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.
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.