Acting Chief of the Capitol Police Yogananda Pittman said that her forces will continue to employ enhanced security measures around the U.S. Capitol complex for the foreseeable future. Pittman noted that intelligence suggests that extremists similar to those who stormed the Capitol on January 6 will likely target President Joe Biden‘s first address to Congress to stage a violent attack.
“We know that members of the militia groups that were present on January 6 have stated their desires that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible with a direct nexus to the State of the Union, which we know that date has not been identified,” Pittman said in a statement on Friday. “So based on that information, we think that it’s prudent that Capitol Police maintain its enhanced and robust security posture until we address those vulnerabilities going forward.”
Biden is expected to speak at a joint session of Congress, the first since the Capitol insurrection, soon after Congress passes his COVID-19 response bill, the American Rescue Plan.
Pittman recently spoke at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing to discuss the Capitol riot. She told members that insurrectionists “weren’t only interested in attacking members of Congress and officers.” Pittman continued, “They wanted to send a symbolic message to the nation as to who was in charge of that legislative process.”
