ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – News 6 traffic safety expert Steven Montiero, who has worked for the Florida Highway Patrol for more than 10 years, called the initial police response at the nation’s Capitol Wednesday a failure.
“I think if you would have had more of a mutual aid, more officers on the ground, a tact team visibly present, they would have never made it to the Capitol,” Montiero said.
Tactical teams should have been there the entire morning, according to Montiero.
This coming after an angry mob of violent Trump supporters forced their way inside the Capitol. People were seen climbing up the building as lawmakers and innocent civilians inside ducked for cover.
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“It doesn’t look like anyone planned for anything. It looked like it was a normal day in D.C,” Montiero said.
As a trained law enforcement officer, Montiero was asked why the Capitol police didn’t use more force.
“In order to draw a deadly weapon, you must be presented with a deadly situation or something that can cause serious harm,” Montiero said.
It was a much different scene though from last summer where Black Lives Matter protestors were nowhere near as close to Capitol, and the tact team seemed to have been called in days before. Even right here in Central Florida, police were dressed in riot gear as protestors, many of them peaceful, lined our streets.
Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon shared his thoughts from the incident at the Capitol.
“If it was this type of group versus this one, is a question that a lot of people are asking,“Rolon said. “But, as a law enforcement officer and my personal opinion, is never would a law enforcement agency do something intentionally to allow someone to breach the Capitol building, never, but obviously there was a failure yesterday.”
Meanwhile, Russell Drake is a community activist and took part in several Black Lives Matter protests in Orlando last summer against police brutality. He told News 6 that watching videos of Wednesday’s protest at our Capitol is a clear comparison of how different protestors are seen.
“I’m completed outraged and disgusted with what occurred,” Drake said.
He said in fact the law enforcement response to the protest in D.C. just made him mad.
“Here I am, I stand at 200 pounds and 6-foot-4, I think if I would’ve charged there, you would see my bloodstains all over the place,” Drake said.
Dr. Larry Walker is a former congressional staffer in DC and a professor of race and leadership at UCF.
“What we viewed yesterday was a travesty, and not only does this country needs a reflection it needs to confront racism in America,” Dr. Walker said.