Capitol security called into question following rioters breaking in

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The aftermath of Wednesday's riots turned siege into the nation's Capitol has many questioning how did this get out of hand?

The riots led to the chief of capitol security resigning from his position Thursday. Now, the police force looks to creating new changes for future protests.

Jennifer Ho, a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado Boulder says that what ultimately lead to the chaotic scene was a severe lack of preparation.

"There was a clear lack of planning and a clear lack of coordination among federal, congressional, and local city forces," Ho says. She points out multiple flaws in the police response, all of which led to the perfect storm.

"The fact that they didn't have police in riot gear, the fact that they didn't have the national guard called out, the fact that they didn't ask the mayor of D.C. for extra support,  that they didn't have double barricades up and that the barricades were low and not high barricades," Ho says.

She also acknowledged the vast difference between Wednesday's response compared to the ones we've seen to civil-rights protests in 2020.

Ho says, "Black Lives Matter protests were met with force, particularly in Washington D.C., versus the lack of planning and the anticipation of the need for force that we saw yesterday."

Many ask, why were the plans and expectations so different? Ho believes those in charge never thought things would get out of hand.

"In some respects, I think maybe the police didn't take this seriously as a threat and they underestimated the crowd size and they underestimated certainly how violent this crowd was going to get," Ho says, adding there will likely be many more security changes made in Washington before it's all said and done.