Federal lawmakers are investigating a number of threats against members of Congress as former President Donald Trump’s second trial approaches
WASHINGTON – Federal law enforcement officials are investigating a number of threats against members of Congress as former President Donald Trump’s second trial approaches, including ominous talks about the assassination of lawmakers or attacks outside the U.S. capital, a U.S. official said. The Associated said. Pressure.
The threats, and concerns that armed protesters could return to fire the Capitol, have prompted U.S. Capitol police and other federal law enforcement officials to urge thousands of National Guard troops to remain in Washington while the Senate continues its plans. for Trump’s trial, the official said.
The shocking uprising at the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob prompted federal officials to reconsider security in and around its landmarks, leading to an unprecedented closure for Biden’s inauguration. Although the event went smoothly and armed protests across the country did not materialize, the threats to lawmakers before Trump’s trial were an example of the continuing potential for danger.
Similar to those that investigators intercepted before Biden’s inauguration, the threats posed by law enforcement agents differ in specificity and credibility, the official said. According to the official, the messages were posted primarily online and in chat groups, which include plans to attack members of Congress while traveling to and from the Capitol complex.
The official was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation in public and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Law enforcement officials have already begun planning for the possibility that armed protesters will return to the country’s capital when Trump’s Senate hearing on charges of inciting a violent uprising begins the week of February 8. This would be the first indictment of a former US president.
Thousands of Trump supporters descended on the Capitol on January 6 when Congress convened to ratify Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential race. It is believed that more than 800 entered the Capitol during the violent siege and pushed past overwhelming police officers. Capitol police said they were planning a free speech rally, not a riot, and were caught off guard despite intelligence that the rally would turn into a riot. Five people were killed in the disappointment, including a Capitol police officer who was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher.
Although many of the security devices around Washington were erected after the riot and before the inauguration of Biden – which included numerous military checkpoints and hundreds of additional law enforcement personnel – are no longer in place, some 7,000 members of the National Guard will remain to assist federal law enforcement, officials said.
The Guard Bureau said the number of Guard members in DC as of Sunday is less than 20,000. A total of about 7,000 of them will go home in the coming days. The watchdog said the number of troops in DC would then drop to about 5,000 in the coming weeks. They are expected to remain in DC until mid-March.
At least five people facing federal charges have suggested they believe they received instructions from Trump when they marched on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6 to contest the certification of Biden’s election victory. But now, these remarks, captured in interviews with reporters and federal agents, are likely to be the focus of Democrats’ case.
Federal prosecutors have charged more than 130 people for their role in the riot. In recent weeks, others have been arrested after posting threats against members of Congress.
This includes a supporter of Proud Boys who, according to authorities, threatened to deploy ‘three cars full of armed patriots’ to Washington, and that they threatened damage against Senator Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., And who is accused of he stockpiled military combat knives and more than 1,000 rifle rounds in his home in New York. A man from Texas was arrested this week for taking part in the riot at the Capitol and posing for violent threats, including a call for Mr. To kill Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y.
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Associated Press author Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.