Possible inauguration week violence in state capitals, according to FBI

Warning says a group is planning action in every state on Jan. 20

Gov. Ralph Northam’s office is working with police agencies to be ready for violence after news of an FBI warning of a nationwide threat to state capitol buildings.

The warning, first reported by ABC News, said the FBI has received information that an insurrectionist group is calling for “storming” state government buildings and state and federal courthouses.

The warning said the group is planning action in every state on inauguration day, Jan. 20, ABC News said.

It came just two days after insurrectionists broke into the U.S. Capitol, temporarily halting the certification of electoral college votes as they rampaged through the building, with some shouting threats of deadly violence against legislators and Vice President Mike Pence.

“We are actively monitoring these reports and have been coordinating closely with law enforcement agencies,” said Alena Yarmosky, Northam’s press secretary.

Those agencies include the Virginia Capitol Police, Richmond Police Department, Virginia Commonwealth University’s police force and federal law enforcement officials, she said.

“Virginia Capitol Police have been planning with our law enforcement partners and other stakeholders for quite some time as we prepare for the 2021 General Assembly session and its related activities,” said agency spokesman Joe Macenka.

He said he could not share plans or intelligence information.

Elsewhere, a Georgia State Patrol SWAT team walked the perimeter of that state’s Capitol, wearing fatigues and carrying rifles while lawmakers gathered inside for the start of a two-year term.

Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee activated hundreds of National Guard troops to help state police keep order at the state

Capitol and defend security fencing.

The doors to Idaho’s state Senate and House chambers, usually propped open, were locked shut Monday. Two state troopers were stationed at each entrance.

Last summer, a group led by anti-government activist Ammon Bundy forced their way past Idaho troopers to defy limits on the number of people allowed in the House chamber’s gallery.