US security agencies boost deployments, spying ahead of Capitol riot anniv.

US law enforcement and federal authorities in Washington have increased deployment and surveillance measures to boost security ahead of the first anniversary of the January 6 Capitol riot.

Homeland Security Secretary (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas said the department has enforced a "heightened level of vigilance, because we are at a heightened level of threat."

"The threat of domestic violent extremists is a very great one," he said.

The DHS said it has increased the presence of security agents where necessary, implement 24-hour surveillance and enhance coordination with with the FBI, the Metropolitan Police Department, US Park Police.

US Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger noted that the department is closely monitoring several events to prevent another mob attack. He said the top priority issues for the police are “intelligence dissemination, operational planning and civil disturbance unit preparedness.”
 
He also noted that US Capitol Police has identified around 9,600 threats in 2021 that mostly consist of phone calls, mail or messages on social media. 

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said, “We are very focused on the lone actor or a loose affiliation of individuals, rather than necessarily an organized structure with a set and defined hierarchy, and that's what I think can make the threat so challenging to address. It is that lack, it is the loose affiliation of individuals and the dynamic nature that they present.” 

US President Joe Biden last month signed into law a bill presented by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Roy Blunt that gives the Capitol Police chief the authority to request emergency assistance from the National Guard.

A poll, meanwhile, said more than half of Americans believe that similar unrest may occur in the next couple of years.

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The US administration has concluded that the government’s response to the events of  January 6 was affected by the lack of high-level information exchange and the inability to foresee how the situation would develop.

On January 6 last year, a rally by supporters of former president Donald Trump turned into a riot as protestors broke into the US Capitol building to prevent the certification of the results of the Electoral College votes. Five people, including one police officer, died during the riot.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed to hold all perpetrators of last January's attack on US Capitol at any level accountable on the eve of the first anniversary of the riot.

"The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6 perpetrators at any level accountable under law, whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy," Garland said.

More than 725 individuals have been arrested and charged for their role in the January 6 riot. 

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