U.S. CAPITOL POLICE INTEL CHIEF WARNED OF RIGHT-WING ATTACKS

The director of intelligence for the US Capitol Police warned Congress in July that rebellion against COVID-19 precautions had accelerated violence by right-wing “revolutionary extremists,” according to congressional testimony, John Shiffman reported for Reuters.

Four months before he joined the force, John K. Donohue, then a private security consultant, testified that the country desperately needed a sophisticated social media early-warning system, akin to the US nuclear missile launch detection capability, to prevent a catastrophe.

“America is at a crossroads,” Donohue told the U.S. House Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism during a July 16 hearing. “The intersection of constitutional rights and legitimate law enforcement has never been more at risk by domestic actors as it is now as seditionists actively promote a revolution.”

He added: “The time for acknowledging this phenomenon and rapidly working to preserve civil society is upon us.”

Donohue’s public warning, which has not been previously reported, came six months before a right-wing mob incited by false online conspiracies and President Donald Trump violently stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died as a result of the riot. Donohue was hired by the Capitol Police as intelligence director in November, four months after his testimony.

Reached by Reuters on Tuesday, Donohue declined to comment.

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