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    Why Didn't The FBI And DHS Produce A Threat Report Ahead of The Capitol Insurrection?

    The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security wrote detailed threat assessments before Black Lives Matter demonstrations last summer, but offered only general warnings before the events on Jan. 6.
    by Dina Temple-Raston Jan 13, 2021 6 minutes
    When law enforcement officials failed to anticipate that pro-Trump supporters would devolve into a violent mob, they fell victim to what one expert calls "the invisible obvious." He said it was hard for authorities to see that people who looked like them could want to commit this kind of violence.

    In late December, the New York Police Department sent a packet of material to the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI. It was full of what's known as raw intelligence — bits and pieces of information that turned up by scraping various social media sites. It all indicated that there would likely be violence when lawmakers certified the presidential election on Jan. 6.

    The NYPD sent the information to Washington under the assumption it would be folded into a formal intelligence bulletin by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The FBI's version is known as a joint intelligence bulletin. The DHS produces a threat assessment. These reports are typically written as a matter of course ahead of high-profile events. Local law enforcement officials see them as actionable intelligence — an early warning system to help them prepare for incoming threats.

    And yet, for last week's deadly attack on the Capitol, an event the president himself had promised would be "wild," no formal report was ever released.

    A spokesperson from DHS' Office of Intelligence and Analysis confirmed to NPR

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