Washington Post: FBI warns of violent ‘war’ at Capitol in internal report released day before deadly riot

Washington Post: FBI warns of violent ‘war’ at Capitol in internal report released day before deadly riot

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The Post said an FBI office in Norfolk, Virginia, last Tuesday issued an “explicit internal warning that extremists were preparing to travel to Washington to commit violence and ‘war.'” The report outlines a serious portrait of dangerous plans, including individuals sharing a map of the complex’s tunnels and possible rallying points for prospective conspirators to gather in a number of states before heading to Washington, DC.

The report contradicts the rulings of law enforcement officials who indicated to CNN that authorities had missed important signs before the siege, which left five dead and looted the Capitol. This is likely to raise additional questions as to why authorities were unprepared to respond to the riots and federal readiness to stem future threats, at a time when the FBI has warned of armed protests in front of inaugurated President Joe Biden.

The report refers to an online thread in which conspirators discuss their plans, referring to individuals: ‘Be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear how glass breaks, doors are kicked in and blood from their BLM and Pantifa slave soldiers is spilled. Get violent. Stop calling it a march, or a protest or a demonstration. Go there ready for war. We get our president or we die. NOTHING else will achieve this goal. ”

The information was leaked to FBI officials at the Washington Field Office one day. However, the newspaper said that the document was clear that the information presented was not ‘ultimately’ intelligence evaluated ‘, and that agencies receiving it were’ requested not to act on the basis of this raw report without prior coordination with the FBI does not. ‘

The newspaper also reported that the FBI was careful in describing the individuals and organizations listed in the report, while the bureau wrote that the activities they were engaged in were protected by the first amendment of the Constitution and that it well mentioned in the report. , “Their inclusion here is not intended to associate the protected activity with crime or a threat to national security, or to infer that such protected activity itself violates federal law.”

But the report also warned that “based on known intelligence and / or specific historical observations, it is possible that the protected activity may provoke a violent reaction against the individual or others or with the aim of preventing the protected activity in the first instance, “according to the Post.

Officials told CNN last week that they had no information on Wednesday indicating that the U.S. Capitol could be raided. In the aftermath of the attack, federal and local officials said they did not have intelligence indicating that any violent mob was preparing to attack the Capitol, even though protesters publicly said on social media that they did not have a typical protest is not planned.
The report of the Post has Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat who is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, asked call for its panel to open an inquiry into the matter.

Former Virginia Republican Rep. Denver Riggleman, who works with several former national security officials to analyze public information about the attack, also called for an investigation.

“There is a clear outline of communication and operational chain of command. It will be interesting to see what the internal secret memoranda for the Capitol police and support elements were. I think the intelligence reports might have had a Capitol invasion,” he said. he said. told CNN.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

CNN’s Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.

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