WHERE IT BEGAN

Email Shows Officer Warned Colleagues That Trump Ordered Rioters to March to Capitol

An unnamed protective service officer sent a briefing note that read: “POTUS is encouraging the protesters to march to capitol grounds.”

Shortly after midday on Jan. 6, a Federal Protective Service officer emailed an alarming briefing to his colleagues in Washington, D.C. that Donald Trump had just ordered his followers to march to the U.S. Capitol. The email, obtained by the Associated Press, was sent right after Trump encouraged his fans to “fight like hell” to overturn the election result. An unnamed protective service officer sent an email that read: “POTUS is encouraging the protesters to march to capitol grounds and continue protesting there.” The briefings tracked protesters on their march—then, an hour later, delivered the chilling message: “CAPITOL HAS BEEN BREACHED. PROTESTERS ARE NOW INSIDE THE CAPITOL.” The AP obtained hundreds of documents related to the Capitol riot. Another sees a firefighter describing officers “being pulled into the crowd and trampled, assaulted with scaffolding materials, and/or bear maced.”