Militia groups involved in the January 6 uprising want to carry out another attack around Joe Biden’s speech to Congress, with the aim of “blowing up” the complex and killing lawmakers, warned the United States Capitol Police chief.
In an alarming testimony to a House subcommittee, Yogananda Pittman said threats were circulating that directly targeted the president’s first formal speech at a joint Congressional session. The date of the event has not yet been announced.
“We know that members of the militia groups that were present on January 6 have declared their wishes that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible,” said Pittman.
The police chief’s warning came in the context of his attempt to justify Congress why the exceptional security measures implemented in the wake of the January 6 attack needed to remain until alternatives could be found. A large area around the Capitol is still surrounded by a 7-foot non-scalable fence, and thousands of National Guard members continue to be deployed.
“Based on this information, we think it is prudent for the Capitol Police to maintain its enhanced and robust security posture until we address these vulnerabilities going forward,” she said.
His words must also be taken seriously as a clear indication of the continuing threat posed by members of the armed militia who participated in the attack on the Capitol, in which five people died and almost 140 policemen were injured. Ashli Babbitt, Trump supporter and military veteran, was shot and killed by a Capitol police officer.
Several of the most prominent armed militias and extremist groups in the United States were at the forefront of the Capitol rebellion. The attack came after an incendiary demonstration by Donald Trump to promote his “big lie” that the November election was stolen from him by Biden.
Several militia members were arrested and charged as part of the massive federal investigation into the January 6 events. In a charge handed down last week against six alleged members of the Oath Keepers militia, the justice department accused the group of having planned for several months to prevent Congress from certifying the electoral college’s results of the presidential election.
Several members of the far right Proud Boys were also charged with criminal conspiracy.
This week’s Congressional hearings are the start of what is expected to be a series of official investigations into the drastic security breaches that led to the violation of the Capitol complex. In his testimony, Pittman confirmed that about 800 protesters entered the building and that the total number of those present reached 10,000.
Pittman took over the leadership of the Capitol police force after the chief at the time of the attack, Steven Sund, resigned days after the catastrophe. In his testimony to Congress earlier this week, Sund said, “These criminals came prepared for war.”
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies are closely tracking far-right online conversations for early warning of any possible repeat attacks in Washington or other cities. In addition to Biden’s speech in Congress, the police will also be on alert in the days leading up to March 4 – the date set by the extreme conspiracy theory QAnon for Trump to return to Washington to begin a second term as president.
Followers of the eccentric movement are increasingly agitated by the fantasy surrounding Trump’s return on March 4, the date on which the presidents of the United States were originally installed.