Law enforcement agencies were warned by the FBI that extremists discussed a plan to disguise themselves as members of the National Guard to get into the Inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
An intelligence briefing obtained by the Washington Post on Monday (January 18) comes days after all 50 states were warned about potential protests outside state capitol buildings.
The briefing includes a list of other threats identified by the FBI and warned local authorities about “lone wolves” and followers of the conspiracy website QAnon, some of who were among those who attacked the Capitol two weeks ago.
The FBI also documented an uptick in downloads of maps of vulnerable locations in Washington, D.C. and discussions of how those places could be used to disrupt security during the Inauguration.
While the document didn’t outline specific plans to attack the Inauguration that might be similar to that seen at the Capitol, security measures, including increasing the presence of the National Guard, have been taken to ensure the day is safe.
The FBI also noted that “numerous” militia groups have come out to denounce violence against the presidential transition of power, but the agency wouldn’t confirm the credibility of the threats listed in the briefing.
Last week, FBI director Christopher Wray told reporters that agents were reviewing an “extensive amount of concerning online chatter” and expressed the difficulty of “trying to distinguish what’s aspirational versus what’s intentional.”
“We’re monitoring all incoming leads, whether they’re calls for armed protest, potential threats that grow out of the January 6 breach of the Capitol, or other kinds of potential threats leading up to inaugural events and in various other targets,” Wray said.
“So we’re latched up with all of our partners in that regard.”
The US Secret Service, who is in charge of the inauguration security, released the statement about planning and security measures:
“The US Secret Service takes all threats seriously and will continue to work with our federal, state, local and military partners to continue securing the 59th Inauguration based on the relevant intelligence available to the security community,” Justine Whelan, Secret Service spokesperson said.
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