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Pro-Trump insurrection at Capitol ‘an attempted coup,’ says former D.C. and Philly police chief Charles H. Ramsey

Ramsey said the violence was on ”the hands of President Trump and his enablers," and criticized the Capitol Police for a seeming lack of planning.

Protesters interact with Capitol Police inside the U.S. Capitol Building on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C. Congress held a joint session today to ratify President-elect Joe Biden's 306-232 Electoral College win over President Donald Trump. A group of Republican senators said they would reject the Electoral College votes of several states unless Congress appointed a commission to audit the election results.
Protesters interact with Capitol Police inside the U.S. Capitol Building on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C. Congress held a joint session today to ratify President-elect Joe Biden's 306-232 Electoral College win over President Donald Trump. A group of Republican senators said they would reject the Electoral College votes of several states unless Congress appointed a commission to audit the election results.Read moreWin McNamee / Getty Images / TNS

» LIVE UPDATES: Pro-Trump insurrectionists breach U.S. Capitol, interrupting certification of Joe Biden’s electoral win

Former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey described the insurrection Wednesday at the Capitol building as “an attempted coup” and said the violence was on ”the hands of President Trump and his enablers.“

He also criticized a seeming lack of planning by the Capitol Police, contending that “they didn’t have enough people” to handle the situation, despite having about 2,000 officers and a number of federal partnerships.

”We have a weak, pathetic individual sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” Ramsey told The Inquirer on Wednesday afternoon, as the situation between Capitol Police and Trump supporters remained volatile. “I won’t even call him president. He’s sad, pitiful. He’s a loser. I knew he would be bad. I had no idea he’d be this damn bad. It’s just so embarrassing. So terrible — so embarrassing on so many levels. This is the United States of America.”

Ramsey before serving in Philadelphia was the chief of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department from 1998 to early 2007. He said Capitol Police should have had more officers deployed in anticipation of possible violence.

“There’s no way in hell they should have taken over that building — you don’t lose the U.S. Capitol, for God’s sake,” he said. “It’s not just any building. It’s the symbol of the United States. People recognize it before they do the White House.”

He predicted that action to clear the crowd might have escalated the violence, “but that’s on them [the insurrectionists],” Ramsey said. “You cannot just let them do what they’re doing right now.”