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Police: Possible Plot to Breach Capitol03/04 06:23
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Capitol Police say they have uncovered intelligence of a
"possible plot" by a militia group to breach the U.S. Capitol on Thursday,
nearly two months after a mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump
stormed the iconic building to try to stop Congress from certifying
now-President Joe Biden's victory.
The threat appears to be connected to a far-right conspiracy theory, mainly
promoted by supporters of QAnon, that Trump will rise again to power on March
4. That was the original presidential inauguration day until 1933, when it was
moved to Jan. 20.
Online chatter identified by authorities included discussions among members
of the Three Percenters, an anti-government militia group, concerning possible
plots against the Capitol on Thursday, according to two law enforcement
officials who were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of
anonymity. Members of the Three Percenters were among the extremists who
stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The announcement comes as the Capitol police and other law enforcement
agencies are taking heat from Congress in contentious hearings this week on
their handling of the Jan. 6 riot. Police were ill-prepared for the mass of
Trump supporters in tactical gear, some armed, and it took hours for National
Guard reinforcements to come. By then, rioters had broken and smashed their way
into the building and roamed the halls for hours, stalling Congress'
certification effort temporarily and sending lawmakers into hiding.
"The United States Capitol Police Department is aware of and prepared for
any potential threats towards members of Congress or towards the Capitol
complex," the agency said in a statement. "We have obtained intelligence that
shows a possible plot to breach the Capitol by an identified militia group on
Thursday, March 4." Police did not identify the militia group in the statement.
The U.S. House was abruptly wrapping its work for the week Wednesday night
given the threat of violence.
An advisory sent earlier this week to members of Congress by Timothy
Blodgett, the acting House sergeant-at-arms, said that the Capitol Police had
"no indication that groups will travel to Washington D.C. to protest or commit
acts of violence."
But that advisory was updated in a note to lawmakers Wednesday morning.
Blodgett wrote that the Capitol Police had received "new and concerning
information and intelligence indicating additional interest in the Capitol for
the dates of March 4th -- 6th by a militia group."
In her testimony to the House panel, acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda
Pittman said her investigators had collected "some concerning intelligence,"
but declined to provide any details publicly, saying that it was "law
enforcement sensitive" and that she would provide a private briefing for the
subcommittee members.
Lawmakers, congressional staffers and law enforcement officials are still on
edge after the attack last month, even as the security posture around the
Capitol remains at an unprecedented level.
On Wednesday, federal agents were seeking to determine whether there was an
increase in the number of hotel rooms being rented in Washington, as well as
monitoring flights to the area, car rental reservations and any buses being
chartered to bring groups into the capital, a person familiar with the matter
told The Associated Press. The person could not publicly discuss details of the
security planning and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security also sent a joint intelligence
bulletin to local law enforcement officials Tuesday warning that a group of
militia extremists had discussed trying to take control of the Capitol on March
4 and encouraging thousands of people to come to D.C. to try to remove
Democrats from power.
There has been a noticeable decline in online activity on some social media
platforms surrounding efforts on March 4, and there was already considerably
less online chatter than during the lead-up to Jan. 6, a day that Trump
repeatedly had promoted for a his rally and encouraged thousands to come to the
nation's capital.
Several QAnon groups still operating on the social media messaging platform
Telegram warned followers to stay away from any events on March 4, claiming it
was a setup for Trump supporters.
"If there are groups out there planning and advertising events on or around
March 4 anywhere in the country (DC included) we strongly urge everyone to
avoid them entirely," one Telegram user wrote late last month in a QAnon group
that has more than 65,000 followers.
There's also a very large fence in place around the U.S. Capitol that
blocks off all avenues of entry including on the streets around the building,
which was put in place after Jan. 6.
Also, thousands of accounts that promoted the Jan. 6 event that led to a
violent storming of the U.S. Capitol have since been suspended by major tech
companies like Facebook and Twitter, making it far more difficult for QAnon and
far-right groups to organize a repeat of the mass gathering on Thursday.
Twitter banned more than 70,000 accounts after the riots, while Facebook and
Instagram removed posts mentioning "stop the steal," a pro-Trump rallying cry
used to mobilize his supporters in January. And the conservative social media
platform Parler, which many of Trump's supporters joined to promote false
election fraud conspiracy theories and encourage friends to "storm" the Capitol
on Jan. 6, was booted off the internet following the siege.
Capitol Police say that they have stepped up security around the Capitol
complex since January's insurrection, adding physical security measures such as
the fencing topped with razor wire around the Capitol and members of the
National Guard who remain at the complex. The statement said the agency was
"taking the intelligence seriously" but provided no other specific details on
the threat.
"I think they are definitely prepared for any threats that may come our way
in the next couple days," said Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., who was one of
several lawmakers briefed privately by the police. Wexton added that she still
questioned the long-term security plan for the Capitol and said Pittman, the
acting chief, "has not come up with proactive ways to fix the issues that they
had."
So far, about 300 people have been charged with federal crimes for their
roles in the riot. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died.
Since his defeat, Trump has been promoting lies that the election was stolen
from him through mass voter fraud, even though such claims have been rejected
by judges, Republican state officials and Trump's own administration. He was
impeached by the House after the Jan. 6 riot on a c harge of incitement of
insurrection but was acquitted by the Senate.
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