FEDERAL AGENCIES PREPARE FOR JAN. 20
Massive operation under way to protect Biden inauguration
The Secret Service and federal law enforcement agencies are spending the final days of the Trump administration bracing for a possible violent assault against the Jan. 20 inaug uration, launching a security mobilization that will be unlike any in modern U.S. history
Today, the Secret Service will take command of security preparations at the U.S. Capitol and other federal buildings, backed by as many as 15,000 National Guard troops, thousands of police and tactical off icers, and layers of 8-foot-tall steel fencing.
The high-aler t security posture is star ting six days earlier than planned to coordinate roles for the FBI, National Guard, U.S. marshals and a host of federal agencies that will fall under Secret Service command.
“Everyone can just rest assured they are throwing the kitchen sink at this event,” said one Secret Ser vice off icial involved in protective planning who, like others inter viewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak to reporters.
The accelerated timetable has also allowed authorities to for tify the city and deploy off icers in anticipation of potential violence on Sunday, when pro-Trump groups are calling for armed marches in Washington and the 50 state capitals.
Veteran Secret Ser vice and Homeland Security officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity described a level of concern unlike anything in their careers. Threats they fear include a plot by armed groups to encircle the White House or the U.S. Capitol and the inauguration event, as well as fears that gunmen could stage coordinated attacks against less-for tif ied targets in the city.
House Democrats were briefed by the new Capitol Police leadership Monday night about threats to the inauguration from groups supporting President Donald Trump, and the new security measures they are putting in place to avoid a repeat of Wednesday’s riot.
According to members who were on the briefing call, the threats included promises to execute members of Congress, with the most dangerous coming from extremist groups. They are surfacing amid calls for a million Trump devotees to f lood the District of Columbia.
On Tuesday, police in the Chicago suburbs arrested 45-year-old Louis Capriotti, charging him with making threats to lawmakers last year in which authorities say he promised to kill any Democrat who attempted to enter the White House on Inauguration Day.
If people “think that Joe Biden is going to put his hand on the Bible and walk into that ... White House on January 20th, they’re sadly ... mistaken,” he told one member of Congress in an expletive-laden phone message, according to a criminal complaint. “We will surround the . . . White House and we will kill any ... Democrat that steps on the ... lawn.”
Rep. Jim Hime, D-Conn., said in an interview that the threats are real but will not stop the transfer of power.
“We’re not talking about a 90-person ISIS cell. ... We’re talking mainly about a bunch of yahoos who, yes, are very dangerous. People could wind up dead,” Himes said. “But there’s no danger that they’re going to overthrow the United States government.”
The sweep of the heightened security was illustrated by the decision of the House sergeant-at-arms to use metal detectors to screen everyone entering the House chamber, including members.
The siege at the Capitol has put Secret Service planners and their federal par tners in feverish reassessment mode to consider all the ways they can mitigate anything like a repeat of last week’s riot — or something worse.
Starting today, the nerve center for coordinating inauguration security and locking down D.C. will be the Secret Ser vice’s Washing ton field office. Known as the MACC, the MultiAgency Command Center will bring together representatives from 50 to 60 different agencies or private companies for the next eight days, everyone from heavyweight players such as the FBI and the Defense Department to the gas company, rail company CSX and Amtrak. Most personnel will work in 12-hour shifts.
“Unlike January 6, nobody has to ask for the National Guard anymore,” said one former Secret Ser vice off icial who helped coordinate past inaugurals. “Nobody has to send out an emergency call for the FBI SWAT team. They’re all there, pre-positioned and ready.”
“It’s no longer game planning,” the former off icial added. “Radiation protection. Bomb detectors. Amtrak sweeps. All the security personnel — they’re all now in place.”
The Secret Ser vice will coordinate all security decisions, including how to seal the Capitol, how to control the f low of demonstrations, which Metro stations are shuttered, and which roads will be blocked.
Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., who participated in the security briefing for lawmakers, said that if the extensive measures planned for the inauguration had been in place on Wednesday, “a f ly could not have gotten into the Capitol.”