The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has warned that armed protests are being planned for Washington and all 50 U.S. state capitals in the run-up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on 20th January.
According to the FBI, one armed group has vowed that an uprising will take place if attempts are made to remove Mr Trump from office.
In an attempt to safeguard the U.S. capital, the National Guard has been authorised to send up to 15,000 troops to Washington, and tourists are barred from visiting the Washington Monument until Jan. 24.
The chief of the National Guard Bureau, General Daniel Hokanson, told reporters he expected about 10,000 troops in Washington by Saturday to help provide security, logistics and communications.
He said the number could rise to 15,000 if requested by local authorities.
Additionally, the White House has announced in a statement that President Donald Trump has approved an emergency declaration for Washington that lasts through January 24.
President Trump ordered federal assistance in response to the emergency conditions, the White House said. The order authorises the Federal Emergency Management Agency to “identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency”.
Emergency declarations under the Stafford Act, which President Trump used to issue the order, are meant to “save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the District of Columbia.”
The US President has been widely accused of inciting the rioters who stormed the Capitol building on 6 January.
This has, in the meantime, led to Democrats charging Donald Trump with “incitement of insurrection” as part of impeachment proceedings.
The opposition politicians have filed one article of impeachment which states Mr Trump made statements at a rally to his supporters that “encouraged and foreseeably resulted in” last week’s violence.
The article of impeachment also accuses Mr Trump of using his speech to incite “violence against the Government of the United States.”
It says the President repeated false claims that he had won the election by a “landslide” and “wilfully made statements that, in context, encouraged – and foreseeably resulted in – lawless action at the Capitol, such as: ‘if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore’.”
It also states that Mr Trump’s words incited people to storm the Capitol, where they “injured and killed law enforcement personnel, menaced Members of Congress, the Vice President, and Congressional personnel, and engaged in other violent, deadly, destructive, and seditious acts.”
The impeachment article further cites “prior efforts to subvert and obstruct” the certification of the election result.
It specifically refers to a call to Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, urging him to “find” enough votes for the president to win the state.
The Article of Impeachment: Incitement to Insurrection
Republicans have blocked an attempt to immediately consider a resolution asking Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Mr Trump from office.
Mr Pence is believed to be against forcing the President from power, so a vote on the impeachment could happen on Wednesday, Jan. 13 and needs a simple majority to pass.
Proceedings in the House of Representatives have adjourned for 24 hours, when a vote on that resolution is expected.
If it is voted through, it would move to the Senate for trial with senators acting as jurors and voting on whether to acquit or convict President Trump.
Mr Trump could now become the only US president to be impeached twice.
