Inauguration Day: Secret Service warns of potential armed protests

The Secret Service has issued an internal alert that warns of potential armed protests in Washington DC from the Boogaloo Boys before and after Joe Biden‘s inauguration. 

The intelligence bulletin that specifically mentions protests involving the Boogaloo Boys was issued on Monday and obtained by the Daily Beast.

It warned of several protests that were being planned in DC and other states prior to the inauguration.

In one instance organizers had advised people to come armed. 

‘Although no civil disobedience has been confirmed, organizers have encouraged attendees to bring weapons to the event,’ the bulletin said of that protest. 

The Secret Service has issued an internal alert that warns of potential armed protests in Washington DC from the Boogaloo Boys before and after Joe Biden’s inauguration. Pictured above is last week’s siege on the US Capitol

Another protest encouraged ‘armed citizens’ to come out in a show of force in DC and other state capitals. 

That protest was being organized by Tree of Liberty, which is affiliated with Boogaloo.

The FBI has already warned of armed protests being planned in Washington and all 50 state capitals in the run-up to the inauguration, including three separate plots to attack the Capitol. 

Security experts have said chatter among extremists and Trump supporters on social media about threatening violence in DC and other cities has surged in recent days.  

Law enforcement and lawmakers have already been briefed on potential threats ahead of the inauguration, including some extremists threatening to execute members of Congress. 

One of those involves an ‘organized group’ of 4,000 people who are planning to prevent Democrats from entering the Capitol, authorities have said.

In a closed-door briefing this week, law enforcement informed lawmakers of that plot and said they are following a published ‘rules of engagement’ on when to shoot and start taking more serious action.

Another protest is being planned in honor of Ashli Babbitt, the USAF veteran who was shot at point blank range by a police officer as she tried to clamber into the Speaker’s Lobby during the Trump mob’s siege.

The FBI has already warned of armed protests being planned in Washington and all 50 state capitals in the run-up to the inauguration, including three separate plots to attack the Capitol. Members of the National Guard have been on patrol in DC this week

An FBI internal memo warned of a group that was calling for the ‘storming’ of state, local and federal government buildings, as well as court houses if Trump is removed from office.

It is not yet clear how many other plots law enforcement are already aware of.

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that extremists are now using the encoded app Telegram to coordinate and plan future attacks, NBC reports. 

Some are sharing knowledge of how to make, conceal and use homemade guns and bombs in advance of the inauguration. 

The messages are being posted in Telegram chatrooms where white supremacist content has been freely shared for months, but chatter on these channels has increased since extremists have been forced off other platforms.

A US Army field manual and calls to ‘shoot politicians’ and ‘encourage armed struggle’ have been posted in a Telegram channel that uses ‘fascist’ in its name.

Facebook has also reported seeing an increase in signals indicating potential acts of violence associated with efforts to contest the result of election since the Capitol siege last week.

A company spokeswoman said the Capitol siege appeared to be a galvanizing event, spawning efforts to organize gatherings across the country for multiple dates around the inauguration.

Signals Facebook tracked included digital flyers promoting the events, some of them featuring calls to arms or the insignia of militias or hate groups.

On Monday, Facebook banned content promoting the phrase ‘stop the steal,’ which has become a rallying cry at armed pro-Trump protests. The company was also blocking searches for ‘storm the Capitol’ and flagging posts that include those phrases for further review, the spokeswoman said.

The inauguration is being held at the same spot at the US Capitol where the violent MAGA mob rioters overran law enforcement last week and stormed the federal building.