The Secret Service earlier this week flagged potentially violent protests in Washington, D.C. planned for the days leading up to Joe Biden’s inauguration as President, the Daily Beast reported Wednesday.
The warning adds to those from the FBI and in a congressional briefing to members of Congress Monday, about potential follow-up violence to the siege of the Capitol last week.
The Monday Secret Service bulletin mentioned a pre-inaugural event in D.C. by adherents of the so-called Boogaloo movement, a heavily-armed anti-government group that takes its name from internet slang for a sequel to the Civil War.
“Although no civil disobedience has been confirmed, organizers have encouraged attendees to bring weapons to the event,” the bulletin said, per The Daily Beast.
The extremist internet — corresponding on platforms including Telegram, Gab, and other lesser-known forums out of the public eye — has been abuzz about Jan. 17, when Trump supporters and others plan to make a show of force outside of state capitol buildings as well as in D.C.
The Secret Service bulletin mentioned these planned demonstrations as well, according to The Daily Beast. But the agency reportedly noted that the disruption of certain social media sites popular with the right, like Parler, has limited law enforcement’s “situational awareness of these events.”
Biden’s inauguration, on Jan. 20, is another potential target. The Secret Service bulletin reportedly cited the so-called “Million Militia March” planned that day, for which attendees have been encouraged to bring guns.
HuffPost first reported Monday on members of Congress receiving a briefing from Capitol Police about potential threats over the coming days, including one reported plan for thousands of armed fighters to surround the Capitol, White House and Supreme Court.
The various threats on law enforcement’s radar may never materialize. Internet talk could simply stay on the internet. But lawmakers have taken note.
“There are three substantial plots against the Capitol, against members of Congress,” Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) said on MSNBC Wednesday morning. “They’re ongoing now, in the weeks ahead, against the inauguration of the President.”
