Two Seattle officers near Capitol during Jan. 6 riot have been fired

Two Seattle police officers who were at the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol have been fired, the police chief said Friday.

The officers were not accused of entering the building but were found to have crossed barriers and were directly next to it, Police Chief Adrian Diaz said in a statement.

“It is beyond absurd to suggest that they did not know they were in an area where they should not be, amidst what was already a violent, criminal riot,” Diaz said.

Discipline reports identify the officers as Caitlin Everett and Alexander Everett. Police would not say whether there is any relationship between the two and required a public disclosure request to be made, but The Associated Press reported that they are married.

Neither has been criminally charged.

Police discipline action reports say that the two now-fired officers told investigators they were 30 to 50 feet from the Capitol and saw no signs of a disturbance, just people standing in the grass and waving flags.