WASHINGTON – The FBI and the New York Police Department passed information to the Capitol Police about the possibility of violence during the January 6 protests against the Electoral College vote count, and the FBI visited more than a dozen of extremists already under investigation to urge them not to travel to Washington, police officials told NBC News.
These previously unreported details undermine a senior FBI official’s claim this week that officials had no indication that violence was a possibility and raise questions about what intelligence officials reviewed prior to the Capitol riot that led to it. the death of one officer and four others, including a rioter who was shot and killed by the police.
“Social media is just part of a complete picture of intelligence, and while there was activity protected by the First Amendment on social media to include some people making threats, to this point, investigators did not find that there was an organized plot to access the Capitol, “a senior FBI official told NBC News.
It was immediately obvious after the Capitol was seized by a violent mob on Wednesday that the Capitol Police, whose job it is to defend the facility and the legislators working there, completely misjudged the security threat. The head of that force was quickly forced to step down, as were other key legislative security officials.
But as evidence increases that some extremists told the world through social media what they had in mind, questions arise whether the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies took these posts seriously – and, if they did so, because they only intervened well after the building was under attack.
Asked on Friday whether the slow police response on Wednesday was the result of an intelligence failure, the officer leading the FBI’s Washington office, Steven D’Antuono, said no, and added: “There was no indication that there was something (planned) other than the activity protected by the First Amendment. “
DC police chief Robert Contee said something similar on Thursday, telling reporters: “There was no intelligence to suggest that there would be a violation of the US Capitol.”
Ken Rapuano, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland security, told reporters that the Justice Department and other police officers have repeatedly told the Pentagon that they had no indication that there would be “significant violent protests”.
But there was, in fact, ample evidence of potential violence.
As reported by NBC News, a digital pamphlet made public on Instagram and Facebook in December referred to what would happen as: “Operation Occupy the Capitol”.
On the 8kun message board, which is popular with QAnon followers, users talked for weeks about a siege on Capitol Hill.
“You can go to Washington on January 6 and help invade the Capitol,” said an 8kun user the day before the siege. “As many patriots as they can. We are going to invade government buildings, kill policemen, kill security guards, kill officials and federal agents and demand a recount.”
“Regarding the protests planned for January 6, the violent rhetoric we see online is at a new level,” said Daniel J. Jones, president of Advance Democracy Inc., a global research organization that studies disinformation and extremism. NBC News in a story published the day before the riot. “There are endorsements of violence on all platforms.”
How did the FBI and other agencies miss all of this? It turns out not, officials told NBC News.
“Prior to this event, the FBI obtained reliable and actionable information about individuals who planned to travel to the protests and expressed a desire to engage in violence,” the senior FBI official told NBC News. “The FBI was able to discourage these individuals from traveling to DC”
The official added that “the FBI and our federal, state and local partners collected and shared available intelligence in preparation for the various planned events. The FBI was prepared to adapt as needed for fluid events on the ground, including rapid response teams on the reservation. . For most of the day, the crowd was peaceful and without confrontations. “
“However, when it became clear that some individuals were appearing on the Capitol grounds and entering the buildings, the U.S. Capitol Police asked for help. Within 50 minutes of that request, three tactical FBI teams were in place to gain control. area and provide protection for congressmen and staff. Over the course of the night, the FBI’s presence has grown to over 150 agents and other staff. “
The official was in no position to explain why D’Antuono, the head of the Washington field office, said there was no evidence of violence.
The FBI official said that by deterring some extremists from traveling to Washington, the bureau may have avoided an even more violent situation.
The NYPD, which has the most robust intelligence collection and analytical arm of any local police agency in the country, has sent law enforcement agencies across the country – including the Capitol Police – an intelligence package describing threats and violent rhetoric in the social media in the weeks and days leading up to the January 6 demonstration, several senior police officers told NBC News.
Officials say the Capitol Police received a separate and specific intelligence report describing threats of violence and extremist rhetoric that appeared on social media in connection with the rally.
Law enforcement officers familiar with intelligence assessments say that President Donald Trump’s exhortation of the crowd to march on the Capitol probably caused a much larger contingent of people to head there than could have otherwise occurred.
Capitol Police and the FBI Washington office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
It wasn’t just police agencies that issued warnings. A private intelligence report issued in December, obtained by NBC News, noted that “the ‘million-MAGA march’ in Washington DC on January 6 is the next big flashpoint … the mass event (which will be held on the National Mall and outside the Capitol) is likely to trigger street violence, some of which can be lethal, between supporters of Antifa and Trump or far-right groups. “
Many questions remain as to why the FBI, DHS and other agencies did not do more to ensure that Capitol was protected. Officials said the Capitol Police assured everyone that they could handle the situation, and top lawmakers also said they heard the same assurances from that force.
The Washington Metropolitan Police Department is responsible for crowd control in the city, and the Washington mayor told Justice Department officials that he did not want or need help. While the city police helped retake the Capitol, they were unable to stop the crowd from getting there in the first place.
But the FBI is also under scrutiny. Its main research priority is terrorism, foreign and domestic. If this were an al Qaeda plot to invade the Capitol, some experts say, it is likely that the FBI would have arrested the participants before they left their home airports while trying to fly to Washington.
One difference, however, is that there is no domestic terrorism statute, which means fewer ways for the FBI to legally monitor suspects, including their postings on the dark web, said Frank Figliuzzi, former FBI assistant director and current NBC News contributor. .
Outside of a criminal investigation of a specific individual or group, Figliuzzi said on Saturday, “the FBI is not allowed to see and monitor the same things that you and I can see on Twitter and Parler.”
Joyce Vance, a former US attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, said there are tools the FBI can use to monitor potential violence by domestic extremists. She suggests that the issue is one of emphasis and will.
“The challenge for the FBI and DOJ is to give domestic white supremacist terrorist groups a permanent priority and treat them with the same seriousness with which they treat foreign terrorism,” she said.