House cancels session amid new rightwing threat

WASHINGTON — The Capitol Police force is preparing for another assault on the Capitol building Thursday after obtaining intelligence of a potential plot by a militia group, just two months after a mob of Trump loyalists and extremists attacked the building, leaving five dead and hundreds injured.

Leaving nothing to chance, House leaders on Wednesday abruptly moved a vote on policing legislation from Thursday to Wednesday night, so lawmakers could leave town, according to a senior Democratic aide familiar with the planning.

The “possible” plot, as described by the Capitol Police, appeared to be inspired by the proTrump conspiracy theory known as QAnon, according to a senior administration official who reviewed the intelligence warning. Intelligence analysts had spent weeks tracking online chatter by some QAnon adherents who have latched on to March 4 — the original inauguration date set in the Constitution — as the day Donald Trump would be restored to the presidency and renew his crusade against America’s enemies.

The theory, like much associated with QAnon, is convoluted and takes on various forms, at times including secret pardons issued by President Barack Obama, the Banking Act of 1871, the Emergency Broadcast System and Trump taking the helm of a newly restored republic. And those are not even the most outlandish elements.

Some federal officials described the threats as more “aspirational” than operational. The militia group was not named, and even many influential QAnon followers, who believe the United States is dominated by a cabal of Satanworshipping pedophiles, have cast March 4 as a “deep state” plot to incite the movement’s adherents and provoke a nationwide crackdown.

But after being caught flatfooted by rioters on Jan. 6, the Capitol Police and members of Congress appeared to be taking no chances. Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, a senior Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, pleaded on CNN on Wednesday: “President Trump has a responsibility to tell them to stand down. This threat is credible. It’s real. It’s a rightwing militia group.”

The perimeter of the Capitol had already been ringed with new fencing, topped with razor wire. The Capitol Police said the agency is reaching out to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to prepare further.

“We have obtained intelligence that shows a possible plot to breach the Capitol by an identified militia group on Thursday, March 4,” the force said in a statement. “We are taking the intelligence seriously.”