Heading ‘into a buzzsaw’: Why extremism experts fear the Capitol attack is just the beginning
The US Capitol is surrounded by fences and troops amid fear the January 6 riots could spark violence this weekend and leading up to Wednesday’s inauguration.
But experts worry the real threat may be what the attack unleashed for the long term.
“The plots of tomorrow are literally being hatched right now,” Oren Segal, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, told CNN.
Experts shared growing concern about chatter around a unifying message of people who feel wronged by those in power, by the political system and by Big Tech.
The assault on the US Capitol was a glaring example of the right-wing extremist movement, which now rivals the threat posed by international terrorism, according to former and current counterterror officials. CNN's Jim Sciutto reports.
Encrypted messaging service, Telegram, has begun the mammoth task of removing extremist channels and far-right groups that are calling for violence after an influx of new sign-ups.
Banned from Facebook and Twitter, pro-Trump extremists hatch Inauguration Day violence in dark reaches of the web Jessica Guynn and Aleszu Bajak, USA TODAY
Rioters storm past police lines at the Capitol
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Expelled from mainstream social media, the supporters of President Trump, QAnon conspiracy theorists, white supremacists and armed agitators behind the deadly Capitol siege have burrowed into the darker reaches of the internet, where they are hatching plans to converge on state capitals and Washington, D.C., this weekend and Inauguration Day in smaller online forums and on encrypted messaging apps.
“Many of Us will return on January 19, 2021, carrying Our weapons, in support of Our nation s resolve, to which [sic] the world will never forget!!! one QAnon supporter wrote on Parler, a right-leaning social media platform that was taken offline Monday when Amazon stopped hosting it. We will come in numbers that no standing army or police