
According to The Hill, the union representing the Capitol Police officers said last month that more than 70 officers left the department following the riot.
The chief at the time of the riot, Steven Sund, gave notice he was leaving the department the day following the incident, the Hill reported at them time.
In April, an internal watchdog organization within the Capitol Police issued a report that the officers were not prepared, despite “intelligence” that warned of a possible incursion to the building.
During testimony in front of the House Administration Committee, Capitol Police Inspector General Michael Bolton told lawmakers two reports outlined many failures by those at the top of the department’s command in preparing for the day, as well as a need to reform training and operating procedures for the agency, The Hill reported at the time.
Bolton said that using more aggressive weapons, like sting balls, could have caused life-altering injuries or death for the protestors, but also could have given them a “better posture to repel these attackers.”
“It would be very difficult to say it would’ve absolutely turned the tide, but it certainly would’ve given them a better chance at doing what they needed to do,” he said in April.
Thomas, who joined the agency in 1996, was the assistant chief of uniformed operations since 2019, The Hill reported.
A union vote of the rank-and-file officers in February, however, gave him a 96 percent vote of no confidence.
That same union gave Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman a 92 percent no confidence vote at the time.
A report on the riot is expected this week from the Senate, where lawmakers are reviewing the roles of the various agencies assigned to protect the building.
Source: Newmax
