State capitols tighten security
Plots by far-right groups across the country meant to show strength ahead of inauguration
State capitols nationwide locked down Saturday, with windows boarded up, National Guard troops deployed and states of emergency preemptively declared as authorities braced for potential violence Sunday mimicking the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of pro-Trump rioters.
The extraordinary show of security at statehouses that are normally lightly guarded reflected the anxious state of the country ahead of planned demonstrations. It came just days before the presidential inauguration, an event normally rich with pageantry but one that this year has become a possible pretext for insurrection.
Underscoring the unease Saturday was the arrest of a Virginia man who flashed an unauthorized inauguration credential at a checkpoint in the District of Columbia. Capitol Police said he was found to be storing at least one unregistered firearm and more than 500 rounds of ammunition — including hollow-point bullets — in his truck.
Yet even as security forces conspicuously raised their profile in cities far from the nation’s capital, the exact nature of the threat remained fluid. Officials acknowledged they did not know what form the next burst of violent right-wing extremists, white-supremacist, anti-government grievance might take — or where it might strike.
“We’re prepared that if two people show up, we’ll handle that. We’re prepared if thousands of people show up, we’ll handle that as well,” Michigan State Police First Lt. Michael Shaw said as he stood on the grounds of the Victorian-era
Capitol building in Lansing.
The Capitol, with its cast-iron dome and spire, was surrounded by temporary barricades that officials said could stay up for weeks. Across the street, the windows of the George W. Romney Building, home to the governor’s office, were boarded up. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, the target of a foiled kidnapping plot last year, had called in the National Guard on Friday, and the legislature had canceled its session for the coming week, citing “credible threats.”
“We hope everyone stays safe and respects the peaceful transition of power,” Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and Speaker of the House Jason Wentworth, both Republicans, said in a statement.
Not every state was taking such robust precautions. In some capital cities, authorities said they had placed extra security forces on standby, while leaving their public profile much the same — resulting in a weekend day that felt much like any other.
“There’s been no critical intelligence that something is brewing,” Idaho National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Borders said.
Yet in many other places, authorities were gearing up for trouble — even if they didn’t know exactly how it might look.
The FBI issued a bulletin Monday warning that far-right groups were planning to march on state capitals this weekend. Scattered protests on Saturday were quiet and peaceful. Sunday, however, is the day that several well-known extremist groups had identified as the moment to show their nationwide strength.
Whether they follow through is an open question. In recent days, several groups have recanted their call for demonstrations, urging supporters to stay far away, either out of deference to appeals for calm from President Donald Trump or fears of what some have deemed a law enforcement trap.
Experts said those decisions, plus the deterrent effect of the aggressive security response, may be enough to avoid a repeat of the chaos at the U.S. Capitol. At least for now.
“Hopefully it will be very quiet over the next three or four days,” said Alexandra Minna Stern, a professor of history, American culture, and women’s and gender studies at the University of Michigan who studies the state’s far right. “After that, though, these groups aren’t going away.”
And even if some of the better known national organizations — such as the Proud Boys — say they don’t intend to participate in Sunday’s demonstrations, other, more localized groups may.
Such organizations have proliferated recently, said Alexander Reid Ross, an adjunct professor at Portland State University and a research fellow at the Center for the Analysis of the Radical Right. And it could be a recipe for problems in capitals such as Austin, Denver, and Sacramento.
“A lot of places that have very liberal metropolitan areas and very conservative outlying areas, have tended to accumulate more far-right militant groups, especially last year to this year,” Ross said. “These are white males, Generation X and millennials who feel like their access to white privileges are slipping a little bit, and the country is no longer made in their image.”
In Ohio, where the governor has pursued an aggressive strategy to contain the pandemic, authorities said they are expecting a rally by the “boogaloo boys,” an organization of armed, far-right extremists.
The Ohio Statehouse in Columbus was ringed with temporary metal fencing and signs that say “Security Line Do Not Cross” on Saturday. The plan was to keep the building closed through Wednesday.
“We don’t really know what’s going to happen, but we want to be prepared,” said a man boarding up the windows of a nearby pizza parlor, OH Pizza and Brew.
Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, said as he authorized the use of the National Guard that the aim was to prevent a repeat of the anarchy on display in Washington.
“We were horrified by what we saw take place in the Capitol last week,” he said. “Violence will not be tolerated.”