US State capitals ‘on high alert,’ fearing extra violence

Written by Neil MacFarquhar and Mike Baker
It was opening day of the 2021 legislative session, and the perimeter of the Georgia state Capitol on Monday was bristling with state cops in full camouflage gear, most of them carrying tactical rifles.
On the opposite facet of the nation, in Olympia, Washington, dozens of National Guard troops in riot gear and shields shaped a phalanx behind a brief fence. Facing them within the pouring rain was a small group of demonstrators, some additionally sporting army fatigues and carrying weapons. “Honor your oath!” they shouted. “Fight for freedom every day!”
And in Idaho, Ammon Bundy, an anti-government activist who as soon as led his supporters within the occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, confirmed up exterior the Statehouse in Boise with members of his group carrying “wanted” posters for Gov. Brad Little and others on costs of “treason” and “sedition.”
State capitals throughout the nation are bracing for a spillover from final week’s violent assault on the U.S. Capitol, with state legislatures already turning into targets for protesters within the tense days across the inauguration of the incoming president, Joe Biden.
Gone is a big measure of the bonhomie that normally accompanies the annual begin of the legislative season, changed by marked unease over the potential for armed assaults and gaps in safety round statehouses which have lengthy prided themselves on being open to constituents.
“Between COVID and the idea that there are people who are armed and making threats and are serious, it was definitely not your normal beginning of session,” mentioned Sen. Jennifer A. Jordan, a Democratic legislator in Georgia who watched the cops assembled exterior the Capitol in Atlanta on Monday from her workplace window. “Usually folks are happy, talking to each other, and it did not have that feel.”
Dozens of state capitals can be on alert within the coming days, following calls amongst a mixture of anti-government organizations for actions in all 50 states on Jan. 17. Some of them come from far-right organizations that harbor a broad anti-government agenda and have already been protesting state COVID-19 lockdowns since final spring. The FBI this week despatched a warning to native legislation enforcement businesses in regards to the potential for armed protests in all 50 state capitals.