National security agencies warn Trump inauguration is ‘attractive potential target’ for threats

A group of intelligence and law enforcement agencies wrote in a threat assessment that hasn’t been released to the public, which was obtained by Politico, that potential perpetrators, like those with "election-related grievances" may see the event as "their last opportunity to influence the election results through violence."

The threat assessment was compiled by the FBI, Secret Service, Capitol Police, the Washington DC government, and the Supreme Court’s police. It laid out multitudes of scenarios that could occur, such as foreign terrorists, domestic extremists, and lone wolves initiating bomb hoaxes, drone flights, vehicle ramming attacks, and swatting calls.

The threat assessment noted that Iran, which has sought to kill Trump or his national security advisors in an act of revenge for the killing of General Qassem Solemani. The threat assessment said that in response to a video posted to Telegram the day after Election Day by a media entity aligned with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, 700,000 users threatened to assassinate Trump.

Law enforcement is also concerned about protests around the inauguration turning disorderly, with multiple groups applying for demonstration permits, including some groups whose previous protests ended with arrests. The threat assessment stated, "Past protests by some of these individuals have involved traffic blockades, trespassing, property destruction, and resisting arrest."

Politico noted that the report was similarly formatted to the threat assessment sent out by agencies ahead of President Biden’s inauguration. Former counterterrorism official John Cohen, who helped with security planning for Biden’s inauguration, said that this year’s event faces more threats than the inauguration four years ago.

"As somebody who was involved in the planning of the last inauguration, the threat environment was dangerous," Cohen said. "As I sit here today, based on the work I’ve been doing with law enforcement for the past four years, the threat environment today is even more volatile and more dangerous than it was in 2021."

Security efforts for the inauguration are being beefed up, with police from across the nation coming to DC. Around 4,000 officers will reinforce the city’s police department, DC Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said in a Monday press conference. A total of 25,000 law enforcement and military personnel will be on-site to secure the inauguration, said Matt McCool, Special Agent in Charge for the Secret Service’s Washington Field Office, at the press conference.