Picking up chatter on the Internet about possible right-wing anarchist attacks from groups like Qaon, Proud Boys and Boogaloo, 54-year-old FBI Director Christopher Wray would rather be safe than sorry. Sorry hit the big time Jan. 6 when someone at the FBI was asleep at the switch, watching an angry mob storm the Capitol, defacing property and creating panic with elected officials. Now it’s the FBI panicking not knowing what to expect Jan. 20, Inauguration Day. Fortifying the perimeter around the Capitol with 25,000 National Guard Troops, the FBI has left no stone unturned in the biggest show of force an official government event in U.S. history. Not since Sept. 11 has there been so much military presence coming to Washington, all because an angry mob stormed the Capitol making a mess of things. Wray can’t afford another security glitch with whole world watching.
On a routine day for a joint session of Congress to tally the Electoral College votes Jan. 6, the FBI miscalculated the response from various right wing groups that descended on the Capitol to protest 74-year-old President Donald Trump’s loss to 78-year-old President Joe Biden. With Democrats and the media insisting that the 2020 election was the most secure and honest in U.S. history, Trump didn’t buy the analysis knowing it was more left wing propaganda. No one really knows anything about what really happened with millions of universal mail-in ballots, how they were collected, counted and tallied. All Trump knows was that he was winning the Nov. 3 election by a hefty margin, only to wake up Nov. 4 to find Biden with substantial leads in all the battleground states. While Trump’s legal team never proved fraud, it doesn’t mean something irregular didn’t happen.
Disagreeing with the election results invokes treason, Democrats and the press condemning any elected officials seeking on Jan. 6 to dispute the Electoral Vote totals. Democrats are still fuming about Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Tx.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), asking to excommunicate, ostracize and oust all three for trying to dispute the election. Democrats and the media insists that anyone questioning the Nov. 3 vote is a traitor, not deserving of holding elective office. When the melee broke out Jan. 6, Democrats and the media blamed Trump, holding him personally accountable for the riots and mob scence at the Capitol. Capitol Hill and D.C. police underestimated the size of rioters breaking into the Capitol, requiring far more advanced planning than what happened on Jan. 6. Had the FBI paid attention to chatter before Jan. 6, the whole mess could have been prevented.
Combing through intel before the Jan. 20 Inauguration, the FBI looks overwhelmed trying to figure out fact-from-fiction. “We are seeing an extensive amount of concerning crime chatter about a number of events surrounding the inauguration,” Wray told a press conference Thursday. Wray is less concerned about what really happens Jan. 20 because the National Guard has been fully deployed, creating the kind of crowd control barriers and cordon around the Capitol that will prevent any crowd-related disturbances. Unlike Jan. 6 when Capitol and D.C. police had no significant crowd control measures, the inauguration will be exactly the opposite. Whether you under-prepare or over-prepare, it’s still not good policing. Law enforcement should do no more than necessary to control disturbances before they take place. Adding 25,000 National Guard looks like overkill.
Wray said the FBI picked up chatter that snipers could operate during the inauguration festivities. “As you can imagine the volume of information is significant, but we’re been pushing this information as rapidly as possible to all our relevant law enforcement and intelligence partners,” Wray said. Finding chatter about Improvised Explosive Devices [IEDs] and snipers makes the FBI’s work even more impossible since domestic and foreign terrorists have been known to fly high altitude drones. Wray said the FBI is preparing for a “Million Militia March,” for the nation’s capital. Whatever happens, Wray knows that the safe-zone around the Capitol must not be breached. “Many of U.S will return on Jan. 19, 2021, carry Our weapons in support of our nation’s resolve,” said one social network post.
Whatever the chatter picked up by the FBI, it could all be fake, exaggerating threats on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20. Wray isn’t about to find out whether the Internet reports are true or not about snipers and IEDs. He’s got the National Guard deployed in a mile perimeter around the Capitol, with the largest show of force in Washington, D.C.’s history. “Alright in about two weeks there is going to be a march in D.C. you know those cops are going to be lined up with their shields and [expletive] you know what I mean?,” FBI reports said. ”We’re gonna have to get some [expletive] going on with snipers,” sending chills through FBI brass. Protecting the President-elect, Supreme Court and the Cabinet is a top priority for FBI and federal law enforcement. “One of the real challenges in this space,” Wray said, “is trying to distinguish what’s aspirational and what’s intentional,” Wray said, separating fact from fiction.
