..
FBI intel report warned QAnon followers discussed posing as National Guard at inauguration: report
BY JORDAN WILLIAMS – 01/18/21 11:10 PM EST
An FBI intelligence report sent to law enforcement Monday warned that QAnon followers have discussed posing as National Guard members in Washington, D.C. on Inauguration Day.
The intelligence report obtained by The Washington Post warned that QAnon followers and “lone wolves” — some of which were present at the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol — have indicated that they plan to go to D.C. for the inauguration.
The FBI also says that it observed people downloading and sharing maps of locations in the District, and discussed how they could be used to interfere in security.
However, the briefing did not identify specific plots to attack the inauguration that would be similar to the Jan. 6 riot.
The FBI didn’t characterize the credibility or gravity of the threats given to law enforcement to the Post, but referred to remarks FBI Director Christopher Wray made last week.
“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. So we’re latched up with all of our partners in that regard,” Wray said.
A spokesperson for the Secret Service told the newspaper that the agency “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.”
The Secret Service, which is taking over security for the inauguration, said in a statement to The Hill that it “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.”
The FBI did not return a request for comment from The Hill.
National Guardsmen having been flooding into D.C. over the past week amid heightened fears of another attack like the one on the U.S. Capitol that led to five deaths.
The Associated Press reported on Sunday that the FBI is screening all 25,000 National Guard troops headed to D.C. out of fears of an insider attack.
Over 100 people have been arrested in connection with the riot, including members of law enforcement and former military personnel.
..
..
Joe Biden will take the oath of office as president in a ceremony dramatically reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic and still-simmering threats of violence in Washington, casting a pall over the quadrennial celebration of American democracy.
His swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday will come amid an unprecedented cordon of security, with strict physical distancing measures in place as well. A sea of 200,000 flags on the National Mall will stand in for the normally vast crowd cheering a new commander in chief.
And while Biden is using his inauguration to highlight “America United,” he faces a nation where many Republicans still reject his victory, including outgoing President Donald Trump — who Biden’s fellow Democrats and a handful of Republicans impeached for a second time last week despite Biden’s misgivings about the message it would send as he ascended to the presidency.
..
..
After the FBI sent a memo to law enforcement agencies warning about possible armed protests at all 50 state capitols starting Saturday, some Trump supporters with extremist views have used encrypted platforms to post warnings about avoiding local rallies in the coming days and instead wait for a big turnout in Washington at Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Extremists move to secret online channels to plan for Inauguration Day in D.C.
Some pro-Trump extremists have used the platforms to suggest skipping local rallies to focus instead on a big turnout in D.C. at Biden’s inauguration.
Jan. 13, 2021, 12:24 AM +08
By Anna Schecter
Right-wing extremists are using channels on the encrypted communication app Telegram to call for violence against government officials on Jan. 20, the day President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated, with some extremists sharing knowledge of how to make, conceal and use homemade guns and bombs.
The messages are being posted in Telegram chatrooms where white supremacist content has been freely shared for months, but chatter on the channels has increased since extremists have been forced off other platforms in the wake of the siege of the U.S. Capitol last week by pro-Trump rioters.
Telegram is a Dubai-based messaging service that does little moderation of its content and has a sizable international user base, particularly in eastern Europe and the Middle East.
In the days since the Capitol attack, for example, an Army field manual and exhortations to “shoot politicians” and “encourage armed struggle” have been posted in a Telegram channel that uses “fascist” in its name.
Chris Sampson, chief of research at the Terror Asymmetrics Project on Strategy, Tactics and Radical Ideologies, a defense research institute, said his group is focused on and concerned about users of the channel and has alerted the FBI about it. (The institute is run by Malcolm Nance, an NBC News terrorism analyst.)
“When they start calling for assassinations, when they start calling for action versus sharing information, we flag them a little higher,” Sampson said. “Some channels merely swap information, but then they accelerated into conversations of where to be.”
Documents shared via the channel’s file manager include “US Army explosives and demolitions manual” and “US Army Engineer course,” as well as white supremacist content.
..
Someone tried to get through the security cordon. He failed.
Virginia man arrested at downtown DC checkpoint found with loaded handgun and ammunition, law enforcement source says
From CNN’s Peter Morris and David Shortell
US Capitol Police arrested a Virginia man as he attempted to pass through a police checkpoint in downtown Washington, DC, Friday with fake inaugural credentials, a loaded handgun and more than 500 rounds of ammunition, according to a police report and a law enforcement source briefed on the situation.
The incident occurred shortly after 6:30 p.m. when Wesley Allen Beeler pulled his pick-up truck to a police vehicle checkpoint at North Capitol and E Street NE, just north of the Capitol building, the source told CNN.
Beeler, from Front Royal, Virginia, presented officers with what was described as an unauthorized inauguration credential.
When police asked Beeler if he was carrying any weapons, Beeler told them he had a Glock semi-automatic pistol in the center armrest, the source said. The Glock was loaded with 17 rounds of ammunition and a round chamber ready to fire, the source said.
Police later recovered the pistol, as well as 509 rounds of ammunition, shotgun shells and a magazine for the handgun, according to an incident report provided by the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department.
Beeler was arrested for possession of an unregistered firearm and possession of unregistered ammunition, among other offenses, the report said.
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
weehingthong 