Leaders of the House of Representatives on Thursday decided to scrap the planned votes due to reports that supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory could try to storm the Capitol in a far-reaching plan to oust former President Donald Trump, according to a Democratic congressman.
The Capitol complex is surrounded by non-scalable, barbed wire-covered fences of 8 feet and is still guarded by hundreds of members of the National Guard following the January 6 riot of the Capitol, during which a crowd of Trump supporters built the building. break in and disrupt the certification. of President Biden’s victory.
House leaders, however, were scared enough of another assault to move Thursday votes to Wednesday night, Jim Himes (D-Conn.) Told CNN.
“Yes, that’s correct, that’s correct,” Himes said, confirming that the House would not be in session Thursday because of the possible threat.
“From a safety standpoint, it’s better to disperse to the four wind regions as opposed to everyone concentrating in one building,” Himes said.
But the Democrat, who is a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said he doubts anyone will be able to trespass on the Capitol, as he is very confident.
‘Capitol Hill, and it saddens me to report it, it’s still an armed camp. There are many heavily armed, body armored national guards all over the place. There are still fences. “You can not get near the Capitol without an ID,” Himes said.
He added: “Unless there is a very well-trained force on its way to Washington, DC, they are going to meet security like they never thought before.”
The House will vote late at night on legislation reforming a police bill so it does not have to meet on Thursday.
The threat apparently involves online chats about a theory that Trump will be in power again because March 4 was historically a date for presidential inaugurations, before being changed to January 20th.
The Capitol riot on Jan. 6 took place after Trump supporters easily overturned waist-high fences and approached Congress. Thousands of people attending a speech by the then president near the White House stormed Capitol Hill as members of the crowd fought police to enter the building.