In this daily series, Newsweek explores the steps that led to the January 6 Capitol Riot.

When is a special event not special? When federal government bureaucrats get involved, parsing every letter of the word to conclude that special is normal.

On December 28, House leaders met to discuss security for the upcoming January 6 Joint Session of Congress. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), a member of the Congressional Democratic leadership, asked whether sufficient resources were being planned.

That day, the U.S. Park Police, the law enforcement entity responsible for the National Mall and the Ellipse, reported in an internal briefing that "hotel booking and reservation requests have shown a significant increase for 6 January through the immediate DC area," and they noted that "many members of the far-right group 'Proud Boys' plan on being in Washington on this date."