The FBI was alerted to concerning tension on the US far right before the January 6 Capitol riots, with an informant claiming a Trump tweet had been perceived as a “call to arms”.
A confidential source, still used by the Bureau, warned of a “big” threat of violence on that day, according to reports.
On December 19, at 1.42am, then-President Donald Trump tweeted: “Big protest in DC on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”
The FBI source suggested this tweet sparked a huge amount of violent chatter on extremist social media forums.
“Trump tweeted what people on the right are considering a call to arms in DC on January 6,” the source said of Trump’s tweet in a confidential email seen by NBC News.
The source also sent information to the FBI which outlined extremist chatter in far right groups on various social media platforms discussing things like civil war, hanging traitors and calling for militia to take up arms.
Messages included “war is inevitable”, “hell is going to break loose”, “locked and loaded”, “my powder is dry, my guns are clean” and “I’m not afraid of death and I’ll gladly take lives for the preservation of our country”.
The news comes as the House January 6 committee investigating the Capitol riots voted unanimously to refer Trump to the Justice Department for four criminal counts.
The counts include “influencing or impeding an official proceeding of the US government”, “conspiring to defraud the US”, “unlawfully, knowingly or willingly making false statements to the federal government”, and “assisting or engaging in insurrection against the United States”.
The referrals are largely symbolic and do not mean Trump will be charged with a crime.
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Although the potential of violence leading up to the January 6 Capitol riot was no secret – for example, an NBC headline from January 5 read: “Violent threats ripple through far-right internet forums ahead of protest” – the confidential emails show that the FBI was warned by at least one of its own before the attack.
The January 6 committee also highlighted Trump’s December 19 tweet as a pivotal moment leading up to the riots. It has been cited in a number of cases of January 6 defendants.
Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, said during a committee hearing over the summer that the tweet had changed “the course of our history as a country”.
Trump announced his candidacy in the 2024 Presidential race on November 15 and has maintained, without proof, that the 2020 election was mired by voter fraud and “stolen” from him.
