Wonder if this has something to do with those helio exercises yesterday morning.
Lawmakers Fear Post-election Violence
https://www.newsmax.com/us/political-violence-election/2024/10/30/id/1185986/
House members from both major parties have expressed concerns about potential violence following next week's presidential election.
Republican lawmakers are worried if former President Donald Trump defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in the race for the White House, progressives and leftists will refuse to accept another Trump term, Axios reported.
"I think there's a very good chance they will do it again," Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., citing rioting during Trump's inauguration in 2017, told Axios.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., added he suspects the likelihood of violence "is higher if Trump wins. Like we saw on Jan. 20, 2017."
Meanwhile, Democrats are worried Trump supporters will challenge the election outcome if Harris wins.
"We're certainly in a heightened threat environment here. There's no doubt about it … so we're going to have to be vigilant about it and make sure we're taking precautions," Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., said.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security warned state and local law enforcement agencies of domestic extremists seeking to disrupt the general election, NBC News reported Monday.
Lawmakers, though, are concerned about what might occur in Washington, D.C., and the Capitol after the election.
The Nebraska Examiner reported earlier this month the Secret Service is tasked with planning and coordinating security for Congress' certification of the Electoral College on Jan. 6 – the first time it has been designated a National Special Security Event – and Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.
The Secret Service confirmed to Axios that security enhancements – including plans for fencing erected around the Capitol complex – have been made in the run-up to the certification of presidential electors Jan. 6.
Capitol Police performed a "casualty evacuation exercise" Monday night that involved landing three helicopters on the East Front of the Capitol.
"What I saw in terms of security was unprecedented," Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, told Axios when Congress left for recess in September.
With the presidential election expected to be close and with several states possibly needing time to verify results, some lawmakers expressed concern the possibility or political violence could exist for a while.
"It's going to take some time to process ballots, so there's a lot of concern about those several days that follow the election," Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., said, Axios reported, "about security, but also just about the ramped up rhetoric that we all expect."
Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., issued a rare joint statement, calling on Harris to stop her "irresponsible rhetoric" aimed at Trump.
"For months, we've been hearing extreme and sometimes violent rhetoric," Darrell M. West, the Douglas Dillon Chair in Governmental Studies at the Brookings Institution, told States Newsroom. "And rhetoric has consequences — it can encourage some people to take action."