FBI warnings amid fears of more pro-Trump violence

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
Capitol riots: FBI warnings amid fears of more pro-Trump violence
Share this with Email Share this with Facebook Share this with Twitter Share this with Whatsapp

Image copyrightREUTERS
Members of the National Guard stand next to a fence and barricades set up around the U.S. Capitol building in Washington

Security has been stepped up at the US Capitol following deadly violence last week

The FBI is warning of the possibility of armed protests being held across the US in the days before Joe Biden is sworn in as president.

There are reports of
armed groups planning to gather at all 50 state capitols and in Washington DC in the run-up to his 20 January inauguration.

The fears come as security plans are tightened for the event itself.

On Monday, Mr Biden said he was not afraid to take the oath of office at the ceremony at the Capitol.

Both he and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris are expected to be sworn in there, only two weeks after it was the site of a deadly raid by radical supporters of President Donald Trump opposing the election result.

Security officials are resolute there will be no repeat of the breach seen on 6 January - when thousands of pro-Trump supporters were able to break into the grounds of the complex where members of Congress were voting to certify the election result.
  • What is the 25th Amendment?
  • The 65 days that led to chaos at the Capitol
  • Capitol riots: What's happening with arrests?

    Chad Wolf, acting head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said on Monday that he had instructed the US Secret Service to begin special operations for the inauguration on Wednesday - six days early - "in light of events of the past week and the evolving security landscape".

    Officials say up to 15,000 National Guard troops could be made available to fortify the event.

    Later on Monday, Mr Wolf became the third Trump cabinet secretary to step down since the Capitol riots, after Betsy DeVos and Elaine Chao.
Mr Wolf's exit plunged his department into turmoil just as it gears up to handle security for the Biden inauguration. Mr Wolf last week called on Mr Trump to "strongly condemn" the protesters who stormed Congress.

The outgoing secretary said his departure had been prompted by "recent events", including court rulings challenging the legal validity of his appointment.

What further protests are planned?
Law enforcement around the country are said to be bracing for the possibility of further violence in the days before Joe Biden takes office.

Posts on pro-Trump and far-right online networks have called for protest action on a number of dates, including armed demonstrations in cities across the country on 17 January and a march in Washington DC on inauguration day itself.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi walks through Capitol riots damage



An internal FBI bulletin, reported by ABC News and other outlets, carries a warning that one group is calling for the "storming" of state, local and federal courthouses around the country if Mr Trump is removed from office early and on inauguration day if he is not.

Calls for Mr Trump's resignation, removal from office or impeachment have grown among Democrats and some Republicans in the days following the riots.

Local police agencies have been told by federal law enforcement to increase security at statehouses following last week's violence, according to US media.

The Reuters news agency, citing a federal law enforcement official, said the FBI warnings are in place for all state capitals from 16 to 20 January itself and in Washington DC at least three days before the inauguration.


Although the violence at the US Capitol dominated headlines last week, similar smaller incidents were reported elsewhere in the country at the same time.

What security is planned for the inauguration?

On Monday President Trump declared a state of emergency until 24 January, which enables the Department of Homeland Security to act to "avert the threat of a catastrophe".

The DHS announced it is starting a National Special Security Event operations six days earlier than planned, starting from Wednesday. The designation allows security agencies to work together on protective measures such as road closures.

More than 10,000 National Guard troops will be the capital by the weekend, with about 5,000 more available if requested, promised Chief of the National Guard Bureau General Daniel Hokanson.

Meanwhile Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called for more security after what she described as an "unprecedented terrorist attack" at the US Capitol last week.


She has also asked Americans to avoid travelling to Washington DC for the event.

Capitol police officer hailed as a 'hero'
Democrats move to impeach Trump again
Elsewhere, the National Park Service announced that it has closed the Washington Monument to visitors amid "credible threats" of violence, adding it could also temporarily close areas of the National Mall and Memorial Parks.

Speaking as he got his second Covid-19 vaccine on Monday, Mr Biden said he was "not afraid" to take his oath of office outside despite security fears.

Image copyright REUTERS President-elect Joe Biden receives his second dose of a vaccine against the coronavirus disease in Newark, Delaware

Image caption Biden said on Monday he had spoken to some senators about their moves to impeach Donald Trump

After being sworn in as president, Mr Biden is expected to take part in a wreath-laying ceremony alongside former presidents Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton to help underscore his message of unity.

Donald Trump has said he will not attend the inauguration - becoming the first president in more than 150 years not to do so.


What is the latest on impeachment efforts?

The warnings about further pro-Trump violence come as efforts move forward to impeach the president for his role in last week's deadly invasion of the Capitol.

An article filed in the House on Monday accuses Mr Trump of "incitement of insurrection" during a rally in which Mr Trump alleged, without evidence, that November's presidential election was "stolen" from him.

Democrats say a vote on the article will go ahead in the House on Wednesday unless Vice-President Mike Pence invokes constitutional powers to remove Mr Trump from office.

Mr Trump has made no public statements since he was banned from several social media platforms - including Twitter - on Friday.

It comes as websites and social media networks crackdown against other users and websites seen to be encouraging violence - including social network Parler, which said Monday it was suing Amazon for removing it from its web hosting service .

 

COINTELPRO

Transnational Member
Registered
201002-rose-garden-amy-coney-barrett-nomination-ac-1100p_cd6ca510d85648f886c3297ac85d57e0.fit-760w.jpg


A Supreme Court Justice will be on the bench and have more of an impact than a President and this is all they get. This can be Biden on stage with a few people in the crowd.

If people decide to storm the only way to stop them is to shoot to kill.
 

deputy dawg

~wait a cotton pickin' minute...
BGOL Investor
If people decide to storm the only way to stop them is to shoot to kill.


They're going to D>C>/state capitals looking for a fight
(with some being former military -no ambiguity what that posture means)
These fools wanna take on American forces for t-Rump?
As the saying goes:
"Careful what you look for - you just might find it!"
 

COINTELPRO

Transnational Member
Registered
They're going to D>C>/state capitals looking for a fight
(with some being former military -no ambiguity what that posture means)
These fools wanna take on American forces for t-Rump?
As the saying goes:
"Careful what you look for - you just might find it!"

I have dealt with these clowns for years with their bizarre racial beliefs and ideas that makes living in the United States unlivable for me. It has delayed substantially many of my projects that are of significant importance while I fight these fools off.

Unfortunately, Pres. Biden grew up around the time when we were butlers and mammies. This is the problem when you elect elderly statesmen who are stuck in a long gone era. Many of them have made adjustments but there still fighting what they were comfortable with in the past. I think President Clinton remarked about Pres. Obama being considered his butler in the past.

The-Butler-JFK-meets-the-White-House-staff.jpg


The siege on the Capitol was a failure of Congress to adjust their procedures for President Trump who has changed the game with not conceding the election and publicly challenging the result into inauguration. When the Million Man March happened they vacated as a contingency.
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
The Washington Post
With no ‘armed march’ by extremists, D.C. residents navigate a fortress and fear

With no ‘armed march’ by extremists, D.C. residents navigate a fortress and fear (msn.com)

Samantha Schmidt,
Emily Davies,
Michael E. Miller,
Jessica Contrera 2 hrs ago
January 18, 2021

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...mp-facing-criticism/vi-BB1cQAGe?ocid=msedgntp
1610953397460.png The troops were in formation.

The residents were told to stay home.

The heart of Washington was a fortress of fences, concrete barriers and security checkpoints.

But on Sunday, the planned and promoted “armed march” on the nation’s capital never materialized.

There were no gathered crowds, large or small, and authorities reported just one arrest of an armed man carrying a handgun and ammunition near barricades surrounding the Capitol building just after midnight.


The quiet Sunday brought little relief to a city on edge from an attack on the Capitol. Each day leading up to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden comes with fear of additional violence and ever more security.

“It’s as if we are all being held hostage to people who want to bring a lot of chaos to America,” said Charlyce Wilson, a 62-year-old Washingtonian who has been to nearly every inauguration since she was 11. On Sunday, she was boarding a train at Union Station that would take her to Florida for the week, where she knew she’d feel safer as a Black woman.

Since Jan. 6, when a pro-Trump mob staged a deadly riot as the House and Senate certified Biden’s election, Washington has been a city split in two. Its center, once pulsing with visitors for inaugurations past, has become an armed encampment, surrounded by the 10,000 National Guardsmen already in the District. Outside of those barriers are the hundreds of thousands of residents who have weathered a pandemic, a summer of protests and now, the consequences of law enforcement officials’ efforts to ensure there isn’t another national security failure.


a person sitting in front of a building: Razor wire continues to be installed along fencing around the Capitol Sunday. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post)

© Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post Razor wire continues to be installed along fencing around the Capitol Sunday. (Photo
by Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post)


Those officials had been bracing for a chaotic Sunday since right-wing forums began urging instigators to bring their firearms to every state capitol in the country on Jan. 17. Extremist organizations including the Proud Boys, Three Percenters, Oath Keepers and Boogaloo indicated plans to come to the District.

But after the attack on the Capitol, and the pouring in of military personnel in the days that followed, the online chatter turned to warnings that the District was a “trap.” The organizer of a “Million Militia March” and the leader of the Proud Boys urged followers to stay away. President Trump, shortly before being impeached for the second time, released a video statement asking his supporters to remain peaceful.

Federal and local law enforcement across the country vowed to remain vigilant, understanding that all too often, it only takes one dangerous person for violence to begin. Their shows of force seem to have convinced protesters to stay away from most state capitals as of Sunday afternoon. Small crowds assembled in Columbus, Ohio; Lansing, Mich.; Salem, Ore.; and Austin, where a group of men with rifles swung across their shoulders told reporters they were there to “make sure things stay civil.”

Sunday is quiet at statehouses braced for violent protests
In Annapolis, where local police, state troopers and National Guardsmen were protecting the Maryland State House, the most rambunctious activity came from local dogs that wanted to greet the bomb-sniffing canines patrolling the area. In Richmond, police erected barricades in hopes of preparing for Monday, when a pro-gun rally is expected to bring a caravan of buses, cars and trucks to the Virginia capital.

Washingtonians are accustomed to seeing heightened security around inaugurations and other major events. To live in the nation’s capital is to grow accustomed to its inconveniences: motorcades holding up traffic, military helicopters passing overhead, tourists standing on the wrong side of the escalator. But no event in recent memory has transformed the city to this extent, with monuments inaccessible, bridges shut down, Metro stations shuttered and some residents required to show ID just to get home.

“I haven’t seen it like this since 9/11... At least then you could navigate the streets,” said Rick Dibella, a 67-year-old real estate developer who had to ditch his Uber and walk when his driver reached a barrier north of the Capitol.

Every military vehicle and checkpoint he saw was a reminder of the violent mob from the week before. Dibella, who described himself as a Republican disturbed by the direction of his political party, had little hope that the worst had passed. “I don’t think this time these young men are going to stand down,” he said.

His prediction was echoed across the city, as Washingtonians spent their post-insurrection, pre-inauguration days answering texts from concerned relatives and stocking up at the grocery store, where even the cashiers remind them to “stay safe.”

How battered D.C. police made a stand against the Capitol mob
The shadow hanging over the city stretched far beyond where the military presence stopped. East of the river, residents along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue — soon to be cut off from downtown by the closure of the 11th Street Bridge — were mourning the celebratory atmosphere they had hoped would accompany the inauguration of Biden, who 92 percent of D.C. voters supported, and Kamala D. Harris, the first Black, first Asian and first female vice president in the nation’s history.

“No one can focus on it because of this smokescreen, this specter of violence,” said the Rev. Lawrence Watson Sr., fresh from Sunday service and lugging his bass guitar.

The gloom seeped into the cab of Dennis Abigoe, 56, who sat waiting for nonexistent travelers at an empty Union Station.

“This is the country that the whole world is looking at,” said Abigoe, an immigrant from Ghana. “To see the whole place messed up like that, it’s a disgrace.”

Residents attempting to go about their routines found themselves coming face-to- face with edges of the militarized zone intended to keep them safe. Robyn Hinson-Jones, 69, was walking her mini Australian Shepherd down East Capitol Street early Sunday afternoon when a federal officer began shouting, “This street is closed.”

“I have to say, I feel protected, whatever that means,” Hinson-Jones said. “Although the irony is not lost of me. These are the same officers we were demonstrating against a few months ago and saying Black Lives Matter. We were running away from them last month and this month we’re going toward them and saying, 'Thank you, thank you.’ ”

All along the perimeter to the off-limits areas, the multitude of security forces were on high alert for anyone with weapons. Shortly after midnight Sunday, D.C. police arrested a 22-year-old Virginia man who was walking on the 200 block of Massachusetts Avenue NE with a Glock 22 firearm “clearly visible” in a holster. Officers discovered Guy Berry of Gordonsville, Va., was also carrying three high-capacity magazines and 37 rounds of ammunition.

That event followed two arrests by the U.S. Capitol Police in recent days. Saturday morning, a woman who has not been identified was taken into custody after claiming to be a law enforcement officer. She was taken in for a psychiatric evaluation. On Friday night, Wesley Allen Beeler, 31, of Front Royal, Va., was arrested at a checkpoint after police discovered a gun and ammunition in his car. He was charged and released on personal recognizance Saturday, and claims he was on his way to a security job when he got lost in the city.

People were allowed to pass through some barricades, entering “green zones” that were closed to vehicle traffic but open to pedestrians. That was how the only protesters to be found in Washington Sunday — fewer than two dozen people — made their way to Black Lives Matter Plaza, located in a restricted-entry zone.


a group of people jumping in the air doing a trick on a skateboard: Onlookers climb onto barricades to get a better view of Black Lives Matter Plaza in D.C. on Sunday. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post)

© Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post Onlookers climb onto barricades to get a better view of Black Lives Matter
Plaza in D.C. on Sunday. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post)

A fence blocked them from going past the “R” still painted in yellow on the pavement, but much like every day since the street took on its name in June, the atmosphere was festive. Reggae boomed from loudspeakers. A few children danced in the street. Some people grabbed sidewalk chalk and wrote in huge letters “domestic terrorists not welcome.”

Julie Dana walked there after passing armed National Guardsmen on H Street.

“I was looking to see any happiness, any place where anybody was celebrating that this was an inauguration,” she said. “Where can we celebrate and usher [Biden and Harris] in with a little bit of joy?”

Joy: To find it anywhere in the city, residents said they felt like they had to get out of their houses, reclaim their neighborhoods, put one foot in front of the other. Which is how Margo Brasil, a prekindergarten teacher, had made her way to 3rd and Pennsylvania Avenue SE, about as close to the Capitol as anyone can get.

Her parents, an aunt and friends had called her to beg her to stay inside this week. But on Sunday afternoon, she was outside again, watching a forklift load more concrete barriers into place, blocking her from the Mall that for two decades has felt like her backyard.

“My liberties — everyone’s liberties — are being stepped on,” she said. “Is this the right thing to do? I think it is, because we have to protect our democracy.”

Soldiers on the streets, helicopters in the air and tension all around reminded her of Sept. 11, 2001, too. But something was different. Twenty years ago, the country had come together, she said. Now it was coming apart.

Julie Zauzmer, Rebecca Tan, Rachel Chason, Steve Thompson, Hannah Natanson, Gregory Schneider, Laura Meckler, Arelis Hernandez, Marissa J. Lang and Dan Lamothe contributed to this report.

Read more:

A small town seethes after one of its own declares he joined Capitol’s mob

‘The storm is here’: Ashli Babbitt’s journey from capital ‘guardian’ to invader

How battered D.C. police made a stand against the Capitol mob
 

Attachments

  • 1610953470418.png
    1610953470418.png
    68 bytes · Views: 0
Top