An internal FBI memo is warning that radical groups are planning armed protests at all 50 state capitols on or before the inauguration of Joe Biden. The Bureau also reports that they have intelligence detailing a plan to stage an uprising in the Capitol if Congress removes Donald Trump from office before Inauguration Day.
Most of the information in the memo was obtained from online sources, including Facebook, Twitter, open-source outlets, or local news reports. The memo includes information provided by the ATF, DEA, Defense Department, Park Police, and the U.S. Marshals, among other agencies.
“Our efforts are focused on identifying, investigating, and disrupting individuals that are inciting violence and engaging in criminal activity,” the FBI said. “As we do in the normal course of business, we are gathering information to identify any potential threats and are sharing that information with our partners. The FBI respects the rights of individuals to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights.”
The FBI added: “Our focus is not on peaceful protesters, but on those threatening their safety and the safety of other citizens with violence and destruction of property.”
The FBI also revealed that agents had visited some of the extremists in their homes prior to the January 6 mob attack on the Capitol, urging them not to travel to Washington.
The memo comes as Fox News has learned the FBI has received more than “40,000 digital media tips, including video and photos, from the public” regarding participants in last week’s Capitol riot.
Sources told Fox News on Sunday that the FBI visited extremists prior to the Jan. 6 pro-Trump rally and Capitol riot, urging them not to travel to Washington D.C.
It is unclear, at this point, how many extremists were contacted and how far in advance of Jan. 6.
I doubt whether a visit from federal agents will deter any of these extremists from whatever they’re planning. That goes for the hardcore right-wingers, among them, boogaloo.
Some of what the FBI believes boogaloo is planning is a lot more detailed than normal internet bombast.
According to the Dec. 29 FBI report, some Minnesota-based followers of the boogaloo movement attended protests earlier in December at the state Capitol in Saint Paul “to perform reconnaissance to identify escape points and defensible positions in the event violence occurred” at the Jan. 17 rally. These individuals reportedly “scouted general law enforcement presence” at the earlier rallies and “also identified law enforcement sniper locations and considered breaking into federal buildings for use as firing locations, if fighting occurred.”
“One Boogaloo movement follower indicated the building with the snipers would need to be blown up in order to protect Boogaloo fighters in the event of a gun battle during the event,” the report states. Another planned to “put colored duct tape on the back of his body armor to appear as law enforcement and cause confusion.”
The FBI and law enforcement must take these threats seriously. Even though what they’re planning sounds crazy, it would be crazier to dismiss the radicals as unserious. For whatever reason, they have decided the nation is under threat and must be defended with arms if necessary. All they’re doing is playing into the media narrative that any opposition to the Democrats is violent extremism.
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