ExtremismU.S. Police, Security Forces Brace for Trump Impeachment Trial

By Jeff Seldin

Published 5 February 2021

Security and police forces in and around Washington will be operating at what they describe as “a high-level of readiness” as the impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump gets underway next week, worried the event could serve as a flashpoint for American extremists still angry over the outcome of the presidential election. Officials have been hesitant to share specifics about the intelligence, some of which has been described as disturbing chatter on social media platforms.

Security and police forces in and around Washington will be operating at what they describe as “a high-level of readiness” as the impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump gets underway next week, worried the event could serve as a flashpoint for American extremists still angry over the outcome of the presidential election.

Officials have been hesitant to share specifics about the intelligence, some of which has been described as disturbing chatter on social media platforms. But following the siege of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, which resulted in the deaths of five people, they have been public about not wanting to leave anything to chance.

We must demonstrate an overt security presence in (Washington) D.C., at least for now,” Christopher Rodriguez, director of the city’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, told lawmakers during a hearing Thursday.

“We believe that this posture is essential to ensuring that the Metropolitan Police Department can deploy resources to all parts of the city during an emergency,” he said, adding, “We will not tolerate violence in our city.”

And while some of the security measures and roadblocks put in place for the inauguration of President Joe Biden last month have been taken down, so-called enhanced security measures for the Capitol itself — like the barbed-wire fencing — will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

“The department’s current security posture continues to demand that we operate at a high-level of readiness for the upcoming Senate impeachment trial and the continued threats directed at the Congress and the Capitol,” Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki told VOA in an email Tuesday.

The U.S. Army announced last week that of the almost 27,000 U.S. National Guard called into Washington to help with inaugural security, 7,000 will stay in Washington through at least mid-March.

Officials also said the National Guard — part-time soldiers who can be deployed overseas but who are often called upon to help with emergencies in their home states — would be armed as needed and would help provide security, as well as help local forces with communications and crowd control.

Additionally, Washington, D.C.’s mayor has requested that 500 National Guardsmen be on standby to serve as a rapid reaction force should anything go awry.

“The department believes it’s still necessary,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters during a briefing late Wednesday, pointing to the intelligence that was being shared with defense officials by the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and local authorities.