U.S. Park Police Made Few Arrests During Violent Far-Left Riot Because It Was Severely ‘Understaffed’: Union Chief

U.S. Park Police were woefully understaffed as they faced a large mob of violent far-Left extremists on Wednesday who attacked law enforcement and destroyed property during a riot.

The pro-Hamas extremists tore down American flags and burned them while chanting “Allahu Akbar” and waving Hamas terrorist flags. Numerous videos posted online also showed them attacking law enforcement officials. They also vandalized statues and fountains, police said.

Kenneth Spencer, the Chairman of the United States Park Police Fraternal Order of Police (USPP FOP), said that U.S. Park Police on the ground “did everything they could to protect life and property.”

“In fact, despite having only 29 officers available to mitigate damage – 29! – with no additional help from the Department of the Interior, we processed several arrests for charges ranging from assault on a police officer to destruction of government property,” he said. “That’s why it’s so disheartening to hear some Members of Congress and members of the media, many of whom describe themselves as ‘champions’ of law enforcement, suggesting that officers gave protesters a ‘pass’ or that insufficient arrests were made.”

“Nothing could be further from the truth – anyone who truly cares to understand the problem would see that our officer staffing crisis is at the root of our agency’s mission readiness,” he continued. “A small unit of 29 officers arrested 10 individuals while being assaulted by a mob of thousands. We simply did not have the staffing or resources to accomplish a mass arrest operation.”

He pointed the finger directly at the Biden-Harris administration for standing “in the way of congressional action on the U.S. Park Police Modernization Act which would solve many of these issues for decades to come.”

New: U.S. Park Police (@1791FOP) explain why few arrests were made outside of Union Station yesterday, they only had 29 officers for crowd control and they did everything they could.

“We simply did not have the staffing or resources to accomplish a mass arrest operation.” pic.twitter.com/bGjdwmnBUY

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) July 25, 2024

The 15-year veteran told the New York Post that the agency is “primarily alone” after the federal government has failed to beef up the agency.

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“Especially in the DC area, everybody’s so understaffed just like we are,” he explained. “We have a huge mission. We’re the agency that protects First Amendment rights when people come to visit DC.”

Related: ‘Allahu Akbar’: Protesters Burn American Flag, Rage Outside Netanyahu Speech