An FBI report warned before the assault on the Capitol that ultras groups were planning "a war"

Members of the National Guard behind the bars erected around the Capitol after the assault. DANIEL SLIM / AFP

An FBI report in Virginia warned, a day before the violent assault on the Capitol, that the ultras were planning to travel to Washington on January 6 in order to carry out violent acts, a "war," according to the internal document. , to which

The Washington Post

has had access

, which contradicts the initial version of the federal agency, according to which they had no information about the imminent threat.

The attack on Congress by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump, in which five people died, has caused a serious institutional crisis in the country and, also, a critical examination of the work of his security forces.

The Justice Department has avoided responding this afternoon at a press conference about why they did not take action after the report.

“Be prepared to fight.

Congress needs to hear broken glass, kicked doors, and blood from its BLM slave soldiers [referring to the anti-racism movement Black Lives Matter] and Pantifa [pejorative term for anti-fascists].

Get violent.

Stop calling this a march, a rally or a protest.

Go there prepared for war.

We get our president or we die.

NOTHING else will achieve this goal ”.

That statement, released on the Internet by Trump supporters, was quoted verbatim in the report, according to information published Tuesday in the

Post.

The FBI reported this afternoon that they are investigating serious crime cases related to sedition and the conspiracy surrounding the assault on the Capitol that could carry 20-year prison sentences.

They have already opened 160 files, but they foresee that the number will increase to "hundreds".

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," said the head of the federal office in Washington, Steven D'Antuono.

He was accompanied at the press conference by the acting federal prosecutor for Washington, Michael Sherwinde, who has remarked that the scale of this investigation is unprecedented in the history of the FBI and the Department of Justice.

The document revealed more than thick words.

It also mentioned individuals who shared a map of the complex Capitol tunnels and possible meeting points between the instigators in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, South Carolina and in the American capital.

It collected comments on the transfer of potentially injured people.

In short, it hinted that extremists were arriving in town with plans for more than just a demonstration.

“On January 5, 2021, the Norfolk [Virginia] FBI received information indicating calls for violence in response to 'illegal lockdowns' that will begin on January 6, 2021 in Washington,” the document states.

The attack, the same afternoon that legislators were to confirm the electoral victory of Democrat Joe Biden, has put the Capitol police in the eye of the hurricane because of the apparent ease with which the mob managed to enter Congress.

Corps chief Steven Stund resigned last week after acknowledging a lack of preparation.

The limited deployment of members of the National Guard at that key event, when that great Trumpist march was expected, has also aroused criticism.

Only 340 reservist soldiers were in the city, mainly assigned to traffic control.

And the focus is now also directed at the FBI, which did not correctly assess the alert received from Virginia.

Performance failures

A source from the Security forces, quoted anonymously by the US newspaper, admits that they did not make a mistake on the intelligence information, but on how to act with that data.

The racist bias with which the bodies have been able to behave towards this threat looms over the debate, especially centered on the strong security devices deployed last summer during the riots and demonstrations against racism.

An FBI source told the Post that 45 minutes after receiving the alert about those worrisome messages, the FBI unit in Norfolk wrote the report and shared it with other members of the corps, including those at Washington headquarters, although there is no clear how many agencies of the security forces beyond the FBI were informed.

At the time of preparing the document, the persons responsible for disseminating these messages on the Internet were not identified.

Another comment collected said this: "If the antifa or the BLM get violent, leave them dead in the street."

Another individual, according to the FBI, also spoke about the need to evacuate civilians and wounded to medical facilities.

Despite all the elements on the table, the unidentified author of the report expresses his concern about the possibility that the FBI may end up violating the protesters' right to freedom of expression.

The document warns that it reflects the vision of the Norfolk FBI, that it does not collect “evaluated intelligence”, but raw information, and that “the agencies that receive it are requested not to act based on this raw information without prior coordination with the FBI ”.

The head of the FBI in Washington, Steven D'Antuono, told the press on Friday that "there were no indications" of anything planned for the day of the Trump demonstration other than "activities protected by the First Amendment", that is, covered in freedom of expression and assembly.

Since last Wednesday, the security forces have arrested more people involved in the riots than the total of those arrested that same day (61).

Only half of the arrests on the day of the assault occurred in and around the Capitol.

Two Capitol police officers were suspended Thursday for their behavior with the assailants.

Federal agents are trying to determine whether other security officers, serving or retired, played a role in the assault.

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