Capitol Police were 'set up to fail' by 'failure of leadership': Tom Homan

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Tom Homan: 'Understaffed' Capitol Police 'were set up to fail'

Former ICE acting director calls for a change in Capitol Police leadership after riot on 'The Daily Briefing'

Former Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan slammed critics of the United States Capitol Police (USCP) Thursday after right-wing demonstrators stormed the Capitol building while Congress was counting Electoral College votes. 

Homan, now a Fox News contributor, told "The Daily Briefing" that any ire toward rank-and-file officers should instead be directed higher up the chain.

"Talking to my friends in the Capitol Police, there is a failure in leadership of the Capitol Police," said Homan, who added that the failures date back to the 2013 mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard.

During the shooting, in which 12 people were killed, a specially trained USCP tactical squad was recalled from responding to the scene, despite the shooting taking place just blocks away from the Capitol. 

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"If they would have responded, they could have saved lives," said Homan, who added that similarly poor planning undermind the response to Wednesday's unrest.

"They were understaffed. A lot of police had the day off. They didn’t do the intelligence analysis [of the event]."

Homan added that rank-and-file USCP officers have always been under-respected in the line of duty, pointing to the prominence of the "defund the police" movement in Congress.

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"These are American heroes that put their lives on the line for many people in that building who don’t even talk to them, they don’t respect them," he said.

"But they still stood there and protected them [Wednesday]... These men and women were set up to fail."