FBI warns armed group ‘vowing uprising over moves to remove Donald Trump’, as emergency declared in Washington
- Armed protests are being planned in Washington and at all 50 state capitals ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration, according to reports
- Donald Trump has declared an emergency situation in the US capital while the Pentagon authorised 15,000 National Guard troops to be deployed
Meanwhile, Trump has issued an emergency declaration for the nation’s capital ahead of and during the inauguration. It allows the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate with local authorities as needed.
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Police say there will be no public access to the grounds of the US Capitol for the inauguration. Acting US Capitol Police chief Yogananda Pittman said officials have “comprehensive, coordinated plans” in place to ensure the safety and security of both Congress and Biden’s inauguration, which is a ticketed event.
In other steps to safeguard the US capital, the National Guard was authorised to send up to 15,000 troops to Washington.
The chief of the National Guard Bureau, General Daniel Hokanson, told reporters he expected about 10,000 troops in Washington by Saturday to help provide security, logistics and communications. He said the number could rise to 15,000 if requested by local authorities.
Earlier on Monday, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and Maryland Governor Larry Hogan urged people to stay away from inaugural events because of “last week’s violent insurrection as well as the ongoing and deadly Covid-19 pandemic”.
“I’m not afraid of taking the oath outside,” Biden told reporters in Newark, Delaware, referring to the traditional setting for the swearing-in ceremony on the Capitol grounds. But he said it was critically important that people “who engaged in sedition and threatened people’s lives, defaced public property, caused great damage” be held accountable.
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The US National Park Service said it has closed the Washington Monument through January 24 due to continuing threats which include possible disruption to the “set-up and execution of inaugural events, which occur in several park areas” on the National Mall.
“In response, the National Park Service will suspend tours of the Washington Monument beginning January 11, 2021 through January 24, 2021 and may institute temporary closures of public access to roadways, parking areas and restrooms within the National Mall and Memorial Parks if conditions warrant, to protect public safety and park resources.”
It was unclear whether the closures would prevent the National Park Service from issuing new public gathering permits for First Amendment demonstrations on the National Mall between now and January 24. A spokesman for the Park Service could not immediately be reached for comment.
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The permit for the January 6 rally in support of Trump that led to violence at the Capitol was issued to “Women for America First”, a group that has been involved in other pro-Trump rallies in Washington challenging the election results.
Gatherings of more than 25 people on the Mall normally need a permit from the Park Service. Last week’s rally permit was initially listed for 5,000 people but later expanded to 30,000.
A presidential inauguration traditionally draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to Washington, but the ceremonies have been scaled back dramatically because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In state capitols, governors are on high alert ahead of the inauguration. In Wisconsin, a swing state where Trump alleged election fraud, Governor Tony Evers authorised the Wisconsin National Guard to support the state’s Capitol Police.
In Michigan, another swing state where Biden’s victory was contested by Trump, the state’s Capitol Commission, which oversees the legislature, issued an order to ban the open carrying of weapons inside the Capitol building in Lansing.
Additional reporting by Associated Press, Agence France-Presse