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Vice President Kamala Harris was less than 20 feet from a “viable” pipe bomb on January 6, according to a new report from Homeland Security’s internal watchdog.
The Office of the Inspector General released its report on Friday detailing the Secret Service’s preparation for, and response to, the events of January 6, 2021. Five people died and hundreds were injured in the Capitol assault, where rioters aimed to prevent the certification of the election for President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Among the shocking revelations was that Harris, then vice president-elect, was within close range to a “viable” pipe bomb that Secret Security had missed in a security sweep.
“The pipe bomb had been placed near the [Democratic National Committee] building the night before”, the report states, but Secret Service personnel did not identify it during their security sweep on the morning of January 6.
Harris, traveling in an armored vehicle with her motorcade, entered the building via a ramp within 20 feet of the pipe bomb,” the report said. The DNC building is half a mile south of the Capitol building.
Harris was in the DNC building for approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes before the pipe bomb was discovered and she was evacuated, according to the report.
The pipe bomb was found in the bushes near a bench outside the building, 20ft from the driveway to the garage entrance where Harris entered the building. The explosive was found in an area that was not included in “advance security sweeps.”
Two Capitol Police officers discovered the explosive device at the DNC building, not Secret Service, which did not employ “all of its explosive detection tactics and measures” for the security sweep, and instead deployed its “canine teams” at the building that day, the report said.
The Capitol Police had already discovered another pipe bomb at the Republican National Committee building a few blocks away earlier that day.
The Secret Service miss occurred “in part because it did not have adequate policies and procedures for requesting these capabilities for ‘elect’ protectees.” The agency now has a policy to include this group.
Ahead of Jan 6, the Secret Service prepared two threat assessment, neither of which conveyed a “high potential for violence,” the inspector general wrote. The agency did not “anticipate or plan for the level of violence that ultimately occurred,” the report added.
Law enforcement is still looking for the person who planted the pipe bomb. The FBI is offering a $500,000 reward for information leading to the suspect’s arrest and conviction.
“Although these bombs did not detonate, it is important to remember the suspect walked along residential and commercial areas in Capitol Hill just blocks from the US Capitol with viable pipe bombs that could have seriously injured or killed innocent bystanders. Moreover, the suspect may still pose a danger to the public or themselves,” the agency said.
The report also revealed an array of tactical gear and weapons was confiscated by Secret Service, including gas masks, a taser, a ballistic vest, a concealed knife belt, and a motorcycle suit. A Secret Service officer told the inspector general’s office that it “was the first time in his 12-year career that he had confiscated a motorcycle suit.” In total, agents seized 605 prohibited items.
The report about the Secret Service’s actions on Jan 6 was released as the agency is being pressed about its handling of the assassination attempt of Donald Trump at his July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Congressional panels have grilled the Secret Service’s top officials over how a 20-year-old gunman was able to open fire from a rooftop at the outdoor venue. Trump was shot in the ear while one spectator died and two others were critically injured.
Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle resigned after her testimony before the House Oversight Comittee last month, admitting that the shooting was “the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades”.
Ronald Rowe has since taken over as acting director of the Secret Service. During his testimony this week, Rowe called the incident a “failure on multiple levels.”
Rowe testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday that he had visited the rally site in Butler, Pennsylvania, something his predecessor had not done.
“I laid in a prone position to evaluate his line of sight. What I saw made me ashamed. As a career law enforcement officer, and a 25-year veteran with the Secret Service, I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured,” Rowe said in his opening statement.
