A few days after the attack, even as security reinforcements arrived, some lawmakers told CNN they now fear for their safety.
While some Republicans have argued that the unprecedented second impeachment trial of President Donald Trump will only fuel controversy, federal officials have warned that extremists, after seeing the results of last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol, are now more likely to launch nomination attacks on the 20th anniversary of Trump’s removal. January and to be implemented in the year 2021.
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An internal FBI bulletin distributed this week to law enforcement officials warned that armed demonstrations were planned in all 50 state capitals and in Washington, D.C., in the days leading up to Biden’s swearing-in. Federal law enforcement agencies have issued urgent bulletins asking for help in securing the nation’s capital. This situation is now littered with roadblocks and steel fences to push back the house and people’s homes to 25,000 members of the National Guard – a military presence stronger than that of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria combined.
By Friday, the FBI had received 140,000 digital reports about the attack, including photos and videos. Federal agents had opened 275 criminal files, charged about 98 people and detained 100.
While senior government officials who normally take the lead remained silent for days, including the heads of the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the president himself, federal officials launched the largest counterterrorism investigation since Sept. 11. Sept. 2001 and continued planning to strengthen Washington.
Our attitude is aggressive. That will be the case until the inauguration, FBI Director Christopher Wray said at a security briefing Thursday during the inauguration. He added that the agency has been monitoring numerous online chats about possible new armed demonstrations and has issued a warning to the men and women who wreaked havoc on Capitol Hill.
We know who you are when you get there, Ray said, and FBI agents will be looking for you.
Domestic terrorists have struck at a time when the US government is facing the worst foreign cyber attack in its history, with Russia suspected of infiltrating hundreds of companies and numerous federal agencies. Their bloodshed and destruction comes at a time when Covid-19 is experiencing a record number of deaths per day and a looming jobs crisis, with nearly a million people claiming unemployment benefits for the first time last week.
The uprising, sparked by Trump’s lies about his possible electoral defeat, revealed the extent of unfounded conspiracy theories that radicalized Americans to the point of besieging their own Capitol.
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The events of the day raise questions about the failure of intelligence agencies, the slow response of the military in the form of panicked calls for help from lawmakers begging for help by phone, and the possible blind spots of law enforcement or their deliberate ignorance of the dangers of white supremacists and right-wing natives.
These groups have formed a combustible mixture with the anti-Semites and QAnon conspirators, who are 6. January was marked by an existential crisis for the Republican Party, which had to choose between staying under the grip of Trump and his most toxic supporters or walking away.
According to Ron Brownstein, senior political analyst at CNN, the trajectory of Trump’s white nationalist extremism over the past four years has been very clear, as has the potential cost to U.S. security if left unchecked.
President Trump has provided a tremendous amount of oxygen to this very dangerous ideology, Brownstein told Jake Tapper on Thursday. And unless all parties involved, the Department of Justice, law enforcement and Congress, take imposing consequences and taking the threat very seriously, this could become a drumbeat backed by a Biden presidency.
The question is whether we can send a broader message that we’re not going to be patient and look the other way because it’s metastasizing, Brownstein said.
Ideologically motivated violence
Thousands of armed pro-Trump extremists are already plotting to surround the U.S. Capitol before Biden opens, according to lawmakers who spoke with security officials on Monday.
A joint US government bulletin indicated that the attack on the 6. January to disrupt Biden’s certificate of victory may have given extremists of different ideological persuasions a chance to interact. The bulletin warned that the riots are likely part of a current trend in which (extremists) are using legitimate protests, rallies and demonstrations and other gatherings to carry out ideologically motivated violence and criminal activities.
Several defense officials told CNN that National Guard and law enforcement officials expect explosives such as homemade bombs and Molotov cocktails to be used in the upcoming riots. They expect the perpetrators of these crimes to be very aggressive, a senior defence official said, adding that their intentions are very serious.
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Last week, homemade bombs were planted at the Republican and Democratic Party headquarters in Washington. They could have done some serious damage, but they didn’t explode.
The expertise of the bombs and the ease with which the noisy crowd moved around the Capitol complex, apparently without much resistance, raised fears that the participants might receive inside help and military expertise.
At least two Capitol Hill police officers have been suspended and at least 10 others are under investigation for alleged roles, CNN reports. Michael Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney in Washington, confirmed Friday that we are seeing indications that former and current law enforcement officers may have been off-duty, involved in the unrest.
Regardless of your profession, who you are, who you associate with, if you are involved or participate in criminal activity, we will charge you and you will be arrested, Sherwin said.
Military members
Part of this hunt involves several people who may have been involved in the murder of Capitol Hill police officer Brian Siknick, according to two law enforcement sources. On Friday, Steven D’Antuono of the FBI’s Washington office said his investigators were making progress in the investigation and were keeping an eye on anyone who might be involved in the case. He did not address the scope of the investigation.
In the days following the attack, court records and media reports also confirmed that current and former members of the U.S. military were involved in the insurgency. This news led to unprecedented statements by the heads of the major security agencies, who felt it necessary to remind their men and women of their allegiance to the Constitution.
On Tuesday, top US military officials condemned the violent invasion and reminded the military of its duty to respect and defend the Constitution and to reject extremism. The Defense Department has seen a rise in white supremacist ideology among active duty service members and veterans, a senior Defense Department official told CNN in an interview.
The next day, U.S. Secret Service Director James Murray sent a message to agency employees, inviting them to remember their mission and remain professional at the next inauguration. We are supposed to be bipartisan, he said in a memo.
Video footage of a Capitol Hill police officer wearing a MAGA hat during the invasion and another joining in with rioters has deeply shocked lawmakers. According to the Wall Street Journal, the officer wearing his signature red cap was seen as part of a ploy to rescue more than a dozen police officers caught in the riots. The officer has been suspended and an investigation is underway.
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There have been these acts of heroism, but alongside them have been attacks of betrayal, New York Democratic Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez said Tuesday on Instagram Live. And running around the nation’s capital without knowing if there’s a cop there to help or hurt you is also pretty traumatic.
I didn’t know if I would make it out alive at the end of the day, Ocasio-Cortez said. It’s not an exaggeration to say that many, many members of the House were almost killed.
Some members are asking for bulletproof vests, considering buying their own security and taking other measures such as B. distraction at work, lawmakers told CNN. Meanwhile, some Republicans have expressed outrage over the metal detectors installed at the entrance to the House chamber.
Many members consider another terrible possibility: that the mob got help from some of their colleagues.
Thirty-one members of Congress sent a letter to the Acting Sergeant of the House of Representatives, the Acting Sergeant of the Senate, and the Acting Chief of Police of the United States Capitol requesting an investigation into the unusual and disturbing excursions they saw, and reported on 5. January to the Sergeant-at-Arms.
Many of the members who signed the letter, including those of us who have served in the military and are trained to recognize suspicious activity, as well as some of our staff, were arrested on Tuesday, January 5. The letter states that many of the members who signed the letter, including those of us who have served in the military and are trained to recognize suspicious activity, as well as a number of our staff, were arrested on Tuesday, January 5, with a very large number of groups from outside the complex present.
Groups of six to eight people wearing MAGA clothing, according to Pennsylvania Democratic Representative Mary Gay Scanlon, were only allowed access to the Capitol complex by a congressman or his staff, the letter said.
Coordination
I assumed it had to be a newcomer who didn’t know the rules or something, one of the co-authors told CNN Scanlon of Pennsylvania. There were people walking around the halls, apparently led by congressional staff at a time when visits were cancelled because of Covid.
At least one right-wing conspirator said he coordinated a rally where Trump spoke to three House Republicans before the riot: Rep. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs of Arizona and Congressman Mo Brooks of Alabama, who addressed the president, took the stage and encouraged the crowd to take names and kick ass. Brooks, Gosar and several other GOP lawmakers were criticized for their inflammatory remarks in the hours, days and weeks leading up to the siege.
Colorado Republican Lauren Bibert, who is linked to the QAnon movement and regularly spreads far-right conspiracy theories, was also under scrutiny for tweeting the whereabouts of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the attack.
On Friday, Pelosi announced that the former deputy director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lieutenant General Russell Honore, will lead the Capitol Security Review. She added that if it turned out that members of Congress were complicit in the riots, if they aided and abetted the crime, then perhaps something should be done beyond Congress in terms of prosecution.
Later that day, when asked if they were making allegations that Capitol Hill police and lawmakers were involved in the unrest, D’Antuono of the FBI’s Washington office said they were leaving nothing to chance and investigating every piece of the puzzle.
Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney in Washington, told reporters earlier this week that we are looking at serious cases of sedition and conspiracy.
Audit of planning
The evidence uncovered to date, including the weapons and tactics shown on the surveillance videos, indicates some level of planning, a federal law enforcement official said. And the court documents offer shocking new details.
A notice in Friday’s statement seeks to extend the detention of Jacob Anthony Chansley, a Qanon believer with a painted face who wore a horned cap and carried a two-foot spear and a bull horn, who gathered at the Capitol.
Prosecutors describe those who took control of Capitol Hill as insurgents and provide further details about Chanceley’s role in last week’s brutal siege, including the fact that Chanceley left a note on the podium where Vice President Pence was standing that morning, saying it’s only a matter of time before justice arrives.
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Chanceley later told the FBI that he did not see the note as a threat, but that the vice president was a child trafficker.
Prior to his arrest, Chanceley also told the FBI that he planned to return to Washington in protest for the inauguration.
In another case, Texas prosecutors alleged that a retired Air Force reservist wearing plastic zip ties on the Senate floor may have been planning to stop lawmakers. This is one of many surprising details that emerged during the investigation as investigators tracked down some of the most recognizable individuals from the riots.
Authorities arrested the man in the widely circulated photos with the Confederate flag on Capitol Hill, another wearing a hoodie of the Auschwitz camp and Olympic swimming medalist Clete Keller.
Federal officials also accused Peter Stager, a bearded man, of hitting a Washington police officer with a pole carrying an American flag. Everyone there is a traitor, Steiger said in a video obtained by the FBI. Death is the only cure for what is in this building.
Several arrests indicate a clear intent to murder on the part of some in the crowd.
An Alabama man faces 17 criminal charges, primarily for possession of multiple weapons, including a shotgun, rifle, three handguns and 11 Molotov cocktails, as well as unregistered ammunition and buckshot cartridges, according to the indictment.
After living in his truck in Washington for about a week, the man parked it on 6th. January on Capitol Hill, according to court documents. Police began searching the truck after noticing a handful of pistols and found the weapon, as well as a stun gun, several machetes, a crossbow, several large-caliber ammunition dispensers and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, according to a memorandum issued by prosecutors on Jan. 12 to justify his detention.
Also in the truck: a handwritten note with Representative Andre Carson of Indiana and the additional statement that he is one of two Muslims in the House of Representatives.
A second man reportedly drove from Colorado to Washington the day before the Trump rally with more than 2,500 bullets and an assault rifle. They say he wrote to acquaintances that he wanted to shoot or crush House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and wanted to shoot the district mayor, Muriel Bowser, according to court records.
If I had a threatening case, I wouldn’t remember it, Washington Circuit Court Judge Michael Harvey said Thursday.
The experience of some lawmakers has led them to fear that the rioters had a level of careful preparation that contradicts the account of an uncontrolled demonstration.
Representative Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat from Massachusetts, told CNN that someone had removed the panic buttons installed in her office, which were regularly tested and maintained. An investigation is underway, Presley said, adding that the discovery is certainly disturbing.
Carson, whose name appeared on a note found in a car filled with guns and ammunition, is among a growing list of lawmakers who have criticized the way police have handled the riots.
It is extremely disturbing that press reports indicate that I was one of the many people listed as one of the good guys and bad guys targeted by the attacks, Carson said in a statement provided to CNN. As a former law enforcement officer, it is particularly disappointing that law enforcement officials, including the U.S. Capitol Police, did not inform people like me that we were being targeted by the accused terrorist and his co-conspirators and that they were putting us at risk.
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Investigators will wonder how the feds could have missed so many red flags, why they were so ill-prepared and so slow to react.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security did not issue an assessment of possible threats of violence on U.S. Capitol Hill prior to last week’s deadly attack, according to a source familiar with the subject and a senior DHS official. Typically, the FBI and DHS conduct a joint threat assessment for high-profile events and share it with law enforcement and relevant stakeholders. But no agency has produced a similar report to support Biden’s victory at 6. The January confirmation, a controversial event for the president’s supporters.
The Washington Post reported Friday that three days before the attack, Capitol Hill’s internal intelligence services had warned that angry Trump supporters could attack Congress itself. The 12-page report describes an ominous scenario similar to the one that unfolded when angry supporters of the president tried to prevent Biden’s certification and destroy the election results.
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The day before the chaos broke out, an FBI office in Virginia issued an internal warning that extremists were moving to Washington and were ready to commit violence.
The Post also reported that dozens of listed terrorists attended the event on the 6th. January has arrived in Washington. Most of them are suspected white supremacists and have such troubling histories that they have been listed as a potential security risk in a national database for screening terrorists.
Four federal agencies announced Friday that they would take action on the 6th. January to conduct research on their own role. The Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice and the Interior will review their preparations for the events in Washington that day, which may have played a role in bringing insurgents to Capitol Hill.
These agencies and others are now preparing for the rebels to storm Capitol Hill again.
The Secret Service is taking the lead in security planning for Biden’s grand opening. On opening day, the National Mall will be closed to the public, according to an official familiar with the discussions.
There will be no big screens or washrooms, and the public will not be able to walk to the mall, where thousands of people traditionally gather to watch the swearing-in of the new president, officials said.
President-elect and Vice President Kamala Harris have yet to be sworn in at the Western Front of the U.S. Capitol in a much shorter time frame. Biden said this week that his band had been briefed after the violence erupted and that he was not afraid to take an oath on the street.
Katelyn Polantz, Christina Carrega, David Shortell, Marshall Cohen, Nicky Robertson, Ellie Kaufman, Geneva Sands, Zachary Cohen contributed to this report, Oren Liebermann, Barbara Starr, Jamie Crawford, Jamie Gangel, Jake Tapper, Alex Marquardt, Jeff Zeleny, Kate Sullivan, Ryan Nobles, Annie Grayer and Brian Todd.
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