President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration will be "an attractive potential target" for terrorists and others seeking to commit violent acts, U.S. national security agencies warn.
Potential lawbreakers were the subject of a threat assessment compiled by intelligence and law enforcement agencies and reviewed by Politico.
During a press conference Monday, an FBI official said the bureau was not tracking any "credible threats" in connection with the inauguration.
However, the threat assessment said people with "election related grievances" may see the inauguration as "their last opportunity to influence the election results through violence."
Law enforcement and security officials have been on high alert since Trump survived two assassination attempts during the summer, and recent terrorist attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas.
Israel's war in Gaza also could inspire violent acts, the assessment said.
Besides that, Iran has aimed to kill Trump or his national security advisers as revenge for the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani during the first Trump administration term. In November, the Justice Department disclosed an Iranian murder-for-hire plot to kill Trump, charging a man who said he had been tasked by a government official before the Nov. 5 election with assassinating the president-elect.
During the Monday press conference, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger said the "biggest threat, I think for all of us, remains the lone actor."
In threat assessment, the FBI, Secret Service, Capitol Police, the Washington D.C. government and the Supreme Court's police department said foreign terrorists, domestic extremists and lone wolves could initiate bomb hoaxes, swatting calls, drone flights or vehicle-ramming attacks, Politico reported.
Several protesters disrupted Tuesday's confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, Trump's defense secretary nominee, and law enforcement officials worry that demonstration in Washington, D.C., could become violent.
Various groups have applied for demonstration permits. They include some groups that have held protests ending with arrests.
"Past protests by some of these individuals have involved traffic blockades, trespassing, property destruction, and resisting arrest," the threat assessment said, Politico reported.
With 30 miles of tall black temporary fencing, 25,000 law enforcement officers and security checkpoints set up to process hundreds of thousands of spectators, Washington is braced for Trump's inauguration on Monday.
Former counterterrorism official John Cohen, who worked on planning for Biden's inauguration, said this year's event faces more threats than the one in 2021.
"As somebody who was involved in the planning of the last inauguration, the threat environment was dangerous," Cohen told Politico. "As I sit here today, based on the work I've been doing with law enforcement for the past four years, the threat environment today is even more volatile and more dangerous than it was in 2021."
Reuters contributed to this story.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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