Pro-Trump activists who promoted the January 6 protests that turned into the deadly revolt of the Chapter are trying to distance themselves from future unrest, while politicians and law enforcement officers are preparing for violence before the inauguration.
Experts in extremism have focused on January 17, as well as the day of the inauguration and the days around it, as potential hotbeds for violence. An Inauguration Day threat includes a “Million Million March” encouraging Trump’s armed supporters to descend on DC An online flyer calling for an “armed march on Capitol Hill and all state chapters” on January 17 was cited as evidence of protest, although it is not clear where the flyer came from or how much traction he gained on the right.
Chapter Police officers do not risk this time. They briefed House Democrats on Monday on a number of potential threats, including plans for “the largest armed protest to ever take place on American soil” and an alleged plot to block Democrats from reaching the Capitol or kill them directly so Republicans can take over the government.
Democrats have also been warned of a more general threat to violence against politicians and police, according to a person familiar with the briefing, which was first reported by HuffPost and confirmed by The Daily Beast.
So far, however, online public discussions about the alleged January 17 protests have been far less visible than the wave of discussions in pro-Trump forums that preceded the January 6 uprising.
“We don’t see nearly the same level of online conversation about attending these events,” said Lindsay Schubiner, program director at the Western States Center, a group that watches extremists in the Pacific Northwest.
Schubiner added, however, that discussions about additional protests or violence that led to the inauguration may have simply moved to less public online locations as social media companies repress their extremists.
“We are in an extremely dangerous time for political violence and it is difficult to say exactly what will happen or when it can happen,” Schubiner said. “But everything we see gives us cause for concern.”
As thousands of National Guard soldiers flooded Washington, Trump’s supporters suggested without evidence that the January 17 rally was a ploy to catch MAGA fans.
The Pundit Gateway, a right-wing deception blog whose owner was invited to Trump’s White House, suggested the January 17 protest was a “deep state conspiracy” to prepare the scene for the mass arrests of his supporters. Trump. Mark Taylor, a former firefighter who became a star on the far right after receiving a “prophecy” that Trump will be elected, warned his more than 185,000 followers on Tuesday to stay away from the January 17 protests.
“People, any of these so-called peaceful armed protests in all state capitals and DC January 17 is a left-wing establishment,” Taylor posted on Twitter Tuesday. “Don’t go! It’s a trap !!”
A number of Trump supporters have argued that even the graphic design of the flyer, which is illustrated in red with the Statue of Liberty in the foreground, is proof that it is a scheme meant to hurt Trump and his allies.
“There are no listed organizers and it doesn’t look like something a Patriotic group would take out at all,” Arizona State Representative Kelly Townsend (R) wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
This paranoia has filtered to the state level. A group from Minnesota that recently organized “Stop The Steal” events in the state capital issued a Facebook warning to followers about the January 17 event.
“This is an infiltration and a set-up tactic used to incite violence and blame us,” wrote the group, which hosted a January 6 Storm the Capitol event in Minnesota. “DON’T GO TO THE CHAPTER ON SUNDAY!”
The group told The Daily Beast that it advised people to stay home on January 17. On Facebook, the group distributed posters for the January 17 event and suggested that they were an “anarchist” plot. However, these posters were seriously circulated by members of the Boogaloo movement, an extreme right-wing and libertarian coalition that craves civil war. Although the Boogaloo movement promoted last month’s event, at least some members appear to have reevaluated after the January 6 riot, with a Boogaloo news site airing a statement from the event’s alleged organizers, claiming that the DC iteration of the rally was canceled.
Fear that Trump supporters will fall into a trap – or could be involved in violence – has grown as the FBI and federal prosecutors pursue several people allegedly involved in the Capitol riot. On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General for Columbia District Michael Sherwin said the scale of the investigation was “unprecedented” for the Justice Department, saying it had empowered a “strike force” to prosecute serious charges of sedition and conspiracy. .
However, the days around January 17 are also potential snowboxes across the country. The Minnesota group that asked supporters to stay home on the 17th said it was planning another pro-Trump demonstration in the state capital on Saturday, January 16th.
These plans coincide with the January 16 event announced last month, in which organizers say they will “begin the process of exterminating America’s democratic ideology,” “will prevent Joseph Biden or any other Democrat from being inaugurated as president.” United States of America ”and“ captures and retains all Democratic politicians, both current and former, ”who played a role in Biden’s victory. The event’s website has since gone offline, but not before users of the now-closed social networking site Parler grab it to declare that “any force opposed” to the event “will be classified as an enemy of America and addressed as such with extreme prejudices, foreign or domestic. ”
In Virginia, long-planned protests for “lobby day” in the state capital are set to fall on January 18. Last year’s lobby day drew 22,000 gun fans, including members of far-right groups such as the Proud Boys and members of the then embryonic Boogaloo movement. This year, Virginia Capitol police are on alert, citing Wednesday’s riot.
A prominent pro-gun group has written that it will hold caravans to Richmond for the event. “No doubt, there will be ‘rumors’ and other uses of scare tactics [sic] to keep people at home, but we know better “, wrote the online group.
Left-wing activists are mobilizing doctors and homeless access ahead of the Jan. 18 event if violence erupts or the scene becomes unsafe for Richmond’s uncovered population, a local activist told The Daily Beast.
Some of the most important figures involved in planning protests outside Congress on January 6 say they do not even intend to come to Washington. InfoWars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has claimed that the January protests are a “false flag”.
Pro-Trump organizer Ali Alexander, who claimed to be one of the most important “initiators” of the January 6 protest, was banned from financial services such as PayPal and Venmo, as well as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram following the event. Alexander’s friends distance themselves from him and ask him to leave politics altogether, according to a member of his circle.
In an email to The Daily Beast, Alexander said he was urging Trump supporters to stay out of Washington around the inauguration and unfoundedly claimed that posters promoting events in Washington were democratic fabrications.
“No one should go to DC this month,” Alexander told The Daily Beast.
-Additional reporting by Sam Brodey