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The Situation Room
One officer Killed, One Wounded, Attacker Dead at U.S. Capitol; Officer William Evans Killed in Capitol Attack; Suspect In Capitol Attack Posted About Fears Of FBI, CIA. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired April 02, 2021 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: One Capitol Police officer is dead. Another wounded after an attacker ran them with his vehicle crashed into a barrier and charged out the out of the car with a knife. The deceased officer has just been identified as William Evans, an 18 year member of the force.
Police then shot the suspect now identified ass 25-year-old Noah Green, who later died at the hospital. Authorities won't reveal anything about a potential motive, at least not yet. But they do say the attack does not at least for now, does not appear to be terrorism. And that Green was not known for U.S. Capitol Police.
In a painful reminder of the January 6 attack, the DC National Guard was immediately deployed to try to secure the scene as the Capitol Building went into complete lockdown.
Let's get straight to CNN's Brian Todd. He's over at the Capitol. He's joining us right now. Brian, another sad awful day here in the nation's capitol.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely is, Wolf. The car involved in this incident is still behind us. It is behind those white vehicles behind me right there still pretty much embedded in that barricade that it rammed into earlier today. As Wolf, mentioned a short time ago, the acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman identified the officer killed in this incident as William "Billy" Evans, an 18 year- old -- excuse me, an 18 year member of the U.S. Capitol Police Force, who was also a member of the Capitol Divisions First Responder Unit with the U.S. Capitol Police and sources telling CNN tonight that the suspect has been identified as Noah Green, according to one federal source, Noah Green 25 years old. That's the information we have right now. By most accounts that police gave a short time ago this incident, this horrible incident unfolded in just a matter of seconds.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: A suspect in a car ramp to Capitol Police officers at the security barrier at the Capitol Complex then got out of the vehicle wielding a knife, police say.
ACTING CHIEF YOGANANDA PITTMAN, U.S. CAPITAL POLICE: He did not respond to verbal commands. The suspect did start lunging toward U.S. Capitol Police officers at what at which time, U.S. Capitol Police officers fired upon the suspect.
TODD: At least one of the officers was stabbed and official tells CNN, one officer died from his injuries. A second officer was injured.
PITTMAN: I ask that you keep our U.S. Capitol Police family in your thoughts and prayers.
TODD: The suspect not familiar to Capitol Police is dead as well, authorities say. No initial indication of ties to terrorism. But the motive is unknown.
CHIEF ROBERT CONTEE, WASHINGTON (DAVID COOKE): METROPOLITAN POLICE: Clearly this was someone who was actively trying to just get at, well, whoever, whatever, we just don't know.
TODD: A unit from the National Guard was immediately deployed to assist. Members of Congress are mostly out of town during the break. Authorities say they're not aware of a particular lawmaker being targeted, but an emergency lockdown order was issued for the complex. The incident comes amid an increase in reported threats to lawmakers in recent months and a debate over removing more of the fencing around the Capitol in place for the January 6 riot targeting lawmakers and reducing the National Guard deployment.
REP. SCOTT DESJARLAIS (R-TN): It's really discouraging to see the razor wire, the fencing, and the image that it sends to the world. So if that's read, it no longer exists, I would hope that we can return to normal.
TODD: Today's incident could reverse that debate.
REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT (D-NY): What it shows is that there are people out there that want to hurt us. And so we got to do more and we got to do better.
TODD: Experts warn the threat level at the Capitol remains high including from extremists inspired by January's riot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are getting further away from January six. Extremists are stirring to agitate again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: And again tonight, what police are not releasing right now is information on motive, what might have spurred this young man to attack that barricade. Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman did say that at this time there is no indication of any nexus to any particular member of Congress. Congress was not in session at the time of this attack. Wolf.
BLITZER: Yeah, horrible, horrible situation unfolding. All right, Brian, thank you very much. I want to bring in our Senior Justice Correspondent, Ivan Perez, is also working his sources on this on this case, what are you learning, Evan?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, at this point, investigators are trying to get as much as they can on the background, the recent days of the suspect, Noah Green. There is, at this point, again, as the Metropolitan Police Chief said that this point, nothing indicates terrorism, but it is something that they're still looking into, Wolf, there are working on, getting search warrants to recent addresses. They're going to talk to his members of his family, people who knew him, friends and so on, to try to understand what his frame of mind was in recent days, in recent weeks, and whether there's anything that has changed recently that would suggest why he would do this. And we know, Wolf, that, you know he was able to get, you know, no matter what you do to secure that building of that complex, he was able to get very close.
[17:05:11]
Obviously, there are officers, there's National Guard there at that entrance, they check vehicles before you can even get to that barrier. And those officers are always in danger. And that's what happened today. The officers stopped, they're trying to stop the vehicle, he rammed past the officers and ended up right against that barrier that you see right there in those pictures.
The suspect was able to get close enough that he was able to stab one of the officers, at least one of the officers, Wolf. And we know that the injuries to at least one of the officers, was severe enough that the police did not even wait for EMS, for the ambulances to get there. They put him in a in a cruiser and took him to the hospital. I believe that's the hospital across town at George Washington Hospital.
So we know that the suspect despite everything that we have done right there, the police have done to try to secure that area, you know, there's always a danger. The weakness is always going to be the entrances. And that's what the suspect was able to take advantage of, Wolf.
BLITZER: There was no gun, right? There was no weapon other than the knife.
PEREZ: Right.
BLITZER: That is the suspect Noah Greene had. And I know they're looking at that. The fact that he used the knife to go ahead and kill this other police officer, tried to kill the other one as well. What, if anything does that suggest?
PEREZ: Right. And Wolf, that's the one of the first things that I heard from, you know, talking to law enforcement was, you know, why a knife? This is a country as you know, Wolf, if it's very easy to get guns, was a suspect not able to buy a gun, is there that one reason why that would be is perhaps if you had a criminal background or adjudicated for some kind of mental issue. Those are the things that they're looking at right now to start to try to determine what happened here, why they chose a knife.
Again, this could be a combination of motivations. Again, those are all the things that are on the table. They haven't ruled out anything because as you pointed out, it is it is unusual. This person rams the car through this barrier, to these officers, and then came out swinging a knife. And so they are trying to understand, you know, what inspiration perhaps, what things might have triggered this person, if they had any kind of inspiration, where that came from? Again, none of those things are right now clear to us. The law enforcement is still trying to figure that out. And again, a lot of the police work is being done as we speak.
BLITZER: I want you to stand by, Evan, I know you're working your sources. I want to bring in our Congressional Correspondent, Lauren Fox. She's up on Capitol Hill. You were there, Lauren, and set the scene for us, tell us what it was like when you first got word that there was a lockdown that was ordered throughout the entire Capitol Complex?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, if I had just gone to the Dirksen Office Building. I was trying to get a new congressional ID that was about to expire. And as I was walking back to the U.S. Capitol, I was waiting for the train that runs underground between the office buildings. And suddenly it stopped. And the officer who was standing there said, she was not going to be able to let me go to the Capitol, which is where my office is to continue working for the day. And so I stood there for a second. And then shortly after that, an announcement came on the loudspeaker, saying that the Capitol was in lockdown that no one was able to leave the Capitol Complex, no one was going to be able to come into the Capitol Complex. And immediately, I was having some flashbacks to that day, on January 6, when I was standing, again, in the basement of another office building, the Russell office building here at the Capitol, hearing a very similar message from officers telling me I was not going to be able to go back to the Capitol.
Now, obviously, there are some strong parallels here for not just me, but for the staff, for the Capitol officers who are working to defend this building today, Wolf. And I'll tell you that initially, we didn't know what was going on. So I immediately went to another building where I was looking out the window at the scene that was unfolding before our eyes, one of the things that I saw was a person on a stretcher. Another thing I saw, were just ambulances in the street, as well as the sound of a helicopter. And I'll tell you that, you know, for people who work up here, for people who work to defend this complex, there is just a sense that things were going to start going back to normal, Wolf. And I think that that all was shattered this afternoon, quite frankly. I mean, the fences had just started to come down a few weeks ago, there was a sense that you were able to move more freely through the complex that people who walk their dogs and bicycle and move around this neighborhood were able to actually go and look at the Capitol dome, get closer to it than they had in some time. Obviously, all of that may shift and now we're hearing some reaction, of course, from leadership on the Republican and Democratic side. We've gotten statements from Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Senate as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of course, expressing their condolences to the officers and of course the family of the officer, we now know, is Billy Williams, who died earlier today. Wolf.
[17:10:12] BLITZER: Officer William Billy Evans is the officer who died. You know, Lauren, just remind all of us, a week or two ago, there was this huge fence, a perimeter around the entire U.S. Capitol Complex that was top with that razor wire. It was ugly, it made it look like a war zone with so called Green Zone in Baghdad, some of us have been there, and so many lawmakers were pushing and pushing to get rid of that perimeter. If it still had existed, that driver in that car wouldn't have been able to get to that location, is that right?
FOX: Well, that's exactly right. On the perimeter of the U.S. Capitol, this fence had existed in a way that you couldn't drive up and down Constitution Avenue, in fact, that is a thoroughfare that I normally use to get to work. And, you know, we were having to sort of move around the Capitol Complex in a different way because cars were not able to move on that street. Obviously, that was the street, the corner of constitution and Delaware was where that barricade was breached this afternoon. So yes, that is true, that just a couple of weeks ago, you would not have been able to even drive on that street where that barrier was breached earlier today, Wolf.
BLITZER: Yeah. And so many of us who walk around Capitol Hill, just take a look at the security, I was up there earlier today, just before this incident, and it was easy driving around a week or two ago would have been impossible because of that razor wire fence.
Lauren, standby, I know you're getting more information as well. I want to get some expert analysis on these late breaking developments. Charles Ramsey is joining us right now, the former D.C. Police Chief, the former Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Forces.
Well, Chief Ramsey, in a matter of months, we've now seen two security events at this U.S. Capitol Complex, you know the area well. They have now resulted in the death of yet another Capitol Police Officer. They lost an 18-year veteran of the department, the Officer William Billy Evans. As a police veteran yourself, what toll does this take on a department on a community and indeed on a family and our deepest condolences to his family?
CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, first of all, I want to offer my condolences to the family of Officer Evans and also the men and women of the U.S. Capitol Police. This is a tough time. And it does take its toll, believe me. During my time as police chief in Washington, D.C., I lost four officers in the line of duty. And in Philadelphia, I lost eight in eight years in the line of duty. It takes a terrible toll on everyone including the chief I could hear it in Chief Pittman's voice when she was announcing the death of her officer just how traumatic it is for her as well. And so that's something you never really get over, Wolf. It's -- it impacts everyone.
But right now, the focus of that department is just taking care of that family and making sure that they're OK, because that's something that is critically important right now. I just hope that they have some access to mental health services for the men and women of that department. Because I mean to within three months, that's highly unusual for the
Capitol Police. I mean, I was the chief in '98 when the two were killed inside the Capitol. And it's just unusual. It's just not the kind of department that experiences that kind of tragedy on a regular basis.
BLITZER: That security or that perimeter fence with the razor wire, it was so ugly, it was awful that it had to be installed here at the nation's capital. But do you think it was a mistake to remove it?
RAMSEY: No, I don't think it was a mistake. I mean, you know, hindsight is always 2020. I mean, eventually it was going to come down. First of all, you couldn't continue to shut down constitution and independence. Those are the two main thoroughfares going east and west, in the city. You know, so eventually it would have to come down. In particular, the razor wire, I mean, now, they're going to have to rethink security, physical security, as well as some technology that perhaps they can use. But I don't want to second guess that. I think that from January 6, that was the right move to start taking that down.
BLITZER: Andrew McCabe is with us as well, the former Deputy Director of the FBI, a CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst.
Andrew, the FBI says they're responding to this event. They want to help local police investigate, of course, now that the suspect has been identified, walk us through how the FBI will contribute to this investigation?
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I can tell you, Wolf, that the first thing they're doing is checking all of their own information data sets to see if this is someone who has came -- come across the FBI's radar in any way in the past, either as a subject of an investigation or simply someone who was interviewed in the course of another investigation. They'll be very interested to see if that's the case, what type of investigation that that may have been, it could be a criminal matter or terrorism or national security matter.
[17:15:08]
They will also be assisting with obtaining the necessary search warrants to go through the subjects' residence. Any residences that he may have or frequent are going to be searched with a fine-tooth comb. Agents will be looking for any sort of indicators of motive. It feels like we've had this conversation quite a few times lately with all the recent attacks. But once again, they'll be looking to see if this individual left behind, any sort of a statement, any sort of a trail on his computer devices, and journal possibly, on his social media accounts that would indicate why he felt compelled to go to the Capitol and stage this attack. And the reason for that, Wolf, is the question they want to answer tonight is whether or not there is anyone else out there who might be similarly motivated and associate, a friend, someone who's likeminded, someone who may have been in contact with them. That's what they're looking for right now. BLITZER: Which are such crucial questions. Andrew, standby, we're getting some additional important reaction to this capital attack, reaction coming in from President Biden right now. I want to go to our White House Correspondent, Arlette Saenz. Arlette, tell us what you're hearing?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we heard just moments ago from President Biden as he released a statement on this attack at the Capitol. The President is spending the weekend at Camp David, but the White House released a statement saying -- from him saying, Jill and I were heartbroken to learn of the violent attacked at a security checkpoint on the U.S. Capitol grounds, which killed Officer William Evans of the U.S. Capitol Police and left a fellow officer fighting for his life. We send our heartfelt condolences to Officer Evans family and everyone grieving his loss. We know what a difficult time this has been for the Capitol, everyone who works there and those who protect it.
The present President went on to say that he's been receiving ongoing briefings from his homeland security adviser Elizabeth Sherwood- Randall and will continue to get briefings as this investigation proceeds.
And at the very ends, the President went on to say, I want to express the nation's gratitude to the Capitol Police, the National Guard Immediate Response Force, and others who quickly responded to this attack.
He added, as we mourn the loss of yet another courageous Capitol Police Officer, the President has instructed for the White House flags to be lowered to half-staff. And as you can see, a right behind me over my shoulder that actually just happened moments ago, is that flag was lowered down to that position. This is now the fourth time that the President has ordered for the flags to be lowered to half-staff since he became president. He did so after the shootings in Atlanta, in Boulder, Colorado and also to mark the 500,000 lives lost to COVID- 19. This is just another one of the tragedies that the President is dealing in -- dealing with in his time in the White House. And of course, it is something that hits very close to home to President Biden as he spent 36 years serving in the Senate roaming those halls on Capitol Hill and in the Capitol Building, often interacting with these Capitol Police officers as he went about his days.
You heard the President talk in very, very personal terms after that attack, the insurrection on January 6, and he also paid some respects to an officer that died during that tragedy. After Biden took office, he went to the Capitol as Officer Brian Sickneck, laid in rest at the Capitol following that insurrection. So this attack is likely something that hits very close to home to the president as this is also the first major security incident that he's dealing with in his White House since taking office.
BLITZER: Yeah, it's so heartbreaking. It hits all of us, who spent a lot of time up on Capitol Hill, very, very hard.
Arlette, I know you're working your sources as well. We'll get back to you. I want to bring in Jim Sciutto, our Chief National Security Correspondent who's done a lot of reporting in the aftermath of the January six insurrection attack.
Jim, you and I were told multiple times that Capitol Police were deeply concerned that the U.S. Capitol potentially, God forbid, could emerge as another target.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Wolf, you know, terrorism, we don't have the motivation of this attacker at this point. But terrorism is about target and attention and the U.S. Capitol is a massive target in terms of the attention that it draws, if you carry out an act of violence like this one. We'll see what the investigation reveals about this attacker's motivation, but that gets to a risk factor for the capital.
The other question here is in the wake of January 6, those dealing with how to prevent the next January 6 type insurrection have raised the question how much access -- how do you balance access to security? One of those questions is how far do you need that barrier to be around the capital? How aggressive do you need to be?
[17:20:11]
General Russel Honore, who was tasked by Nancy Pelosi with reviewing security in the wake of January 6 has discussed with multiple members of both parties that very question. You don't want to have barbed wire around the Capitol 24/7 for the rest of our lives. But you want to prevent attacks like this one. And it is raised the possibility of having some sort of retractable barrier, not just at the roadways, which we see many times like the one that blocked this car, but around the Capitol entirely. You've heard the public objections from some lawmakers, many Republican lawmakers saying that's too much. Today reveals why that's a real debate, right? Because you want to keep people safe. But you want to keep this, the people's house. How do you get the right balance, right? Keep people safe, but also provide access. And this is a question they're still going to struggle with. Those recommendations are going up to the Hill. They're going to debate how much money to spend, and how far to go to provide a barrier and security to prevent an attack like this one going forward.
BLITZER: And a little while we're going to be speaking with a General Honore, who was tasked by the Speaker of the House to go ahead and prepare some security options to make sure that these kinds of attacks don't happen again. Standby, Jim Sciutto.
Dana Bash covered the capital for a long time. You were walking those halls in the various Senate and the House office buildings all over the U.S. Capitol, you know this complex, as well as anyone, Dana. Describe how unusual it is to have a second fatal security incident at the Capitol within just the span of less than three months?
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Incredibly unusual. You heard Chief Ramsey talking earlier about the fact that it didn't happen between 1998 when there were two officers killed at the memorial door, which is more towards the House side, and January 6. And you know, that's a pretty long time, given the fact that this is a, you know, unfortunately, a prime target. And this is a, you know, relatively central and centralized law enforcement force.
But look, the fact is that this is a Capitol Hill community, the police officers, the members of Congress, their staff, the people who work in the cafeterias, the people who work in administrative roles all over, not to mention our colleagues in the press corps. It is a community. People know one another. And, you know, people who walk into that building every day, are incredibly appreciative of the Capitol Police, even when there isn't the tension that there is in the air right now. And even more so, certainly, since January 6, I don't walk the halls every day as I used to. But I have been up to Capitol Hill several times since and I've talked privately to so many Capitol Police officers who have been privately, you know, very concerned about the balance that Jim was just talking about, trying to find a way, understanding that it can't be a fortress. It shouldn't be a fortress for many, many reasons. But it has to be perhaps better protected. And those retractable fences or something along those lines is something I heard time and time again for from rank and file, a Capitol Police officers, who want to do their best to protect the Capitol, to protect the people who work for work there. But unfortunately, with one person killed, a couple of suicides and over 100 people really injured in the Capitol Police Force they understand even more than before during their training, how difficult that is. And you just need one person unfortunately with a car, you don't need a mob.
BLITZER: Yeah, it's so sad, indeed. I want to bring in the man who has led the review of the January 6 Capital attack and offered some recommendations to improve security at the Capitol, a retired Lieutenant General Russel Honore is joining us right now.
General Honore, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for your service. Thanks for all you are doing. The security measures in place today stop this attacker from actually gaining entry into the Capitol Complex, the Capitol Building, but not before he claimed the life of a Capitol Police Officer William Evans, give us your assessment of this current situation?
LT. GENERAL RUSSEL HONORE, U.S. ARMY (Ret.): Well, first of all, I'm going to join your colleagues in offering condolences to Officer William Evans, his family and his fellow officers and friends as he lost his life that day protecting the Capitol. In our review, in our report to Congress, Wolf, it was clear that many members have made it a priority to make sure that the capital is accessible to members in the public. That's a part of the mission. And the tasks at the Capitol, the police have is to provide that access at the same time protect from attacks like this, that can happen today.
[17:25:23]
The security system that work today was the readiness of the Capitol Police out front challenging the car. And then the barriers and buffers that went in after 9/11. All around the Capitol, you see these buffers that come out of the ground, and they remain there until the Capitol Police clear the car to go in. And then next to those are those little black posts that are all around a Capitol that's post 9/11. The Congress invested in it. And it was designed to prevent automobiles and trucks from being able to bum rush a checkpoint and get through the Capitol. And that system work.
Unfortunately, we lost Officer Evans today. But by and large that system work, the Capitol police responded, they stopped in, the system work. The transition we have to make in our minds, that the Capitol is a target.
Many members challenged the recommendations, some of the recommendations we made in terms of barriers that need in hardening of the Capitol, while keeping the Capitol open to the public. And the challenge was they would tell me, hey, we've gone to the skiff General, we're not seeing any threats to the Capitol. We've got to accept the fact that 24/7, the Capitol is a threat to domestic foreign and criminals who might want to attack the center of our leadership of the United States. It has to be ready 24/7. The Capitol Police have to be ready at one o'clock in the day as they were today or one o'clock tomorrow morning. They've got to be prepared to protect that Capitol.
And right now, we are blessed to have the National Guard there as an immediate response force, which we recommended. And many people want to send all the National Guard home. And thank God to senior leadership on the House and Speaker, as in as well with the support of the National Guard and Department of Defense, have kept that immediate reaction force there to be able to back up the Capitol Police.
The Capitol is a target. We need to adjust to that. We need to take those recommendations, we may and get them funded up to about $2 billion and get it done. Because our Capitol must be protected, we must give the men and women of the Capitol Police what they need to get the job done, and at the end of the day, the responsibility for securing that Capitol on Capitol Police.
BLITZER: It's an enormous responsibility. What's your -- and you spent a lot of time over these last several weeks, General Honore, studying the U.S. Capitol, how to protect the U.S. Capitol down the road, that exterior, that perimeter fence that has just been removed with the razor wire, it was ugly. But did it work? Was it necessary? Do they need to recreate it?
HONORE: I don't think so. What we recommended is re engineer, the core engineers prepared to do that under the auspices of the Capitol Police Board and the Architect of the Capitol. They have potential stretch plans of how to integrate fences that can come out of the ground, be embedded into the landscape. And they are not ugly fences standing the all the time, but they can be erected when there is a crowd or a First Amendment event that may become a public disturbance event. And that is ready to be engineered in the capital, under the auspices of the Architect of the Capitol, all working on contracts. They are waiting on funding from Congress to make that happen as well as hardening the buildings.
Only a few of the windows in the Capitol as public knowledge now are hardened that needs to be done. The Doors need to be hardened. And they have started working on that earlier. But we need to have a need for speed. Right now on the way that happened. It has to go through a supplemental, that needs to be moved through and the Congress, on the House and the Senate side need to demonstrate their support. And there's a lot of enthusiasm to support the Capitol Police by giving them what they need to include funding the additional officers, the barriers that need to go in, the improvement in the intelligence capacity, as well as protection for members of Congress as they travel and go back and forth.
BLITZER: General Honore, our Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto, as you know, has that extensive reporting on the security at the U.S. Capitol. He has a couple of questions for you as well. Go ahead, Jim.
[17:30:00]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: General Honore, one focus of your security review has been manpower, man and woman power at the Capitol. Your recommendations include adding hundreds more officers to help protect the Capitol from threats like this one. I wonder what today has shown you about the need for that investment? And do you believe that you have the support of lawmakers in both parties to add those additional officers?
LT. GENERAL RUSSEL L. HONORE, U.S. ARMY (RET.): By and large, it's a function of two things, Jim. We're 233 officers short now. Last year, we didn't get a class route (ph) and I'm using that word "we" because I feel being a part of that team, I've been served six weeks there with those officers speaking to them and learning what their concerns was. So 233 officers short.
We are behind on a recruiting. Last year, the COVID took an impact because we didn't have a class that normally would graduate about 150 officers. We got some catching up to do. We need to enhance the recruiting program which was in the recommendation. And Chief Pittman is working on a plan to improve recruiting, as well as incentivizing offices juring (ph) the Capitol Police. So there's much work to be done, much of it is in that report. Additional items recently came out from the Inspector General and Capitol Police with recommendations of things that need to do to show and give the Capitol Police the manpower they need right now.
Last year, the Capitol Police use submerged 20 hours a term (ph), 120,000 over time. It's not unusual for many of those officers you see out there on the line, there's young officers to be -- have been working 12-hour days, five, six, seven days a week. And that has been routine since '16 (ph). So we need new officers, we need the national guard there to back them up and provide that immediate response force. And they call it immediate response force because they're in the Capitol, they're not over at the National Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C.
And that was a good call by the police. They have that immediate force there because this thing could have ended different today. But thank God, the well-engineered, barrier system work, the officers were ready. They responded, unfortunately, we see an officer had loss his life as a result of the act of this person, whoever he is. And I really don't care about the motive that much, I care about those officers. And every day 24/7, if you go there tomorrow morning at 1:00, you'll see officers out there standing by to make sure no one get into the Capitol.
BLITZER: And we're showing our viewers, General Honore, that vehicle that the killer in this particular case, Noah Green, 25 years old, used to ram in to those police officers, those Capitol Police officers, and it's now being removed, they've done a complete witness, a complete check of that entire area. But you saw it being removed, at least partially. It's now stop.
You know, I'm just curious, General Honore, when you heard a few hours ago of what had happened up on Capitol Hill, when you learn that another Capitol Police officer had been killed in this particular case, a second police officer is in hospital right now. We don't know his or her condition. What went through your mind?
HONORE: I was on a Zoom call with somebody, I looked down at my phone and said, what do you think happened at the Capitol? I had to look what happened. I literally had chill bumps. Having -- as I said spend time in that Capitol, the longest time I've ever been there almost six weeks, in and out of that Capitol daily speaking to those officers, walking those halls, looking at the routine work, they do everything to secure the Capitol. Thankless work, in many cases.
I had chill bumps, but I know they're strong force, they will overcome this. They will work as a team, and they will do their duty that they've run (ph) their white hand to do and that is to protect the Capitol. Now it's time for the Congress to have a need for speed. Passes supplemental, give them the changes they need, respect their all their overtime they do, give them the additional officers they need and provide the hardening with the portable as well as a rectible (ph) automated fencing to give them so they can protect the Capitol and give them the additional space they need to put those additional officers and put those vestibules that we recommended on the outside of the Capitol and let's get to work and make this happen.
[17:35:07]
Right now, it has to be funded before work can start. And that needs to be done immediately. And that supplemental, I hope, will get be -- get done as soon as the Congress come back. I know the speaker and the leader are interested in making that happen. We need to have both sides come together and make this happen.
BLITZER: Jim Sciutto has another question for you, General Honore.
SCIUTTO: General Honore, the sad fact to our politics today is that threats like this one have been politicized. And in the wake of January 6th, you've had some lawmakers who've tried to move beyond it, questioned the seriousness of the threat to the Capitol in January 6th. And I wonder with today's events, but also in the week since then, what do you say to lawmakers who say this is not as serious as some portray it to be? What's your response to that?
HONORE: I would tell them go make laws and let the police do the policing. And fund those policemen to the resources that they need. They all have opinion, they make the laws, we respect their knowledge and their background. They've been elected by their representatives. The challenge is that when they sometimes speak of D.C., and the Capitol, they don't speak of it like their constituents. They need every congressman and my challenge (ph) sit down. They must treat the D.C. police, the Capitol and the Capitol region as their constituents. They don't speak that way when we get in arguments with them. They speak to them as bureaucrats some time and as users of resource. They've got to treat them like their constituents, they own those police department.
The only reason they're there is to protect Congress. And I hope that in their tone, and their response, they do a better job like most of them do to accept the police as theirs, and as their police force. And they need to resource that. That's their family. That's the people who put their lives on the line to defend them at a starting pay of about $65,000 a year and about 15 hours a day overtime in many weeks.
BLITZER: General Honore, I know you got to run but very quickly, with hindsight, of course, what could have been done to prevent this murder today?
HONORE: I don't know right now, Wolf. It is too early to take a look at that. I mean, we're looking at a man in a car with a knife. It just show you that car could be a weapon like 911, we learned an airplane could be a weapon. And every day, we have to be ready and the police have to be ready for all threats.
And today, the system work in that the buffers (ph) stop the car. Unfortunately, our officers were doing what they were trained to do to challenge the car before it get to the buffers (ph) to clear that person. And they'll take a look at that tactic and technique. And there may be some more technology, they may have to do to put the officers who out in front of that buffer (ph). That will be fixed, I can guarantee you, but I have the confidence in the majority of the members who are going to give the police what they need in terms of more manpower, more technology, and moral support to thank those officers for what they do 24/7.
This happened at one 1:00 in the day. It could have happened at 1:00 in the morning. But I've been there and watched them. They're out there at 1:00 in the morning, 3:00 in the morning, and 6:00 in the morning. Before the members get there, they are there 24/7 protecting that Capitol. And my hat's off to them. And my condolences again, to all my brothers and sisters in the Capitol Police and those who serve in the Capitol.
BLITZER: Well said. We are so grateful to those Capitol Police officers. They do an amazing, amazing job and we're so sad that William "Billy" Evans sadly was killed today. Our deepest, once again, condolences to his family.
General Honore, as usual, thanks for all your service to our country. Thanks so much for joining us. We'll continue this conversation down the road.
And we're going to continue our special coverage here in the situation. You just saw that vehicle being towed away. Much more coming up right after this.
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[17:43:43]
BLITZER: Evan Perez is getting new information right now working his sources. Evan, tell us what you're learning.
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we've learned a lot more about this suspect. We understand that there's been a number of postings that he made including just a couple of hours before he was shot and killed there at the U.S. Capitol. He posted a number of Instagram stories on his account and that appear to be -- this account appears to belong to him. And it shows him linking to Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan speaking. He talks a lot about how Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam essentially saved his life, because he's been suffering from a number of issues. He lost his job recently, Wolf.
And he also talks about, essentially, that he believes the U.S. government has been after him. He says that the U.S. government is a number one enemy of black people and he talks that he's been suffering some afflictions, presumably by the CIA, by the FBI, the government agencies of the United States of America. People, obviously, have responded to some of his messages. And he said, quote, I have suffered multiple home break-ins, food poisonings, assaults, unauthorized and operations in the hospital, mind control.
[17:45:10]
Again, it portrays someone who perhaps, again, this is going to be a very difficult thing for investigators to figure out the motivation, because he appears to be suffering from some mental health issues. At least he says this on his postings, he describes having a lot of issues that he was dealing with. He, obviously, saw what happened on January 6, everyone saw what happened in January 6. And perhaps that gave him the idea that this is something that he could carry out, again, that something that law enforcement has been very, very, very worried about.
This is now the work of the FBI, the work of the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police to try to get to the bottom of all of his motivations to look through social media postings, go to talk to his family members, try to get to his mental state, in the recent weeks, in recent days, to try to understand why this happened. At this point, Wolf, again, we just talked to law enforcement officials, they're still not saying that they believe that there's a tourism motive here. They are working, obviously, it's still too early for them to understand the full picture of this man.
But you can get an idea from these postings that he's not well, there's things that he's saying that don't make any sense. And he, obviously, had that in his mind as recently according to these postings, as recently as a couple hours before this incident. Again, these are postings that we believe are associated with this man before he carried out -- before he tried to ram these officers and the barrier there at the U.S. Capitol.
BLITZER: I just want to be precise, Evan. So the postings suggest what he hated, the U.S. government, he was blaming the U.S. government for a lot of his problem, is that what you're seeing on these postings
PEREZ: Right, there is -- he portrays that the U.S. government is trying to carry out some mind control on him. He says that the FBI, CIA, and other government agencies are behind some of his afflictions. And he says because of those afflictions, he recently lost his job. Again, this tells you that this is a person in distress recently. And it's not exactly clear why he chose to do the -- to do this today. But it tells us that, you know, at least according to these postings, this is somebody who believes the U.S. government is the enemy. And, you know, that could suggest why he decides that he's going to drive to the seat of the federal government, the U.S. Capitol, to try to carry this out.
Again, there's a lot more work that officials are working on here. We know that there is at least a Virginia driver's license that is associated with him. Officers and investigators are going to that address. They're going to talk to neighbors, family members, to try to get a better picture of what he was thinking, to understand perhaps what maybe he said he was going to do if he said something. Those are all things that are now part of this investigation.
BLITZER: Yes, it's very significant information. Andrew McCabe, the former Deputy Director of the FBI still with us. So the FBI got new material to take a look at. Walk us through, Andrew, your reaction to what we just learned from Evan,
ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: You know, Wolf, it's incredibly sad, it's tragic, but it's not unique. It's not unfamiliar to us, right? We've seen these sorts of issues, what seems at least at first blush to be struggles with mental illness and paranoia and, you know, delusion result in violence. I think it is important to point out though, that even if that turns out to be the primary kind of motivating factor for this person, it's -- I think it's significant to note this -- the role of the Capitol as the kind of symbolic kind of focus of his anger with the government or, you know, the focus of his paranoia or what have you.
I think what you're seeing is kind of one of the follow on impacts of the massive attack on the Capitol on January 6th, and the way that we all view that attack, the way it was seen by the world, the way those videos have been shown again and -- over and over on television. You've elevated the profile of the Capitol as a location for potential attack by anyone or any group that's frustrated with the government or who believes like the government is the focus of their of anger and rage.
[17:50:01]
BLITZER: You know, Dana, and you've covered Capitol Hill for a long time. What's so worrisome is now a second attack on the U.S. Capitol within less than three months. And the fear is, and a lot of people, not just members of the House and Senate, but members of the staff, others who work there, they have to worry right now that those who hate the U.S. government for mental reasons, or whatever reasons, potentially, God forbid, could continue these kinds of assaults.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, that's exactly right. Just as Andy was just describing, and based on Evan's reporting, that this is an individual who appeared to have mental health issues. It is not, at first blush, the same kind of motivation that you saw with the giant mob during an insurrection, which was politically motivated, sparked by a president of the United States who suggested to them that they can actually overturn an election, it is quite different. It seems to me a little bit more like what happened in 1998. I know you remember this Wolf, when two officers were killed at -- by another person with mental health issues.
But the point that you're making is very well taken, that if -- that there could be copycats effectively, that you see the Capitol as a target, you don't -- you're not well, and you think I'm going to do something similar or try to disrupt in some way to prove a point. And that is why what you talked about with General Honore and what members of Congress are debating right now is so important, because, you know, it is a target -- is not a soft target, but it is a target that needs to be fortified. And it's pretty clear that that is the case today.
BLITZER: Jonathan Wackrow with us as well, a CNN Law Enforcement Analyst, formerly with the U.S. Secret Service. So Jonathan, what goes through your mind as we're now getting these new details about the killer?
JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, you know, to everyone's point that they were just making, the U.S. Capitol is a symbol of democracy, it's part of our national identity. And if somebody is you having thoughts that the government is after them, suffering from paranoia, it is logical for them to lash out against this symbol of our democracy.
You know, to the point of security today, you know, the vehicle ramming incident that we had, law enforcement throughout Washington, D.C., Capitol Police, the Secret Service, other law enforcement entities, they have anticipated this type of event time and time again, that's why they have these type of anti-ram barricades at these critical asset locations. You know, what we have to look at for the U.S. Capitol very specifically, though, is now expanding that security and making sure that we balance it out.
And the only way that we're going to have a successful security paradigm put into place is understanding what are the specific threats that the Capitol faces. You know, from January 6 to today, the world has changed, the threat environment has changed. And we have to make sure that we're applying the right level of mitigation against that threat environment. And now mindful that that threat environment can change very drastically so you have to have scalability.
I think some of the things that -- recommendations that came out of the initial review went into practice today. We saw immediate command and control of the situation. We saw incident command structure stood up. We saw the quick reactionary force from the National Guard being deployed. So a lot of things were done right today. We now have to take that momentum and build it out further, as the General had said earlier today. They need funding, they need assets, they need manpower, but we have to do it in a balanced way. People process and technology in thoughtful, you know, application of intelligence resources to build a new security structure at the U.S. Capitol.
BLITZER: Given what's going on right now, do you think, Jonathan, that 435 members of the House and 100 senators need to beef up their personal security?
WACKROW: Listen, I think that that is, you know, we -- as I said, the threat environment around the country has changed. And this is less about, you know, taking these drastic steps. This is more as a culture. We need to establish a culture of security awareness and understand and not be naive that there are individuals and groups out there that want to cause harm towards people. And then we have to apply the right level of mitigation in protection, whether it's against an asset like the U.S. Capitol, the White House, or individuals.
And again, this is where intelligence is going to provide us with the answers. They're going to -- intelligence resources are going to help us understand the threats and the vulnerabilities that are, you know, political leaders face or, you know, targets of interest, such as the U.S. Capitol. How do we defend against that well? You know, only are going to be able to defend against that when you know what those threats are, understand your vulnerabilities and then apply the right mitigation.
[17:55:08]
BLITZER: Everybody stand by, we're getting new details right now about the killer. We're going to continue our special coverage right here in The Situation Room right after a quick break.
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BLITZER: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room. We're following breaking news on the deadly new attack at the United States Capitol just three months after the bloody insurrection there. A police officer named William Evans was killed.
