Concerns about right-wing extremist groups recruiting police officers predate the presidency of Donald Trump. But the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, in which more than two dozen police officers are under investigation for their alleged participation, has cast a shadow on the seemingly hands-off approach to the threat posed by a pro-Trump protest. Critics say police departments are biased in how they handle protests by right-wing groups that claim to be pro-police.
Larger failures of imagination, added to biases of individual police officers, is part of what analysts say makes radicalization among officers possible. Then there’s an apparent institutional discomfort to confront the problem publicly. In its reporting to Congress it has lumped in antifa, an anti-fascist movement, with right-wing extremists like Boogaloos. But in recent years, lethal threats to law enforcement have primarily come from right-wing extremists.
N.H. police chief faces calls to step down after attending Trump rally that preceded Capitol attack
By Dugan Arnett Globe Staff,Updated January 14, 2021, 8:39 p.m.
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As the controversy continued, the front doors of Town Hall in Troy, N.H., remained locked after threats were made.Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff
TROY, N.H. â The calls to Town Hall started last Wednesday evening, as tear gas and shock had barely settled from a violent siege
on the nationâs Capitol, some 450 miles away.
What about the police chief?
Word had spread that local Police Chief David Ellis Jr. â a vocal, unabashed Trump supporter â attended the rally, which evolved into the most serious domestic attack on the US government in modern history. People werenât happy.
The chaotic scene of rioters smashing their way into the U.S. Capitol and ransacking the halls of Congress on Jan. 6 shocked not only the public, but also law enforcement professionals who thought such a thing wasn t possible. Who knew you could do that to the Capitol? said Brian Higgins, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan and the former chief of the Bergen County Police Department. How can you get into the chambers? How can you get into the Speaker’s office? I know some grammar schools that are better protected.
But that shock has given way to determination by New Jersey officials who say it s not going to happen here, even as the FBI warns of possible armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington, D.C., this weekend ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Stefanie Dazio and Michael Balsamo
WASHINGTON Potential threats and leads are pouring in to law enforcement agencies nationwide after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The challenge is now figuring out what’s real and what’s just noise.
Investigators are combing through a mountain of online posts, street surveillance and other intelligence, including information that suggests mobs could try to storm the Capitol again and threats to kill some members of Congress.
Security is being tightened from coast to coast. Thousands of National Guard troops are guarding the Capitol ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. Governors and lawmakers are stepping up protections at statehouses after an FBI bulletin this week warned of threats to legislative sessions and other inaugural ceremonies.