State capitals ‘ on high alert’ fearing more violence
Bonhomie replaced by marked unease over the possibility of armed attacks
State capitals across the country are bracing for a spillover from last week’s violent assault on the US Capitol, with state legislatures already becoming targets for protesters in the tense days around the inauguration of the incoming president, Joe
Biden.
Gone is a large measure of the bonhomie that usually accompanies the annual start of the legislative season, replaced by marked unease over the possibility of armed attacks and gaps in security around statehouses.
Dozens of state capitals will be on alert in the coming days, following calls among a mix of anti- government organisations for actions in all 50 states on January 17. Some of them come from far- right organisations that harbour a broad anti- government agenda and have already been protesting state Covid- 19 lockdowns since last spring. The FBI this week sent a warning to local law enforcement agencies about the potential for armed protests in all 50 state capitals.
In a video news conference Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom of California said that “everybody is on high alert” for protests in Sacramento in the days ahead.
In Michigan, the state police said they had beefed up their presence around the Capitol in Lansing. The commission that oversees the Statehouse voted Monday to ban the open carry of firearms inside the building, amove Democratic lawmakers had been demanding since last year, when armed protesters challenging government Covid19 lockdowns stormed the building.