State capitols shutter amid fears of violence

Lawmakers in Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Oregon and other states have decided to either close capitol grounds or cancel legislative sessions in an effort to thwart the sort of violence that occurred in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 as Congress met to certify Biden’s victory in November’s election.

The FBI has warned that similar violence is possible in all 50 state capitals and the District of Columbia throughout the week of the inauguration, and public security experts have said the U.S. Capitol riot could inspire copycat efforts across the country. Right-wing extremists had already made attempts to take over state capitols before the insurrection in Washington.

“State legislatures have come under attack from far-right militants regularly over the last three years, including a breach of the Oregon State Legislature just two weeks before the attack on the U.S. Capitol,” Michael German, a former FBI agent who is now a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty & National Security program, told HuffPost in an email this week. “It is natural that these attacks will continue because the feeble law enforcement response has conditioned these militants to believe they can get away with it.”