WASHINGTON—An arrest Tuesday at the Capitol of a man who police said was carrying a torch and smelled like fuel underscored Election Day anxiety gripping the nation’s capital.
U.S. Capitol Police halted tours for visitors for the rest of the day in order to investigate the incident.
The arrest came amid security threats, voting disinformation, and fears of violent protests in response to the outcome of the deadlocked presidential race in a bitterly divided country.
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The FBI on Tuesday warned of two fake videos circulating, one warning of a high terror threat at polling stations and urging Americans to “vote remotely.”
“This video is not authentic and does not accurately represent the current threat posture or polling location safety,” the FBI said in a statement.
Another fabricated video disguised as an official FBI press release alleges officials at five prisons in the key swing states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona rigged inmate voting and colluded with a political party. “This video is also not authentic, and its contents are false,” the FBI said.
Some businesses, stores and restaurants in downtown Washington took the extraordinary precaution of boarding up in case the outcome of the historic election between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris sparks violent demonstrations.
“I want to be very clear: We will not tolerate any violence of any kind,” Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith warned on the eve of the election. “We will not tolerate any riots. We will not tolerate the destruction of property. We will not tolerate any unlawful behavior. Offenders will be arrested and will be held accountable.”
The Secret Service had already fortified the White House and the vice president’s residence at the Naval Observatory and other federal landmarks with 8-foot-tall fencing as election denialism conspiracies spread throughout the internet.
The FBI and other U.S. law-enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice, Secret Service, Capitol Police, Department of Homeland Security, and Election Assistance Commission, are operating a national election command post around the clock through at least Nov. 9.
“What all of these folks are doing is triaging information,” James Barnacle, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s investigative division, said in a statement. “We’ve had information coming in to the FBI in the last few days.”
Meanwhile, polling officials in Fulton County, Georgia, where Trump has been indicted for his alleged efforts to overturn the state’s election results in 2020, responded to bomb threats on Tuesday.
The bomb threats were deemed not to be credible. And Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, said officials had identified the source “and it was from Russia.”
There were bomb threats in other states also deemed not credible, according to the FBI, which said many of the threats “appear to originate from Russian email domains.”
Officials in Washington say they’re monitoring and responding to any federal election crimes, threats to poll workers, foreign influence meddling, cyber threats, and acts of domestic terrorism.
“When information is threatening and it rises to the violation of federal laws then we look to take action,” Barnacle said.
Find the Daily Beast’s coverage of the 2024 election here. Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast.
