A newly publicized FBI after-action report reveals that the agency deployed hundreds of agents to the Capitol during the January 6 riot, many of whom later complained of being unsure about what they were supposed to be doing there. 

The report reveals that 274 FBI agents from the agency’s Washington Field Office were present in and around the Capitol on January 6, 2021. This included “agents who responded to the Capitol grounds as well as inside the Capitol, the pipe bombs, and the red truck that was believed to contain explosive devices,” according to the report obtained by Just the News. 

The report, recently sent to the House Judiciary Committee by FBI Director Kash Patel, indicates that several agents believed they were ill-equipped and unprepared to respond to the situation.

“The initial response of having us again respond to a riot by ‘standing the line’ did not seem appropriate because we do not have the gear, equipment, or training for riot control,” one agent wrote. 

“As in June, agents were again deployed onto the streets (specifically around the Capitol) and simply told to stand behind MPD. No other direction. When asked specifically what they were supposed to do or who to check in with, they were told simply that management said to go there and there was no answer,” a different agent said. “FBI agents do not have training for, nor equipment for, riot control.”

Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), the chair of a House Judiciary subcommittee investigating January 6, told Just the News that the number of FBI agents present at the Capitol raised more questions.

“Why is Congress just finding out there were significantly more FBI assets at the Capitol than previously identified? Were the courts that heard cases regarding January 6 made aware these agents were at the Capitol? Were any of the agents tasked to investigate individuals at the Capitol? Were they ever called to testify during the prosecutions of J6 defendants? Did any of the former FBI leaders testify about the additional personnel at the Capitol?” he asked. 

GOP lawmakers have repeatedly pressed the FBI over what it knew — and how it responded — on January 6. A previous Inspector General’s report revealed that the FBI also had at least 26 informants in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, including some who committed offenses.

The report also contained complaints from agents who said that January 6 cases were politically motivated. One agent said that questions were being asked in “my community” about the “different responses” to the 2020 riots versus January 6. 

“We were once an apolitical organization, but I no longer see us as looking from the ground up. We have been used as pawns in a political war, and FBI leadership fell into the trap and has allowed it to happen. We are supposed to call balls and strikes, regardless of political pressure, now we can’t even be trusted to be on the field,” the agent wrote. 

Another agent shared a similar sentiment. 

“The actions on January 6, 2021 were absolutely despicable and unacceptable in a civilized society. What is even more unacceptable was the hypocrisy displayed by the FBI and its leadership in their attempt to go after those involved in the Capitol Riots, while we as agents, watched cities burn across America during the summer of 2020,” the agent wrote.