Certainly, the problem cannot have been be “a lack of resources.” This happened in Washington D.C. — a few hundred feet from the White House. There were plenty of federal and state officials within the vicinity, all of whom could have called for backup if they so wished. Nor was the behavior a sudden surprise. The event was announced ahead of time, it was filmed and photographed while it was happening, and it lasted for hours. This was a choice. The federal government — along with the Metropolitan Police — decided to stand back and watch as bunch of people broke the law in front of them, and, worse still, they allowed the execution of their duties to be prevented by the very people they were responsible for superintending. Per NBC, “police said they attempted to arrest one person who climbed a statue, but members of the crowd intervened.” In response to this interference with police work, the police did absolutely nothing. Is that the practice now, too: To prevent lawbreaking only if those responsible don’t get in the way?