Attack on Capitol Hill could fuel extremist recruitment for years, experts warn

“Luck may be needed in Civil War II,” Larry Rendell Brock Jr., a Texas accused in connection with the attack, wrote on Facebook in the days leading up to the events in Washington, according to federal prosecutors. Mr Brock had aspired to take hostages, prosecutors said, and tagged the post with the names of two anti-government groups.

At least two prominent activists involved in the Charlottesville rally in 2017 were also present at the Capitol Riots, according to Amy Spitalnick, executive director of Integrity First for America, a nonprofit group supporting a Charlottesville violence lawsuit .

One of them was Nicholas J. Fuentes, 22, a far-right agitator whose online rants in favor of white nationalism and attacks on Jews and LGBT people have drawn significant audiences among students. His supporters, waving flags bearing the logo of his organization America First, were seen storming the Capitol. Mr. Fuentes, in one video, hailed the assault for being more cheeky than any Black Lives Matter or anti-fascist protest, although it appears to have stayed on the outside.

“We forced a joint session of Congress and the Vice President to evacuate because Trump supporters knocked and then made it through the doors,” he exclaimed.

Lindsay Schubiner, program director at the Western States Center which focuses on combating white nationalism, said it was frightening to see the rise of far-right groups in recent years that present dangers to people of color and LGBTQ communities. Without major disruption, she expects extremist groups to remain a risk to the country’s public safety and democracy for years to come.

“It’s not something that can be put back into the bottle – at least not quickly or easily,” Ms. Schubiner said.

The attack on Capitol Hill was likely to become “a major driver of violence for a diverse set of domestic violent extremists,” a range of government agencies said in a joint intelligence bulletin released on January 13. The storming of the building, several analysts said, could fuel a dangerous response against the new Biden administration and its agenda over gun control, racial justice, public lands and other issues by extremists who are not afraid to use violence to achieve their ends.