Georgia law enforcement officers turned out in force Sunday to prepare for the possibility that pro-Trump extremists might demonstrate at the State Capitol, ringing the building with armed personnel and blocking vehicle access around the Capitol complex with heavy equipment.
The reverberations of the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., are being felt around the nation as police, often with support from the National Guard, lock down statehouses around the nation. Yet no one seems to know what to expect, as calls on internet boards and chats for a militants to converge of capitol buildings today competed online with calls from some of the same militant groups to stay away.
3 p.m. update
Two men armed with rifles over their shoulders showed up at the Capitol this afternoon, the first sign of any armed protest.
The men, one wearing camouflage and the other a UGA scarf, spoke briefly to Georgia National Guardsmen from the other side of a barricade, but declined to identify themselves to an AJC reporter.
“They should definitely be careful and understand they work for the people,” the man in camouflage said of the Georgia National Guardsmen and Georgia State Patrolmen.
Later, he added, “It appears the only ones ballsy enough to rally at the Capitol are the media and us.”
Shortly before they arrived, six protesters walked up, chanting: “Black lives matter!” and “No justice, no peace, no racist police!” The group marched around the Capitol as they chanted.
More than a dozen worshippers from Divine Deliverance Life Center just outside of College Park also prayed beside the Capitol against more insurrections.
“We are just making a stand here. We believe that prayer will go everywhere,” said Karin Berry, an elder with Divine Deliverance.
Beyond Atlanta, Twitter suspended the account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for 12 hours, the Guardian reported today. Last night Greene, who has been photographed with armed militia members, appeared to urge her followers to demonstrate at Sunday’s protests, telling them “to mobilize and make your voices heard in opposition to these attacks on our liberties.”
The tweet was deleted two hours after it was posted but not before being captured by the ProPublica online news organization and others.
12 p.m. update
Earlier this week, Gov. Brian Kemp and other state law enforcement officials were guarded about preparations for any protests that might take place Sunday in response to a national call-out for Pro-Trump supporters to make armed protest on the president’s behalf.
Those preparations are now on full display at the Georgia Capitol.
Armed members of the Georgia State Patrol, Capitol Police and the Georgia National Guard began arriving at the Capitol complex before 8 a.m.
Barricades ring the building. Humvees driven by the Georgia Guard are parked up against the Capitol entrances. Dump trucks and police cruisers are blocking off streets leading to the complex.
Several fortified busses from the Department of Corrections are standing by in the event of mass arrests.
The entire complex of legislative buildings, which last week hosted Georgia lawmakers for the opening of the 2021 session, has become a heavily armed camp.
No protesters are on site and it is unclear how they would even reach the Capitol grounds, given the obstacles put in place.
Similar shows of police force were reported in Maryland, Michigan, New York and Indiana, according to national reporting from The Washington Post, while the Associated Press reported national guardsmen stationed around the Capitols in Ohio and Washington state.
10 a.m. update
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., who was frequently photographed with armed militia members at campaign events and has been amplifying Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen election, urged her followers in a since deleted tweet Saturday night to “to mobilize and make your voices heard in opposition to these attacks on our liberties.”
Online news organization ProPublica captured the tweet before it was deleted.
The warnings from inside far-right groups that they are being set up for arrests come has federal authorities continue to scoop up and charge more than 100 people who participated in the Capitol riot, including some Georgians.
While state capitals were preparing for possible unrest, authorities closed the National Mall in Washington, as part of an increasingly tight security curtain ahead of Wednesday’s inauguration.
In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp met with Georgia National Guard members Saturday evening before they were dispatched to the nation’s capital to prevent another violent attack on the national government.
The Georgia contingent of the Georgia Guard include hundreds of troops from the 48th Brigade and members from the 165th Airlift Wing and the 116th Air Control Wing.
“The Georgia National Guard will support law enforcement professionals to ensure we have a peaceful transition of the presidency,” Maj. Pam Stauffer, a spokeswoman for the Georgia National Guard, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The Georgia National Guard will adjust our posture based on the potential threat.”
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