Capitol investigators try to sort real information from what’s noise
WASHINGTON — Potential threats and leads are pouring in to law enforcement agencies nationwide after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The challenge is now figuring out what’s real and what’s just noise.
Investigators are combing through a mountain of online posts, street surveillance and other intelligence, including information that suggests mobs could try to storm the Capitol again and threats to kill some members of Congress.
Security is being tightened from coast to coast. Thousands of National Guard troops are guarding the Capitol ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. Governors and lawmakers are stepping up protections at statehouses after an FBI bulletin this week warned of threats to legislative sessions and other inaugural ceremonies.
A primary concern is the safety of members of Congress, particularly when they are traveling through airports, according to two U.S. officials briefed on the matter.
The FBI and other federal authorities use their substantial resources to prepare. But smaller local police departments lack the staff to hunt down every tip. They must rely heavily on state and federal assessments to inform their work, and that information sometimes slips through the cracks — which apparently happened last week.
A day before the deadly attack on the Capitol, the FBI sent an intelligence bulletin warning of potential violence to other agencies, including the Capitol Police. But officials either did not receive it or ignored it — and instead prepared for a free-speech protest, not a riot. It took nearly two hours for reinforcements to arrive to help disperse the mob. Five people died, including a Capitol officer.
“There are some grammar schools that are better protected than the Capitol,” said Brian Higgins, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and the former chief of a northern New Jersey police force.
Since last week, the FBI has opened 170 case files and received
couldn’t survive and Pulliam said his goal was to provide a uniform framework to make it safer. He has urged businesses in his town and county to reopen at 25 percent capacity with a face mask requirement for staff and social distancing.
“These are individuals that are to the end of their rope. Their decision is not to thumb their nose at the governor. It’s really a decision to open up or lose everything they’ve worked for their entire lives,” he said. “We’re saying, ‘Hey, if you’re going to open, let’s do this right.’”
Restaurant owners who are complying with state closures have watched the movement to reopen with frustration.
Some non-compliant businesses have already racked up thousands of dollars in fines from health and safety inspectors. In Washington state, one restaurant has been fined nearly $145,000 and is challenging a restraining order in court. In Michigan — where a ban on indoor dining was extended Wednesday until at least Feb. 1 — a restaurant industry group sued over the ban and a major Detroit-area restauranteur rallied hundreds of colleagues to reopen last month in violation of state rules before backing down.
In Pennsylvania, the state closed 109 restaurants over violations during a ban on indoor dining that expired Jan. 4 and sued 50 establishments.