Media Roundup: Fred Burton’s Perspective on the U.S. Capitol Riots

The recent events at the U.S. Capitol are yet another inflection point in our nation’s history of security crises, and there are many lessons that corporate security leaders can learn from this incident. Here’s a media roundup of commentary from Ontic’s Fred Burton, Executive Director of the Center for Protective Intelligence, on the U.S. Capitol riots.

 Media Roundup

The Lawfare Podcast: Who let the barbarians through the gates?
The storming of the Capitol on Wednesday was a catastrophic failure of protective law enforcement, as rioters overran Capitol Police barricades and gained access to a building that a lot of police were supposed to be protecting. How did it happen? Who screwed up? And what can be done about it? Benjamin Wittes sat down with Fred Burton to discuss how bad the failure was on the part of the Capitol Police, who is responsible for it, what can be done now to bring the perpetrators to justice and how we should think about changing security protocols on Capitol Hill going forward.

Jessica Yellin’s News Not Noise: Security at the Capitol
Jessica Yelling discusses some of the questions she is asked most frequently: How could the Capitol be breached, what went wrong, why were extremists able to just walk out, and how do we trust that inauguration will be safe? Fred Burton discusses the security implications, how law enforcement reacted and will plan for moving forward, what to expect for the inauguration, and more.

KEYE, Austin: Some downtown Austin businesses board up ahead of planned protests
Federal Law enforcement officials are concerned that the attack on the U.S. Capitol could increase potential for armed demonstrators to feel emboldened to carry out violence.  Protests are expected at state capitols across the country ahead of Inauguration Day, including in Austin. Fred Burton discusses how things have the potential to spin out of control in any major city and he suggests that businesses be proactive in their protection and monitoring of potential threats. Ontic survey data was included in this story.

Sky News London: Banned from Twitter and Facebook, which sites are the pro-Trump movement using now?
Fred Burton discusses where Trump supporters are gathering and communicating since Trump’s profiles were taken down by some of the mainstream platforms. This interview also goes into the intricacies of what should be done to track this kind of online activity, the kinds of threats that can be identified in online forums, what conspiracy theories are spreading and what can be done, and the chance of future protests.

The John Howell Show, WLS Radio, Chicago: What happened to the security on Capitol Hill?
Fred Burton talks with John Howell about the attack on the Capitol and the unpreparedness of the Capitol Police. Burton states he believes that it truly comes down to an intelligence failure and that law enforcement did not expect to be met with the amount of force that showed up.

FOX7, Austin: Security expert Fred Burton breaks down U.S. Capitol siege
Burton joined Good Day Austin’s Casey Claiborne to talk about what went wrong at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. when a mob of angry Trump supporters stormed the building. He discusses intelligence errors, what to expect for inauguration day, the need for changing security protocols and more.

ABC11 WTVD, Raleigh-Durham: Homeland security experts weigh in on law enforcement response to mayhem at U.S. Capitol
Questions persist over the handling of riots in Washington, D.C. which ended with hundreds of people bashing windows and storming the US Capitol. In this segment, Burton discusses how unusual it is to have the lack of preparation to have enough resources on stand-by to deal with an attack like this. Burton stressed how the immediate goal that day was to restore order and limit destruction. He stated that in the aftermath, surveillance technology needed to be able to identify those individuals responsible for the horrendous acts of violence, and pick them up at a later date.

ESPN, DC: Fred talks with the Andy Pollin Hour Podcast about the attack on the U.S. Capitol
Burton sits down with Andy Pollin to discuss the happenings at the Capitol and how an event like this could have transpired. Burton discusses mob violence, the missing contingency plans in place, the large intelligence gaps, and the lack of quick reaction force on standby should an event occur.

KVUE, Austin: Security expert, former officer says ‘intelligence failure’ led to violence at U.S. Capitol
KVUE’s Bryan Mays was joined by Fred Burton to discuss the events that occurred in Washington, D.C at the U.S. Capitol. The two discussed the intelligence failure, lack of contingency plan, and shortage of police and law enforcement resources.