Government Fears Liberal Jan. 6 Style Attack as Trump Inauguration Nears

(Seriously)

Days after the presidential election, U.S. intelligence warned of “significant violence or civil unrest between now and Inauguration Day.” Unlike similar intelligence assessments in the past, this one singled out opponents of president-elect Donald Trump’s agenda. Alluding to “extremists” who “viewed the election outcome as an existential event,” the report could have been describing any number of liberal pundits on MSNBC calling Trump an existential threat to democracy. 

Amusing as it is to imagine the likes of Rachel Maddow, Jen Rubin or any of their fans bum rushing the capitol, one’s imagination is the only place that’s ever happening. 

The report, produced by Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence & Analysis, is light on the intelligence and heavy on the analysis. Dated November 8 of last year, the report consists of three entirely “hypothetical scenarios of violence or unrest,” as the first paragraph says. Despite the lack of a shred of specific evidence, the report cites the following political issues as potential catalysts for violence:

• Abortion rights

• U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts 

• LGBTQIA+

• Environmental regulations 

• Gun control (“firearms access”)

Absent any evidence of planned violence — of which there was plenty in the run-up to January 6, 2021 — it’s unclear why the government decided to focus on these issues, instead of, say, Luigi Mangione stans. Or Antifa. Or furries! My point is, anything could hypothetically be a threat.

Regardless, the assessment was blasted out to law enforcement agencies across the country. Despite containing no classified information, the report was not made public. The document may never have seen the light of day were it not for the national security transparency nonprofit Property of The People, which obtained it under an open records request and passed it along to us. 

Intelligence Assessment

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“It’s unlikely this report is telling its nationwide police audience something they don’t already know, that violence could result from political disagreement,” Spencer Reynolds, senior counsel in the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program, said when shown the intelligence assessment. “Like the rest of us, they follow the news.”

Though most of the issues identified are pretty mainstream Democratic fare, one in particular stands out: “U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts.” What could this refer to other than the protesters opposing U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza? Per the intelligence report:

“Many domestic violent extremists (DVEs) and other threat actors viewed the election outcome as an existential event that could determine the trajectory of issues that have previously motivated violence in the Homeland, including immigration policy, abortion rights, firearms access, LGBTQIA+ topics, environmental regulations, and US involvement in foreign conflicts.”

That’s what the post-9/11 Office of Intelligence & Analysis spends $300 million in annual taxpayer money on: alerting bewildered cops to “threats” so deemed because someone, somewhere at some point in the past did something bad. But even in the case of some of the more militant left wing groups, there’s no evidence that they’re planning any election-related violence.

“We have seen little evidence of these users issuing explicit attacks around the election,” Dragonfly, a security intelligence firm, said of “Antifa” in its own assessment last year.

Following the national security state’s failure to anticipate January 6, 2021, they tried to save face by giving the next January 6 (this month) — in addition to the presidential inauguration next week — the highest-level security designation available to the government, making it a “National Special Security Event.” Generals always prepare to fight the last war, the saying goes, and that was clearly the case here.

Democratic politicians were quick to support the NSSE designation for January 6th in the wake of the capitol storming. In January 2021, Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres, and co-sponsors Gwen Moore, Mondaire Jones, and Jahana Hayes introduced H.R.338, “To clarify the counting of electoral votes in Congress to be a National Special Security Event.” 

Meanwhile, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, expressed glowing praise for the designation:

“I applaud the decision to provide additional resources to secure [January 6] and protect American democracy in the process. However, we all know the only reason such a designation is necessary is Donald Trump. I look forward to the time when this administrative function assigned to Congress under the Constitution can operate like any other day on the congressional calendar.”

By designating both January 6 and the inauguration National Special Security Events, the government opens essentially limitless resources up to the national security state. The result of that isn’t security. It’s paperwork like this and the stormtrooper marches of federal agents and local law enforcement that they authorize. When Trump during his first term called for military parades, people rightly mocked the idea as ridiculous and weird. Well, if absurdity is your thing, have I got an intelligence assessment for you.