Law enforcement officials are implementing “additional security measures” at the California Capitol in Sacramento amid warnings from the FBI and others that last week’s siege of the U.S. Capitol may echo across the country.
The efforts, described as preemptive, were part of an astonishing nationwide race for law enforcement to encircle parliaments and other government targets against white supremacists and other radicalized supporters of President Trump, who actively encouraged unfounded conspiracy theories challenging the victory for President-elect Joe Biden in November.
Authorities refused to detail the new security measures or reveal whether they had any specific intelligence about the planned violence in Sacramento, but said they were increasing their preparedness for problems in the days leading up to Biden’s inauguration on January 20.
“Any potential threat to the security of the Assembly is taken very seriously,” said Alisa Buckley, chief sergeant of the California Assembly. “In light of the recent armed protests at the United States Capitol, additional security measures are being implemented at the Assembly, although we will not publicly disclose the nature of these security measures.”
State Senate arms sergeant Katrina Rodriguez said the Senate “closely follows possible security challenges and threats” and also “would implement additional security measures”.
Two state legislators – Sens. Henry Stern (D-Canoga Park) and Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) – also announced plans to introduce legislation that would require state agencies to create new units focused on the white nationalist movement and domestic terrorism.
“We have to respond not only with a violent condemnation, but with a concrete response to this threat to internal security,” said Stern in a statement.
Outside the state assembly on Monday, the police presence was already noticeably greater than in previous days.
Around noon, when an anti-vaccine group was scheduled to protest, dozens of California Highway Patrol officers were scattered in groups around the grounds. Near the main entrance, passages that would normally be crowded with lawmakers, officials and visitors were barricaded and closely watched by plainclothes officers, in uniforms and on horseback.
Only four women attended the protest – and were kept on the other side of the barricade.
Governor Gavin Newsom said on Monday that “everyone is on high alert, in terms of ensuring that everyone is safe” and that “people’s freedom of expression can be promoted, but there is no violence”.
The governor said he is prepared to call on the National Guard to support law enforcement “as needed” in the coming days. A National Guard source familiar with state intelligence said he does not currently expect a large number of protesters in Sacramento, but that several guard companies are ready for deployment.
The California Highway Patrol, which is responsible for protecting the Capitol with support from the local police, said it has “staff ready to respond to protect state property and ensure public safety as needed.”
The precautions reflected a nervousness in law enforcement circles about Trump supporters, which many officials had previously seen as pro-law enforcement and therefore less likely than other protesters to challenge police authority. That changed for many when insurrectionists beat up US Capitol cops on their way to invade Congress hallways last week – injuring dozens of policemen and killing one.
Amid their reevaluations, law enforcement agencies also received an FBI warning this week about armed protests by Trump supporters that had sprung up across the country before Biden took office.
“Armed protests are being planned in all 50 state capitals from January 16 to at least January 20, and at the United States Capitol from January 17 to January 20,” said the FBI, according to a law enforcement official who spoke. under condition of anonymity.
Another law enforcement source told The Times that the FBI informed the police that pro-Trump organizers were trying to get extremists to invade state capitals after seeing such a call to action circulating on a marginal website, then being disseminated through encrypted messages.
Asked about his communications with the local police on Monday, the FBI said in a statement that it was supporting its state and local partners in maintaining public security.
“Our efforts are focused on identifying, investigating and stopping individuals who are inciting violence and engaging in criminal activity,” said the FBI. “As we do in the normal course of business, we are collecting information to identify any potential threats and sharing that information with our partners.”
The FBI said it “respects the rights of individuals to exercise their First Amendment rights peacefully”, and its focus was “not on peaceful protesters, but on those who threaten their safety and the safety of other citizens with violence and property destruction”.
While the security breaches that allowed the U.S. Capitol to be breached Last week, authorities there – including the head of the US Capitol Police and weapons sergeants in the US House and Senate – are still under intense scrutiny because they are no longer prepared. They all resigned.
Doubts also arose as to why National Guard troops were not ready to assist the Capitol Police, and officials in Washington have since given the green light to extensive security improvements in the nation’s capital that preceded Biden’s tenure – including a hardened perimeter fence around the Capitol and the dispatch of thousands of National Guard troops to the surrounding area.
State capital officials, including Sacramento, are trying to shore up their own vulnerabilities in a similar effort to avoid problems and not be caught off guard. In Lansing, Michigan, state officials forbade people to openly carry weapons inside the Capitol. In Madison, Wisconsin, the governor implanted the Wisconsin National Guard at the state capitol to support the police, and the capitol windows were boarded up.
Brian Levin, director of the hate and extremism study at Cal State San Bernardino, said state officials would be wise to establish larger perimeters around their capitals and alert state officials, because there could be a “cascade” of federal threats at the as targets like the US Capitol are hardened.
In Sacramento, the concern is partly due to the fact that counties north of Sacramento are considered a focus of extremist activities.
The state capitol has generally been closed to the public since last year to prevent the spread of COVID-19, although limited personal participation is permitted in hearings or plenary sessions. CHP blocked the immediate area around the building and limited access to the Capitol gardens.
Since Biden’s election, the Highway Police and the Sacramento local police have increased their presence around the Capitol, as pro-Trump protesters and small groups of anti-fascist counter-protesters have started fighting almost weekly. Police closed the streets around to avoid traffic to avoid what has become a regular parade of pro-Trump supporters with blaring music circulating around the Capitol in their vehicles, as well as less frequent but similar events by counter-protesters.
Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said the state would only call on the National Guard after all mutual aid from local agencies had been exhausted.
The Sacramento Police Department issued a statement saying that its Criminal Intelligence Unit “continuously monitors information about possible demonstrations that may occur” within the city limits of Sacramento, and the department is “coordinating with other local allied police agencies for any demonstrations. future “.
The department appointed more than 200 officers to demonstrate outside the state capitol on the same day that Trump supporters invaded the U.S. capitol while Congress was preparing to confirm the state electoral college’s votes in favor of Biden. The agency reported “physical altercations between two groups of protesters” that day, and said it arrested 11 people “related to the illegal possession of pepper spray”.
Los Angeles police also made arrests on Wednesday, when Trump supporters and counter-protesters gathered in front of the LA City Hall and sometimes started fighting. The city hall and the LAPD headquarters across the street were heavily guarded.
Captain Stacy Spell, spokesman for the LAPD, said the department “planned to increase activity during the opening week” and “will have adequate resources to respond to any situation, maintain order and maintain peace while protecting and serving all community members. ”
Spell asked anyone who planned to protest in the city in the coming days to “do it responsibly and safely”.