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Inside a deadly siege: How a string of failures led to a dark day at the Capitol

By Mark Mazzetti, Helene Cooper, Jennifer Steinhauer, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Luke Broadwater
New York Times·
19 mins to read

Poor planning among a constellation of government agencies and a restive crowd encouraged by President Trump set the stage for the unthinkable.

Huddled in a command centre on Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington and her aides saw a photograph of bloodstains on the temporary grandstands at the Capitol, a makeshift structure built for the inauguration of a new president in two weeks.

The enormity of the deadly failure sank in.

Rioters had broken through the thin police line

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