WASHINGTON Heightened security preparations ahead of Trump's trial

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Security and police forces in and around Washington are working on what they describe as preparing a "high degree of readiness" for the moment when the impeachment proceedings against former President Donald Trump begin next week.

Services are concerned that the event could serve as a boiling point for American extremists angry about the outcome of the presidential election, writes VOA.

Officials have been hesitant to share details about intelligence, some of which has been described as disturbing messages on social media platforms.

But after the January 6th siege of the US Capitol, which resulted in five deaths, they have been open in their message that they do not want to leave anything to chance.

"We have to demonstrate an open security presence (in Washington), at least for now," Christopher Rodriguez, director of the city's Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, told lawmakers during his hearing on Thursday.

"The department's current security posture is that we continue to require ourselves to operate at a high level of readiness for the upcoming Senate impeachment trial and ongoing threats directed at Congress and the Capitol," Capitol Police spokesperson Eva Malecki told Voice of America on Tuesday via email.

The US military announced last week that of the nearly 27,000 members of the US National Guard called to Washington to help secure Joe Biden's inauguration, 7,000 will remain in the city until at least mid-March.

Officials also said the National Guard - contract soldiers who can be deployed abroad, but who are often called upon to assist in emergencies in their home states - will be armed as needed and will assist in security, as well as help local forces with communication and crowd control.

In addition, the mayor of Washington D.C. has requested that 500 National Guard members be on standby to serve as a rapid response force should anything go wrong.

"The department believes that this is still necessary," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters during a briefing late Wednesday, referring to intelligence shared with defense officials by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and local authorities.

"They have continued to determine that there is an elevated threat across the United States right now, and that is likely to persist for the coming weeks," Kirby said. "That certainly applies to the capital city."

Manipulation of legal protests
Much of the concern appears to be focused on the possibility that individuals, described by officials as malicious actors, will manipulate legal protests and incite violence and chaos.

"We remain concerned that individuals dissatisfied with how the government is operating and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances and ideological causes... may continue to mobilize," the DHS said last week, explaining why it issued a new National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) bulletin.

In the bulletin, the DHS further warned that violent domestic extremists "may be emboldened by the events of January 6, 2021, in the US Capitol in Washington, to target elected officials and government facilities."

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, which monitors extremist groups in the US, told lawmakers on Thursday that, especially for white supremacists, the siege of the US Capitol was a "watershed moment."

"For them, the sight of congressmen and women hiding under tables, Confederate flags and Nazi symbols parading through the building was nothing short of a victory," Greenblatt told members of the House Homeland Security Committee.

"We believe this is essential for ensuring that the city's police department can deploy its resources to all parts of the city during emergencies," he said, adding, "we will not tolerate violence in our city."

And while some security measures and road closures put in place for President Joe Biden's inauguration last month have been removed, the so-called enhanced security measures for the Capitol itself - such as the barbed wire fence - will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

Other experts worry that there could be a danger from individuals who, while not yet extremists, continue to mourn Trump's loss in the presidential election.

"You have such a large group of people who are not connected to these terrorist movements or terrorist organizations, but are currently very vulnerable," said Elizabeth Neumann, former assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat prevention at DHS.

"We are actively seeing neo-Nazis recruiting Trump supporters to their ideology," she said. "They are very sophisticated in how they do it - they don't come at you directly. You don't necessarily know you're talking to a white supremacist."

There is also ongoing concern that some countries are seeking to use their influence to cause problems.

"Our foreign adversaries, particularly Russia, are employing decades-old covert action tools here to fan the flames of cultural conflict," said Rodriguez of the Washington D.C. Homeland Security Agency.

State officials have expressed similar concerns, going back to before Biden's inauguration or even the siege of the US Capitol.

"There is this incredible and terrible convergence, frankly, of ideology, hatred, anger. And it's all fueled by this kind of incitement of chaos and concern among various groups," Jared Maples, director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, told VOA last month.