The secret service and federal agencies of U.S They are working tirelessly these days for a massive deployment of security forces in Washington that prevents Joe Biden’s inauguration Wednesday from repeating the unprecedented wave of violence on January 6, when a mob of supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump was attacked by the force the Capitol.
The planes arriving in the American capital today are full of uniformed men from all over the country, camouflaged suits and other civilian men of immense stature and cropped hair.
When the Democratic President and his Vice Kamala Harris are sworn in, 15,000 members of the National Guard, thousands of police officers and other federal agents will be deployed who will guard the ceremony in a city that is already completely gated, with checkpoints and officers everywhere, although almost the entire event will take place virtually.
It is feared that the attack on the Capitol on Epiphany Day was not an isolated and spontaneous episode of violent protesters fueled by Trump’s speech, but that the attack was planned. Even that he’d had help from within the enclosure.
Investigators in the case turned their attention to attackers in organized columns, a woman shouting instructions with a megaphone, and people who had visited the Capitol the day before.
The Confederate flag, one of the racist symbols worn by Capitol raiders on Jan. 6. Photo: REUTERS
Conspiracy?
In the hundreds of videos and photos released of the attack, some point to a possibly organized conspiracy. Some show how the local police, one of the most guarded in the world, offers little resistance to the protesters jumping fences.
In others, there is a woman in a pink cap who gives instructions to other people in Congress with a megaphone, as if pointing where to go. Two men are also seen with plastic straps that can be used to immobilize hostages.
Some officials believe that many of the protesters entered the building with surprising confidence, that are huge moles interconnected office labyrinths with corridors and tunnels, and they knew where the offices of the major legislators were.
“They knew where to go,” the Democratic Rep. James Clyburn on CBS News. “Yes, someone in those buildings was an accomplice to this.”
In a careful search, prosecutors have arrested dozens of people and say more than 200 could be charged. But for the time being they didn’t say there had been any conspiracy or conspiracy.
However, Michael Sherwin, the US attorney in Washington who oversees the investigation, said they see “traces of organization,” including communication between those inside and outside the building. According to the prosecution, the priority for the security forces is to determine whether there was “general control and command” and “organized teams” in the invasion of Congress.
Suspicious visits
Lawmaker Mikie Sherrill said groups of Trump supporters entered the Capitol a day before the attack on a tour to “ acknowledge ” him, describing those visits as “ suspicious. ”
Tourists can enter some areas of the building with guided tours, but it can also be entered at the invitation of a legislator or a member of his team, always taking strict security precautions.
“The links between these groups within the Capitol complex and the attacks on the Capitol need to be investigated,” said Sherrill.
Matthew Feldman of the Center for Analysis of the Radical Right in the UK says this is true typical of political violence. “The people who made up the masses did not seem organized, but among them there were clearly organized people,” he adds.
Feldman notes that the crowd included members of the violent groups Three Percenters, Oath Keepers, and Proud Boys, some of whom even traveled from Hawaii to Washington. Also among the attackers, several police officers from different states were identified who were off duty.
Their presence, the discovery of homemade bombs hidden nearby, and apparent threats to capture members of Congress or the vice president were signs of a “terrorism” plot, Feldman said.
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, whose office was raided by protesters, on Friday mentioned the possibility of planning and coordination.
“If it is discovered that members of Congress were complicit in this uprising, if they aided and incited crime, actions could be taken that go beyond Congress in terms of prosecution,” he warned.
Washington, correspondent
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