Law enforcement ignored FBI warnings of ‘war’ in Washington

The FBI warned law enforcement agencies ahead of last week’s breach of theus Capitol about the potential for extremist-driven violence and prosecutors arenowweighing sedition charges against at leastsome of thetrump loyalistswhostormed the building, Usofficials said yesterday.

The statements by FBI and Justice Department officials were intended as both a defence of federal law enforcement preparations before the deadly riot and awarning to participants that they are still subject to arrest and felony charges even if they have left Washington.

Misdemeanour counts against someof the dozens arrested so far maystill be upgraded to sedition charges that are punishable by up to 20 years in prison and that carry the grave accusation of inciting an effort to overthrow the government, said actingus Attorney Michael Sherwin in Washington.

The revelations contradict earlier statements from law enforcement leaders about the potential for danger last week. Many, including the former Capitol police chief, said they were unaware of serious concerns and had prepared only for a free speech protest. Capitol police and others didn’t immediately respond to questions about the discrepancy.

The press conferencecamehours after the Washington Post reported the existence of a January 5 report from the FBI’S field office in Norfolk, Virginia, that forecast, in detail, the chances for “war” in Washington the following day. The existence of such a stark warning appeared to contradict the FBI’S earlier assertions that it had no specific intelligence that violence could arise.

Steven D’antuono, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’S Washington field office, defended the handling of the information, saying it was shared in 40minutes with other law enforcement agencies.

Even without intelligence from law enforcement, there had been ample warning about pro-trump demonstrations in Washington. But Uscapitol Police did not bolster staffing andmadeno preparations for the possibility that the planned protests could escalate into massive, violent riots, according to several people briefed on the law enforcement response. Officials turneddownhelp offered by the Pentagon three days before the riot.

Whenbackup was finally requested, it took more than two hours for troops to mobilise near the Capitol. By then themobhad raged inside for more than four hours.