The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should have taken into account changing circumstances and designated as special the events on Jan. 6, a new report says. DHS can designate planned events as special, triggering security planning and other processes. But it did not do so for Jan. 6, because officials believed they didn’t meet the criteria for such designations. The Government Accountability Office said the lack of designation failed to take into account a shifting environment. “While election certification by the Congress was a routine event in the past, the threat environment in 2021 was different from past elections. For example, an FBI report warned of calls for violence and for individuals traveling to Washington, D.C. to be ready for ‘war’ at the Capitol on January 6,” the office said in its new report, which was published this week. “The lack of consideration of other factors, such as the large …