The day before rioters stormed Congress last week, an FBI office in Virginia issued “an explicit internal warning that extremists were preparing to travel to Washington to commit violence and ‘war,’” reports the Washington Post, citing an internal Bureau document.
“The warning is the starkest evidence yet of the sizable intelligence failure that preceded the mayhem, which claimed the lives of five people,” the Post says, “although one law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid disciplinary action, said the failure was not one of intelligence but of acting on the intelligence.”
In its exclusive report, the Post notes that the warning “contradicts a senior official’s declaration the bureau had no intelligence indicating anyone at last week’s pro-Trump protest planned to do harm.”
On Tuesday, the FBI’s Washington field office said it has opened 160 case files in its investigation of last week’s riot, with 70 people already charged and the number of cases expected to climb sharply. (See separate N&G video post for details on the briefing.)
Meanwhile, it’s reported that Capitol security officials are warning members of Congress that it could all happen again — on Inauguration Day, next Wednesday — and that “enhanced security measures” will be implemented starting tomorrow.
Authorities appear to be preparing for the worst, says The Hill, noting that “At least 15,000 National Guard troops will be stationed in Washington on Inauguration Day, with 43 states and territories providing support.“
“Thousands of armed pro-Donald Trump extremists are plotting to surround the U.S. Capitol ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, according to a member of Congress who was among those briefed late Monday on a series of new threats,” says CNN.
That lawmaker is Rep. Conor Lamb (D-PA), who says the threat comes from an “organized group” but that there will be “no negotiasting with or reasoning with these people … they have to be stopped.”
And, Lamb added, “unfortunately, that includes the President, which is why he needs to be impeached and removed from office.“
Another unnnamed Democrat who took part in the Monday night briefing told CNN that when “mob psychology takes hold and they are emboldened, but when met with actual determined force, I think a lot of these fantasy world beliefs about what will happen when they come to Washington will melt away.”
Returning to last week’s Capitol riot, the Post says that on Jan. 5, “FBI Norfolk received information indicating calls for violence in response to ‘unlawful lockdowns’” beginning the following day in Washington.
An online thread of messages posted by the rioters “discussed specific calls for violence to include stating ‘Be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in, and blood … being spilled,” the FBI report warned.
“Get violent.” the rioters’ thread demanded. “Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die. NOTHING else will achieve this goal.”
Multiple law enforcement officials have said privately that the level of violence seen at the Capitol “has led to difficult discussions within the FBI and other agencies about race, terrorism, and whether investigators failed to register the degree of danger because the overwhelming majority of the participants at the rally were White conservatives fiercely loyal to the President Trump,” the Post says.
