The acting head of the United States Capitol Polices, Yogananda Pittman, warned this Thursday of a possible plan by extremists to blow up Congress headquarters when the president, Joe Biden, deliver his first speech before both houses of parliament.
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“We know that militia members who were present on January 6 have expressed their desire to fly the Chapters and kill as many members (of Congress) as possible, with a nexus with the state of the Union, on which we know a date has not yet been set, “Pittman said in an appearance before a subcommittee on the Lower House to talk about the assault on the Congress headquarters.
On January 6, hundreds of supporters of the former president Donald Trump burst into the headquarters of the US Legislature while holding a joint session of the two chambers to confirm Biden’s victory in the elections, which until then had not been recognized by the former president.
Five people were killed in the incident, one of them a police officer. Based on the information available to them, Pittman considered it “prudent” that the
Capitol maintain security measures. After the assault on the Congress headquarters, the authorities erected several fences around the enclosure and deployed the National Guard, A military corps in the reserve.
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Pittman stressed that the extremists who broke into the Capitol were not only interested in attacking lawmakers and security guards: “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 mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol.
Jim Lo Scalzo / EFE
According to American media, sand Biden is expected to deliver his speech, similar to that of the State of the Union (as he has not yet completed a year in power will be more to explain his government plans and his successes of his first weeks), in a joint session of Congress, after the Legislature approves a third economic bailout for the pandemic.
Pittman, who replaced the former head of the Capitol Police Steven Sund after his resignation after the assault, he assured that the intelligence information requested before this attack did not show that there was “any credible threat”.
“It has been hinted that the department (which he heads) did not know or ignore Crucial Intelligence which indicated that an attack of the magnitude we are experiencing on January 6 was going to happen,” the official said, adding that such of information never existed.
“Although we knew of the likelihood of violence by extremists, no credible threat indicated that tens of thousands would attack the U.S. Capitol, nor the intelligence received by the U.S. FBI“No other security partner indicated such a threat,” he said.
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The official also noted that they estimate that there was 10,000 protesters pro Trump in the vicinity of Capitol on January 6, and that about 800 burst inside, compared to the 1,200 agents who were working that day to ensure the security of the venue.
EFE