Capitol Police Not Told of Undercover MPD Officers in Crowd on Jan. 6, Former Chief Says

Steven Sund testified before a House subcommittee that he was not told of the presence of undercover MPD Electronic Surveillance Unit officers.

Two undercover Metropolitan Police Department officers walk behind Ashli Babbitt on the northwest side of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. One had earlier remarked "someone would get shot." William Pope via U.S. District Court/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

Former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said he was not told that the Metropolitan Police Department planned to embed more than two dozen undercover Electronic Surveillance Unit officers on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021.

Testifying before the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, Mr. Sund said outside police agencies were always expected to give notice and have permission to operate on Capitol grounds.

Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) questioned Mr. Sund about the presence of undercover MPD officers on Jan. 6.

“We actually have evidence and records indicating plainclothes MPD officers were on Capitol grounds on January 6, and you’re saying you weren’t aware that they would have embedded those officers within the crowd?” Mr. Loudermilk asked. “They didn’t make you aware of that?”

Members of the Metropolitan Police Department's Electronic Surveillance Unit inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. U.S. District Court/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

“No sir, they did not make me aware of it,” Mr. Sund replied. “It’s not unusual for agencies to have plainclothes units deployed around major events. But no, I was not made aware that they'd be on Capitol grounds.”

The presence of ESU undercover officers was disclosed earlier this year in the criminal case against protester William Pope of Topeka, Kansas. Mr. Pope filed evidence in federal court that showed a three-man undercover team working its way up the northwest side of the Capitol after 1 p.m.

One of the officers helped protesters climb up onto the balustrade on the northwest steps and urged others to continue moving up to the Capitol, according to the officer’s own GoPro video footage leaked on Rumble. The officer also participated in crowd chants.

Federal prosecutors later acknowledged that the officer was acting as a provocateur. They are fighting Mr. Pope’s court motion to obtain and publicly release videos shot by any/all of the nearly 30 undercover ESU operatives assigned to duty on Jan. 6.

“Some of what actually Metropolitan Police provided to us—camera footage, body cam footage—shows that there were undercover agents in the crowd, with one apparently encouraging some of the protesters to enter the Capitol,” Mr. Loudermilk said. “I assume you would think that was uncalled for or unprofessional.”

“I haven’t seen that,” Mr. Sund replied. “If it turned out to be a police officer involved in that, that would be inappropriate.”

Some of the ESU officers took part in a traffic stop of three self-described Antifa members on their way to the Capitol, one of whom was arrested for possession of a firearm, a high-capacity magazine, and unregistered ammunition. Charges against the man were dropped on Jan. 7, 2021.

Antifa supporters Logan (aka Leslie) Grimes and Dempsey Mikula (right) look on while police search the vehicle in which they were riding on Jan. 6, 2021. U.S. District Court/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

Video from another undercover agent—later identified as Officer Anthony Faverio—showed him assisting fellow officers who had been sprayed with mace. He poured a solution over the eyes of one uniformed officer.

“What’s in it?” the uniformed officer asked.

“Baking soda and milk,” the undercover agent replied, then added, “When we go undercover as Antifa in the crowd.”

Mr. Sund told the committee that he had asked MPD for assistance earlier on Jan. 6 after his attempts in previous days to get approval for National Guard support had failed.

“I did call Metropolitan Police Department right at 12:55. We were attacked at 12:53. At 12:55, I called MPD and asked them to send in the resources,“ Mr. Sund said. ”I called earlier that morning at 10:55 and asked [Assistant] Chief [Jeffery] Caroll if he could put additional resources on Constitution Avenue in case we needed them.”

The Sept. 19 Subcommittee on Oversight hearing in the Longworth House Office Building was Mr. Sund’s first chance to brief U.S. House members, some 33 months after Jan. 6. The hearing was titled, “Oversight of United States Capitol Security: Assessing Security Failures on January 6, 2021.”

Mr. Sund said he was never invited to testify before the now-defunct Jan. 6 Select Committee.

After-Action Report

Mr. Loudermilk asked Mr. Sund about the USCP after-action report created after he left the department.

“Have you seen the Capitol Police after-action report on January 6?” Mr. Loudermilk asked.

“Yes sir, the 27-page after-action? Yes, sir,” Mr. Sund replied.

Mr. Loudermilk asked Mr. Sund if he was surprised at the brevity of the report.

U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus delivers remarks during an award ceremony to honor the victims and recognize the heroic actions of the people involved in the Washington Navy Yard shootings at Luetz Park at the military base in Washington, on June 23, 2014. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

“So that’s what amazes me is that this after-action report of the ... [2017] baseball shooting, with two officers involved, 15 or 16 Members of Congress, received this comprehensive after-action report,” Mr. Loudermilk said. “But that January 6 after-action report literally is just a handful of pages, and it’s very sketchy.”

Mr. Sund replied, “I would have expected a much larger after-action. I was involved in Navy Yard as the incident commander there. The after-action there was at least three times that length.”

Mr. Sund was referring to a mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard on Sept. 16, 2013, when Aaron Alexis shot and killed 12 people and injured several others before being killed by an MPD officer. The after-action report on that shooting (pdf) was 83 pages.

Nancy Pelosi Untruth

Mr. Sund told the House subcommittee that claims made by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Jan. 7—the day she went on national television to demand his resignation—were untrue.

“In a press conference on January 7, Speaker Pelosi called for your resignation on national television,” said Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), chairman of the Committee on House Administration. “Speaker Pelosi also stated that she had not talked to you since the initial breach of the Capitol. But according to your transcribed interview, you’re on the phone with Speaker Pelosi a few times. Can you explain that discrepancy?”

Mr. Sund replied: “I spoke to Speaker Pelosi three times that evening, and she went on national TV and said I'd never spoken to her, but I spoke to her three times.”

In the first instance, Mr. Sund said he was preparing to brief Vice President Mike Pence at a secure location after 5 p.m. when House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving asked him to talk to Ms. Pelosi.

Former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund testifies before the Committee on House Administration's Subcommittee on Oversight in Washington, on Sept. 19, 2023. U.S. House/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

“He said he wanted to get Speaker Pelosi on the phone,” Mr. Sund testified. “He made a phone call from his cell phone at approximately 5:34 where I first briefed Speaker Pelosi.”

The second call occurred after he briefed Vice President Pence and was walking with Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger to brief senators at their sequestered location. Mr. Sund said he was handed a cell phone and talked to Ms. Pelosi about information he had just given to Vice President Pence.

“I assure her that information was correct,” Mr. Sund testified. “I could get them back into chambers by 7 p.m.”

At 6:25 p.m., Mr. Sund said he had a third call, giving a briefing to Ms. Pelosi and other congressional leaders.

“So you didn’t have one call, you didn’t have two calls, you had three calls,” Mr. Steil said. “So Speaker Pelosi’s comments that she didn’t speak to you are inaccurate.”

“That is correct, sir,” Mr. Sund responded.

The Epoch Times reached out to Ms. Pelosi’s office for comment.

Data Miner

Mr. Loudermilk, citing a book by Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig, said Gen. Mark Milley, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, used a tool called Data Miner to gather intelligence about Jan. 6.

“General Milley was using this tool and reached out to Senator Angus King [D-Maine], warning him about violent rhetoric for January 6,” Mr. Loudermilk said. “Some of the intelligence included references to smuggling guns and other weapons into D.C.

“One message said, ‘Let’s burn Senator [Mitch] McConnell’s house down while he’s in it,” Mr. Loudermilk said. “Another one—seemingly addressed to members who supported certifying the election—said, ’We’re coming to kill you. Just wait a few days.’

“Did General Milley ever reach out to you and share these concerns with you of any of this intelligence?” Mr. Loudermilk asked.

“No, sir,” Mr. Sund replied.

“Would this intelligence have helped the Capitol Police prepare for January 6?” Mr. Loudermilk asked.

Mr. Sund’s reply: “Absolutely.”