WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A retired Maryland county law enforcement official has been named chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, filling a vacancy created when his predecessor resigned over the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol.
The Capitol Police Board said on Thursday it appointed J. Thomas Manger, who spent 15 years until 2019 as police chief of Montgomery County, Maryland, to head the Capitol police after a national search.
The department was run in the interim by Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman since January.
Steven Sund, the previous chief, stepped down that month after being urged to do so by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the breakdown in security. Hundreds of supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol to block the certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory, following a fiery speech by Trump.
Four people died on the day of the violence, one shot dead by police and the other three of natural causes.
A Capitol Police officer who had been attacked by protesters died the following day. Two police officers who took part in the defense of the Capitol later took their own lives. More than 100 police officers were injured.
The mayhem led to Trump’s second impeachment trial. Some 500 people have been arrested for their roles in the violence.
Manger, who media reports said is 66, began his policing career in 1977 in Fairfax County, Virginia. Manger served as chief of police for the county from 1998 to 2004 then became the police chief of Montgomery County, Maryland in 2004.
(Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
