WASHINGTON- An anonymous letter claiming to be from some of the US Capitol Police Department circulated on Capitol Hill Wednesday shortly before the House voted on a bill for an independent commission to investigate the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol becoming viral in Social media. The letter was first obtained by Congressman Jamie Raskin on Wednesday.
The letter was signed “Proud Members of the United States Capitol Police,” and sent on the letterhead of the USCP.
It’s unclear how many members signed the letter, but the officer who wrote the unofficial statement told CNN’s Jamie Gangel that it represents the views of 40 to 50 officers on the force and that the statement “needed to be out there. It needed to be done.”
“We members of the United States Capitol Police write this letter to express our profound disappointment with the recent comments from both chambers’ minority leaders expressing no need for a January 6th commission,” the letter said. “The brave men and women of the USCP were subjected to hours and hours of physical trauma which has led to months of mental anguish.”
“If you look around the Capitol building, you still have doors that are broken, windows still smashed and in some cases missing. Officers are forced to go to work with the daily reminder of what happened that dreadful day,” the letter read.
It is “inconceivable that some of the Members we protect, would downplay the events of January 6th.
“It is inconceivable that some of the Members we protect, would downplay the events of January 6th. Member safety was dependent upon the heroic actions of USCP,” the letter read.
Congressman Jamie Raskin said in a statement released Wednesday – “I want to salute all the brave Capitol Police officers who defended us on January 6th and thank the ones who penned a powerful anonymous letter about the trauma and anguish they faced while protecting Members of Congress, our staff, our Capitol, and our democracy on January 6th. I hope everyone reads their words and finds opportunities to listen to Capitol officers. It is shameful that some of the Members they protected, including the Minority Leaders, now want to downplay the dangerous violence of that fateful day. Let us show gratitude for the heroic actions of law enforcement on January 6 by finding the truth and making sure this never happens again.”
The US Capitol Police said that the agency “does NOT take positions on legislation.”
“A statement is circling on social media, which expresses an opinion about the proposed legislation to create a commission to investigate January 6,” the USCP said in a tweet. “This is NOT an official USCP statement. The Department has no way of confirming it was even authored by USCP personnel.”
The USCP also posted its statement in a tweet.
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