Capitol Hill police 'were set up to fail': Ex-Secret Service agent

The Capitol Hill police were set up to fail, former Secret Service Agent Charles Marino said on Thursday, reacting to the rioters breaching the halls of Congress Wednesday night.

"I think this shows overwhelmingly what a very real national security threat this was as well as a very real threat to the continuity of government," Marino told "America's Newsroom."

Marino highlighted the "failure" to "anticipate what could go wrong, put together an overall security plan, deploy an amount of law enforcement officers that would match the number of protesters on the field, and coordinate resources in advance."

"You had a rally yesterday with a lot of people. We know what the theme was -- it was questioning the validity of the election. We knew that the president was going to show up. You’ve got to take his rhetoric into account as inciting this group," Marino said.

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Violence erupted Wednesday afternoon in the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers were in the process of certifying the Electoral College votes won by President-elect Joe Biden. At one point they were told to put on gas masks and barricade inside as law enforcement officers tried to restore order.

Protesters were seen on video smashing glass doors as authorities drew their weapons to protect the building. The certification was stopped for a few hours as the chaos escalated outside and inside the Capitol building.

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Marino stressed that taking into account all the facts surrounding the protests, a plan needed to be put into place.

"At some point in time, two and two need to be put together and we have to envision what could potentially go wrong here," Marino said. "Now, I don’t want to undercut ... the great job that the Capitol police did yesterday. They performed exceptionally well and, ultimately, they did what they were responsible for and that was to keep all members safe. But, strategically, they were not set up for success."

Fox News' Danielle Wallace, Louis Casiano contributed to this report.