A group that has been planning to hold armed rallies in Washington, DC, as well as state capitals since November, plans to hold its events Sunday, despite an unprecedented effort to secure the Capitol.
In the days since supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in a violent riot that left five dead, officials have installed a massive security device around the complex, where President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in on Jan. 20. The FBI warned the law. enforcement this week about a group calling on its supporters to come to Washington, DC, and state capitals, armed at their “personal discretion.”
That particular call for armed protesters dates back to Nov. 24 on a website called Tree of Liberty, an online forum for members of the extremist Boogaloo movement against the government. The online flyer posted that day stated that the “armed march on Capitol Hill and all state capitals” was scheduled for January 17 and intended to be peaceful, but encouraged participants to “come armed as they see fit”. In a follow-up posted four days after rioters breached the Capitol – including some whom prosecutors now say want to harm the vice president and other elected officials – the group wrote that its protest was in “ pending state ” given the events that have taken place. place.”
But in an email to CBS News Friday, a website administrator wrote that the group now plans to proceed as planned. CBS News had contacted an email address listed on the Tree of Liberty website as the group’s press contact.
“The 17/01 events will continue and precautions have been taken to ensure that nothing violent happens in relation to the Boogaloo Boys. I cannot speak on behalf of the Proud Boys or MAGA people, and we have made it clear that we will rather not see them there, “said the press liaison, who did not identify. The Proud Boys are another group of far-right supporters of President Trump.”
The Anti-Defamation League, an advocacy group, describes the ideology of the Boogaloo movement as “primarily anti-government, anti-authority and anti-police in nature.” Since 2019, members of the group have participated in “meetings on gun rights, pandemic restrictions and police-related killings,” the ADL said.
The Justice Department described the Boogaloo movement as a “loosely connected group of individuals who hold violent anti-government sentiments” in a December 16, 2020 press release announcing that a Boogaloo member had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material aid to Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US government. Another member of the group has been charged in that case and has filed an innocent plea.
In June 2020, a U.S. Air Force sergeant was arrested for shooting a Federal Protective Services officer and a sheriff’s deputy in Santa Cruz, California. When he was arrested, investigators discovered slogans in his own blood that linked him to the Boogaloo Movement, according to a federal complaint.
In the days leading up to the inauguration, approximately 25,000 troops will be stationed in and around the Capitol, in addition to patrols from the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department, the Capitol Police and law enforcement from cities across the country.
In far-right chats and forums on Telegram, MeWe, and Discord – all popular platforms for both open and invitation-only extremist discussions – users have warned each other against joining the January 17 protests. Many have accused the organizers of helping federal officials set up a “trap.”
The Tree of Liberty administrator said the group has, in fact, been in contact with federal law enforcement, despite its anti-government ideology.
“We have made it very clear that we are working with the authorities to pick out anyone who has plans to do something violent and make sure they are intervened before the event,” they said.
“Don’t get me wrong, if I had the choice, I wouldn’t want to be involved in law enforcement. I don’t have that option anymore. I was dead drunk, and now I obey or go to jail,” she said. “Doxxed” refers to a practice in which a person’s personal or personally identifiable information is published on the Internet by strangers in an attempt to encourage harassment.
The FBI declined to respond to questions about the allegation that its investigators had contact with Tree of Liberty.
A company hosting servers for the Tree of Liberty website shut it down on Wednesday. Those attempting to visit the site will now be automatically redirected to a YouTube page playing a music video from Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.”