Rush to secure US state capitals as FBI warns of armed protests
POLICE have warned of a plot in which 4,000 armed protesters could descend on Washington in the coming days, encircling the US Capitol and potentially assassinating politicians.
It was one of three extremist plots picked up by security services that were detailed in a phone call between US Capitol Police and Democrat members of Congress, according to politicians who were on the call.
It also emerged that the FBI had warned extremists were planning for “war” the day before the storming of the Capitol on January 6.
FBI agents were aware that plotters had shared maps of the tunnels under the Capitol online, and arranged locations to rendezvous in states including Kentucky and South Carolina before heading to Washington.
But still the National Guard was not called in beforehand.
The disclosures came as 15,000 National Guard troops were activated to protect the Capitol in the lead up to Joe Biden’s inauguration next Wednesday.
Following requests from Democrats, some National Guard members were being subjected to additional background checks to ensure they were not “sympathetic to domestic terrorists”.
Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer, the Democrat leader in the Senate, called for anyone in the mob that entered the Capitol on January 6 to be put on a no-fly list to stop them returning to Washington ahead of the inauguration.
He said: “We cannot allow these same insurrectionists to get on a plane and cause more violence and more damage.”
Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in Washington and the city’s Democrat mayor, Muriel Bowser, pleaded with Americans to stay away.
In a police phone call with members of Congress on Monday night, politicians were warned of a series of threats that had been made ahead of the inauguration and detected
by police. One plot outlined was described as the “largest armed protest ever to take place on American soil”.
Another was a protest planned to remember Ashli Babbitt, who died after being shot during the invasion of the Capitol last week. A third would see thousands of armed people surrounding Congress to stop Democrat politicians from going in, which could result in assassinations.
Extremists might also surround the US Supreme Court and the White House, politicians were told. Rules of engagement were being drawn up for how the National Guard should deal with armed insurrectionists.
Conor Lamb, a Democrat congressman from Pennsylvania and former US Marine, who was on the phone call with police, said: “They were talking about 4,000 armed ‘patriots’ to surround the Capitol and prevent any Democrat from going in. They have published rules of engagement, meaning when you shoot and when you don’t. They are committed to doing what they’re doing because, I think, in their minds they are patriots and they’re talking about 1776. So this is now a contest of wills.”
The internal FBI warning before January 6 was issued after agents picked up online communication. It included comments such as “Be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in, and blood from their BLM and [Antifa] slave soldiers being spilt”. (© Daily Telegraph, London)