The FBI warned government officials on Sunday, January 10 that armed protests are being planned to target the U.S. Capitol and all 50 state capitols between now and Inauguration Day ( January 20). Extremist groups have threatened to storm courthouses and administrative buildings in every state if Trump is impeached and removed from office before Biden and Harris are sworn into office, the Associated Press reports.
Capitol Police also briefed Democrats during a private call Monday night and warned them that at least three more potentially deadly demonstrations have been planned to target in D.C. in the coming days, according to The Huffington Post. One plot includes attacking the U.S. Capitol and assassinating Democrats and some Republicans.
Another plan involves White supremacists plotting to form a perimeter around the Capitol, the White House and the Supreme Court. Their intention is to then block Democrats from entering the Capitol, potentially killing them to make way for Republicans to take Control of the government.
In response to the threat of more armed protests, President Donald Trump on Monday, January 11 issued an emergency in Washington D.C. and “ordered Federal assistance to supplement the District’s response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from the 59th Presidential Inauguration from January 11 to January 24,” according to the president’s official declaration. The order will remain in effect until January 24.
Trump added in his statement that the goal of the emergency declaration is “to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the District of Columbia.”
Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has been vocal about impeaching Trump and removing him from office immediately in order to quell the violence and save this country from an unfit leader. She tweeted on Monday, “when you attempt to overthrow our government, you will be held accountable. This is about preserving our Republic. We have a constitutional obligation to hold the president and his enablers accountable for this sedition.”
These threats come as lawmakers and D.C. residents are trying to cope with last week’s coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol that killed five people, including a Capitol Police officer, and placed the lives of many lawmakers at grave risk.