Law enforcement braces for more extremist violence in Washington and the United States ahead of inauguration day

At the request of Capitol Police, DHS helped put up fences, which were seen around Capitol Hill on Thursday.

At the Pentagon, officials are assessing whether there is a need to increase the number of National Guard forces to 13,000 guards for the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, according to a defense official familiar with the planning. Before the breach at the United States Capitol, the estimated need required approximately 7,000 Guards.

More than 6,000 members have already been mobilized following the storming of the Capitol by pro-Trump rioters to work 12-hour shifts on the Capitol grounds and to work at traffic checkpoints throughout the city. .

At the state level, security officials have worked closely with federal partners as they prepare to increase online chatter calling for protests in all 50 states plus Washington, DC, an official said. state law enforcement with direct knowledge of conversations between federal and state partners. .

“Trump WILL BE sworn in for a second term on January 20 !!” a commentator on thedonald.win, a pro-Trump online forum, said Thursday, the day after the siege. “We must not let the Communists win. Even if we have to burn DC to the ground.”

DC looking for further assistance

In response to Wednesday’s security breach on Capitol Hill, authorities arrested dozens of people linked to the unrest after pro-Trump rioters were charged through barricades, assaulted police and smashed windows.

The president’s supporters were in Washington, DC, protesting Trump’s electoral loss in response to Trump and his surrogates urging his supporters to fight the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes which confirmed Biden’s victory.

“Law enforcement was ill-prepared for an event that the whole country knew was coming, and that POTUS had been reporting for weeks,” said Brian Harrell, former DHS assistant secretary for infrastructure protection. “The normal ‘security layers’, each inner layer being harder to break, were almost nonexistent. Shockingly, in a post 9/11 world, we have seen the ‘people’s house’ being raped and ransacked with ease. “

Layers of security, distancing and standby tactical teams will be used to minimize violence near the inaugural events, he said, adding that the biggest concerns should be an active fire scenario, the shelling of vehicles and deliberate targeting of critical infrastructure.

In light of the events of the week, Bowser has asked the Trump administration for a declaration of emergency for DC and called on the Department of Homeland Security to extend its preparations. Information suggesting further violence is likely during the inaugural period, she wrote in a letter to Trump on Sunday.

“I’m going to tell you that given the events of this past week, this preparation for the inauguration must be unlike any other inauguration,” Bowser said in an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

The mayor asked DHS to extend the period for “special national security events” from Jan. 11 to 24 in a letter to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf – an extension of the original plan from Jan. 19 to 21.

The grand opening is designated as a special national security event, allowing for greater federal cooperation in security and law enforcement resources.

Additionally, Bowser asked Wolf that DHS work with the Department of Defense, Congress, and the Supreme Court to establish a security perimeter with federal forces around federal property, freeing the local Metropolitan Police Department. to concentrate on his normal municipal tasks.

Bowser added that DC works regularly with federal partners on intelligence sharing, but will work to improve that relationship ahead of the inauguration.

DHS second-in-command Ken Cuccinelli said Wednesday’s violence would be a “one-time event” and assured Americans that opening day would be safe.

“You are going to see immediate improvement, a totally aggressive attitude from the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice as well, because we do not accept violence from anyone,” he said in an interview with Fox News Thursday.

Capitol Hill police asked DHS for additional police assistance on Wednesday, but by the time the request was made, “it was too close to when everything started to heat up,” Cuccinelli said.

The threat of more violence

White supremacists and far-right extremists feel emboldened right now, said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks and thwarts hate. “We fully expect this violence to get worse before it gets better.”

A former DHS official told CNN that from an extremist perspective, the purpose of an attack like last week’s is not necessarily to destroy the Capitol. “This is to show that a relatively small number of people can actually take control of the system. It’s meant to be a rallying cry for – ‘join us, or you are now the enemy.'”

The former official pointed to images of members of the white power movement amid the crowds during the storming of the Capitol, adding that they were exploiting the election protest for their own ends.

“We could start to see a lot of lives lost because of the moment that happened on Wednesday, so very, very concerned about the cascading effects,” the former official said. “This is a very worrying moment.”

Demonstrations taking place across the country

Outside of Washington, DC, local authorities have also faced increased threats and security needs.

The assembly was declared illegal about an hour and a half after pro-Trump and counter-protesters gathered near the beach, according to CNN affiliate KGTV.

On the same day as headquarters in Washington, DC, the Texas State Capitol building and grounds were closed to the public “out of caution,” according to a statement from the Texas Department of Public Safety. Protesters took to the Capitol grounds after an “Operation Occupy The Capitol Texas” event was created on Facebook.

Washington State Democratic Governor Jay Inslee announced Friday he is mobilizing up to 750 National Guard members to provide security for the start of the state’s legislative session, which begins Monday.

“The actions we saw in Washington, DC and Olympia earlier this week were totally unacceptable and will not happen again in our state,” Inslee said in a written statement.

Protesters occupied the steps of the State Capitol on Wednesday and dozens of people entered the grounds outside the governor’s mansion before being pushed back peacefully by state soldiers.

“In light of the most recent insurgency activity, the state cannot tolerate any action that could result in damage, chaos or disruption of the functioning of democratic institutions,” Inslee said Friday evening. In addition to the guards, the governor says “a large number of Washington State Patrol soldiers will be on site.”

In New Jersey, state homeland security officials are tracking events slated for Jan. 17 and 20, as well as “several one-off protests whose credibility we are still determining,” an official said. New Jersey law enforcement officer with first-hand knowledge of the situation. state security efforts.

“Some of the rhetoric online has called for protests in all 50 plus DC capitals,” the official said. “The FBI, in particular, has continued to put our threat assessments up and we are also at the state level.”

“I think DC is preparing for large-scale protests and potential violence,” the official said, adding that the information state officials have received “described prevention and response on a large scale. larger to minimize a recurrence last Wednesday “.