Law enforcement officers from the US Park Police, the Federal Protective Services and other agencies, worried about the size and demeanor of the people attending a Donald Trump-led rally on the Ellipse, detained a number of Trump supporters who were armed, possibly preventing them from participating in the attack at the Capitol hours later, WRC NBC-4 in Washington, DC reports.

Park Police, US Secret Service, FPS and National Park Service officials also exchanged scores of emails detailing concerns that people attending the Trump rally were carrying backpacks during the event at the Ellipse.  This caused the Park Police to pull aside attendees, search their bags, and collect them near the entrance.  Some attendees chose to abandon their bags at random spots in the surrounding federal park, a concern because two explosive devices had already been found in the area.

Officials were also concerned about the number of people detained for illegally having weapons.  In one case, before the event on the Ellipse ended, a 24-year-old man was arrested for carrying a long gun at the World War II memorial.  In another, plain clothes Park Police officers were watching a person who had climbed a tree near the Trump event because they suspected he had a gun in the waistband of his pants.

The email exchanges in the chain show that some officials from federal law enforcement were communicating, but not all were in the loop.  Park Police officers and National Park Service leaders were concerned that people in the crowd were ““[w]earing ballistic helmets, body armor and carrying radio equipment and military grade backpacks.”  That bit of intelligence was not forwarded to US Capitol Police.

By 11 a.m. local time, about 400 people had assembled at the Capitol.  Police were monitoring the movements of about 200 Proud Boys on the Capitol Grounds, noting that they were monitoring their movements throughout the city.

While Trump and his loyalists claim that the domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol January 6th was a spontaneous act, the email exchanges show many had prepared for trouble, including bringing weapons and body armor.  Many hundred assembled at the Capitol, missing the speakers at the Ellipse.