The acting head of the United States Capitol Polices, Yogananda Pittman, warned this Thursday of a possible plan by extremists to blow up Congressional headquarters when the president, Joe Biden, give your first speech to both legislative chambers.
(Read here: Biden orders Syria bombing of pro-Iranian militias)
“We know that members of the militias who were present on January 6 have expressed their wishes that they want to blow it up Capitol and kill as many members (of Congress) as possible, with a State of the Union link, which we know has not set a date yet, ” Pittman said in an appearance before a subcommittee of the House of Representatives. attack on Congressional headquarters.
Hundreds of followers of the former president arrived on January 6 Donald Trump broke into the headquarters of the US legislature during a joint session of the two houses to confirm Biden’s victory in the elections, which until then had not been recognized by the ex-president.
The event killed five people, including a police officer. Based on the information available to them, Pittman thought it “wise” that the
Capitol enforces security measures. After the attack on Congress headquarters, authorities placed several fences around the compound and installed the National Guard, a military corps in reserve.
(You might be interested: Biden’s minimum wage proposal is hit hard in Congress)
Pittman emphasized that the extremists who stormed the Capitol were not only interested in attacking lawmakers and security guarding agents: “They wanted to send a symbolic message to the nation about who was in charge of the legislative process,” he warned.
On January 6, a crowd of Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.
Jim Lo Scalzo / EFE
According to US media, se expects Biden to deliver his State of the Union address (since he has been in power for less than a year, it will be more to explain his government plans and accomplishments in his early weeks), in a joint session of Congress, after the Legislative Assembly approves a third economic rescue from the pandemic .
Pittman, who is the former head of the Capitol Police Steven Sund after his discharge from the attack, he assured that the intelligence gathered prior to that attack did not show that there was “any credible threat”.
“It has been suggested that the department (which he heads) did not know or ignore crucial intelligence indicating that an attack of the magnitude we had witnessed on January 6 was going to take place,” said the official, adding that such information never existed .
“While we knew of the likelihood of violence by extremists, no credible threat indicated that tens of thousands would attack the Capitol, nor the intelligence provided by the FBI, nor by any other security partner identified such a threat, ”he settled.
(In other news: Manhattan prosecutor has obtained Trump’s tax returns)
The person responsible also indicated that they calculate that there was 10,000 protesters pro Trump near the Capitol on Jan. 6, and about 800 burglaries in the interior, compared to the 1,200 officers who worked that day to ensure the security of the compound.
EFE