Capitol Hill police officer suspended after “Protocols” found at security post

A police officer who serves with the Capitol Police has been suspended after a copy of the virulently antisemitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion was found on a table at a security post.

According to The Washington Post, photographs of the printed copy of the Protocols were provided by congressional aide Zach Fisch, who saw it on a table by a security post inside a Capitol administrative building.

The newspaper then provided the photos to the Capitol Police, asking for comment. The officer was suspended by the department’s acting chief who said that they took “all allegations of inappropriate behaviour seriously.” The officer will remain suspended pending the outcome of an investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility.

Mr Fisch said that he was “extremely rattled” by seeing the document in light of the 6th January storming of the Capitol in which rioters were seen wearing neo-Nazi clothing including one who wore a t-shirt with the slogan “Camp Auschwitz.” Some members of the Capitol Police have since been under scrutiny for their actions during the riot after video footage was seen showing rioters bypassing security with ease.

The Protocols were fabricated by Czarist Russia in 1903 and are renowned as a piece of viciously antisemitic literature. They purport to “reveal” the secret plans of Jewish leaders to achieve world domination and have been used as a pretext for anti-Jewish racism and violence since their manufacture. According to the Post, the photographs of this printed copy show tattered and stained pages held together by a bulldog-type clip and bore a date stamp indicating that it was printed in January 2019. 

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