The USCP timeline shows that at 12:55 p.m. all available officers were directed to the West Front of the Capitol. Then, at approximately 1:25 p.m., FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich received a report about the pipe bombs at the RNC and DNC.[155] Bowdich testified that the FBI considered the possibility that the DNC and RNC bombs were possible distractions.[156] At 1:28 p.m., USCP requested the AOC deliver 400 additional bike racks to the East Front to serve as protective barriers, even though rioters were using bike racks as weapons. The pipe bomb discovery at the DNC prevented the AOC from delivering them.[157]
Chief Gallagher was surprised that the violence had escalated so fast. "The amount of violence that immediately took place when that crowd of 30,000, 35,000, whatever the number that was estimated to come was, that did catch, I think, caught Capitol Police and all of our partners a little off guard with how violent they were and how quick they were."[158] At 1:49 p.m., DC MPD Commander Glover declared a riot on the West Front of the Capitol. "Cruiser 50, we're going to give riot warnings. We're going to give riot warnings. Going to try to get compliance, but this is now effectively a riot," Commander Glover yelled into his radio. "1349 hours. Declaring it a riot," the dispatcher responded, which allowed a change in the type of equipment the MPD could use in responding to the violence.[159]
While the violence continued to escalate at the Capitol, the USCP leadership focused on three things: (1) requesting support from local and Federal law enforcement agencies nearby; (2) planning for and coordinating with arriving reinforcements; and (3) protecting congressional leadership and other Members of Congress. Chief Sund was "still making other calls to other agencies for support—ATF, FBI, you name it, Secret Service."[160]
Yogananda Pittman, Gallagher's direct supervisor, told the Select Committee that she took roles that day beyond her responsibility as Assistant Chief of Police for Protective and Intelligence Operations. "So we started—so I started to take Protective Services Bureau resources, as well as the chief's staff, to set up operations adjacent to headquarters building, specifically lot 16, so that we could have a check-in procedure for those units so they could stage vehicles," Pittman said.[161] "Because like we know now, there were breaches on both sides of the buildings and these folks are inside of the Capitol. So you have to deploy them with your officers. They don't know the layout of the land. We're telling them to respond to north barricade. They don't know the north from the south."[162]
Just after 2 p.m., when the Capitol was breached, Assistant Chief Pittman turned her full attention to the protection of congressional leadership.[163] Meanwhile, the USCP officers at the West Front were overwhelmed. Commander Glover praised the actions of his fellow law enforcement officers that day but also noted a lack of leadership.[164] He observed that the
