By Steve Neavling
The Secret Service warned the U.S. Capitol Police about the potential for violence on Jan. 5, a day before Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building, according to new documents obtained by POLITICO.
It’s just the latest lapse in intelligence by the Capitol Police and other federal law enforcement agencies that failed act on credible warnings.
On Jan. 5, the Secret Service emailed a tip issued by a “concerned citizen” at the Denver Field Office about people who were headed to Washington D.C. to “attend tomorrow’s rally and ‘incite violence.’”
The email was obtained by the watchdog group Citizens of Responsibility and Ethics in Washington via a Freedom of Information Act request.
“Per our Denver Field Office, a concerned citizen reported that [REDACTED] were flying into BWI today to attend tomorrow’s rally and ‘incite violence,’” the email states. “In addition, the source reports that [REDACTED] previously made threats against President-Elect Biden. The source also reported that [REDACTED] was driving to DC with gear and weapons, to include ballistic helmets, armored gloves and vests, rifles, and suppressors.”
The email referred to the travelers’ motives, saying they were “in the area to protest election fraud, support President Trump.”
Included in the email was a screenshot of a Facebook post from one of the people attending the rally.
“We have an opportunity in Front of us to take back our country and abolish the deep state once and for all,” the post says. “Call me some right wing conspiracy theorist if you will I don’t give a [f—] I read the Facts and I study history.”
Another email from the Secret Service warned of “multiple threatening Parler Posts directed at DC Police.”
“While the subject appears to be targeting MPDC, the subject calls for violence against any law enforcement in DC that ‘sides with the enemy,’” the Secret Service email states.
Despite this and other warnings, the Capitol Police were unprepared for the violence that broke out on Jan. 6, which resulted in the injuries of dozens of Capitol Police officers.
In a statement, the Capitol Police said it had received no intelligence to suggest “a large-scale attack.”
