The FBI has warned police forces across the United States to be on high alert and share intelligence on threats ahead of next week’s presidential inauguration of Joe Biden, a report said Wednesday.
FBI Director Christopher Wray warned of “potential attacks on state capitols, federal buildings, the homes of congressional members and businesses,” the New York Times reported, citing one of the police chiefs on the call.
“They don’t want to be dismissive of anything,” the report cited Chief Jorge Colina of the Miami Police Department. “So even if it sounds aspirational, even if it’s just like, ‘Yeah, it’d be great if the whole place is burned down,’ they don’t want us to think, ‘Ah, that’s just some knucklehead, pinhead,’ and be dismissive.”
A separate bulletin published Wednesday by the National Counterterrorism Center and the Justice and Homeland Security Departments warned that extremists could view the death of protester and QAnon supporter Ashli Babbit during the Capitol riots as an “act of martyrdom,” according to the NYT.
The officials warned that “the shared false narrative of a ‘stolen’ election’ may lead some individuals to adopt the belief that there is no political solution to address their grievances and violent action is necessary.”
The FBI has previously warned that armed protests by violent supporters of outgoing US President Donald Trump were being planned in all 50 state capitals as well as in Washington for the days leading up to the inauguration of Biden. READ MORE
