Pro-Trump activists who sparked a January 6 protest that turned into a deadly capital riot are trying to get away from future unrest as politicians and law-enforcement officials prepare for further violence before the inauguration .
Extremism experts have focused on January 17, as well as Inauguration Day and the days surrounding it, as well as potential flashpoints for violence. An opening day threat includes a “Million Militia March”, which encourages armed Trump supporters to land online on a DC A flyer that calls for an “armed march on Capitol Hill and all state capitals”. The protest, though it is not clear where the flyer originated or how much traction gained on the right.
Capital Police officials are not taking any chances this time. He briefed House Democrats late Monday about a series of potential threats, including “the largest armed protest ever on American soil” and plans for an alleged plot to prevent or kill Democrats from reaching the Capitol Are, so as to capture the Republicans. Government.
Democrats were also warned about the more general threat to violence against politicians and police, according to a person familiar with the briefing, which was previously reported by HuffPost and confirmed by The Daily Beast.
However, so far, public online discussion of alleged mass protests 17. Protests have appeared in Trump forums far less than the wave of talk that preceded the January 6 riots.
Lindsey Shubiner, a program director at the Center for Western States, said that we are not looking at participating in those events at nearly the same level as online.
Shubiner said, however, that additional protests or discussions about violence could be for the opening, which probably moved to less public online venues as social media companies cracked down on extremists.
“We’re in a very dangerous period for political violence, and it’s hard to say what will happen or when it can happen,” Shubner said. “But everything we are seeing gives us great cause for concern.”
As thousands of National Guard troops flood into Washington, Trump supporters have suggested without evidence that the proposed January 17 rally is a ploy to lure MAGA fans.
Gateway pundit, a right-wing hoax blog whose owner has been invited to the Trump White House, suggested that the Jan. 17 protest was a “deep-state conspiracy” meant to set the stage for mass arrests of Trump supporters . Mark Taylor, a former firefighter who became a star on the far right after receiving a “prophecy” after Trump was elected, warned more than 17,000 of his followers to stay away from the Jan. 17 protests on Tuesday.
“None of these so-called peaceful armed protests in all the state capitals and DC mass is established by the 17th Left,” Taylor Tweeted on Tuesday. “Don’t go! It’s a trap !!”
Several Trump supporters have claimed that the flyer’s graphic design, depicted in red with the Statue of Liberty in the foreground, is evidence that it is a plan to hurt Trump and his allies.
Arizona State Representative Kelly Townsend (R) tweeted on Tuesday, “There is no organizer listed and nothing looks like the Patriotic group will be out at all.”
That stupor has plunged to the state level. The Minnesota group recently held a “Stop the Steel” event in the state capital, issuing a Facebook alert to followers about the Jan. 17 incident.
“This is an intrusion and the tactics used to incite violence are set and blamed on us,” the group wrote, which organized the Minnesota “Hurricane the Capital” event on January 6. “Don’t go to the Capitol on Sunday!”
The group told The Daily Beast that it advised people to stay home on January 17. On Facebook, the group shared posters for the January 17 event, and suggested that they were an “anarchist” plot. However, those posters were broadcast in earnest by members of the Bugru movement, a far-right and liberal coalition that craved civil war. Although the Boogailoo movement has been promoting the event since last month, at least some members appear reassured after the Jan. 6 riots, with the Boogalloo news site’s statement from the alleged organizers of the event, the rally’s DC walk. Had claimed Cancel
Fearing that Trump supporters are running into a trap – or may be implicated in violence – the FBI and federal prosecutors have instigated more people to be involved in the Capitol riot. Acting US Attorney for the District of Columbia on Tuesday, Michael Sherwin said the scale of the investigation was “unprecedented” for the Justice Department, adding that he empowered a “strike force” to face charges of treason and serious felony for conspiracy Make.
Nevertheless, the days around January 17 are potential tinderboxes across the country. The Minnesota group urged followers to stay home on the 17th, saying it still plans a pro-Trump demonstration at the state capitol on Saturday, January 16.
Those plans coincide with the January 16 event announced last month, with organizers claiming they would “begin the process of dismantling democratic ideology from America,” “to Joseph Biden, or any other Democratic president of the United States.” Stop inaugurating as. Capturing and detaining all Democratic politicians, both current and former, from the US, who played a role in Biden’s victory. The event’s website has since gone offline, but has now closed Not before users on the social media site Parler were seized to declare that “any opposing force” would be classified as “America’s enemy” for this incident, and would be addressed as such Extreme prejudice, foreign or domestic. “
In Virginia, the long-planned protests for “lobby day” at the state capitol take place on 18 January. Last year’s lobby reported 22,000 gun fans, including members and members of far-flung groups such as Proud Boy. The fetal boogaloo movement then. This year, the Virginia Capitol Police is on high alert, allegedly citing Wednesday’s riots.
A prominent pro-gun group has written that it will host caravans to Richmond for the event. “There is no doubt that ‘rumors’ and other scare tactics will be used [sic] To keep people home, but we know better, ”the group wrote online.
A local activist told The Daily Beast that activists on the left have been collecting medics and homeless outreach since the January 18 incident if violence erupts or the scene becomes unsafe.
Some key figures involved in the planning of protests outside Congress on January 6 say that they are not even planning to come to Washington. InfoWars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has claimed that the January protest is a “false flag”.
Pro-Trump organizer Ali Alexander, who claimed to be one of the major “originals” of the January 6 protest, has been banned from financial services such as PayPal and Venmo, as well as Twitter, Facebook following the incident And Instagram has also been banned. . Alexander’s friends are distancing themselves from him and asking him to quit politics altogether, according to a member of his circle.
In an email to The Daily Beast, Alexander said he is urging Trump supporters to stay out of Washington around the inauguration, and claimed that the posters promoting the events in Washington were Democratic fabrications.
“Nobody should go to DC this month,” Alexander told The Daily Beast.
– Reporting done by Som Brode
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