House Speaker denied New Threat from QAnon to US Capitol

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On Thursday, the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi denied that the House of Representatives had adjourned early because of a potential QAnon threat on the Capitol and called it “Silliness”. She informed reporters and said, “I don’t think anybody should take any encouragement that because some troublemakers might show up that we changed our whole schedule. No, we just moved it a few hours and it largely will accommodate the Republicans going to their own session”. Pelosi also said the purpose of the adjournment was to give House Republicans time to hold their annual issues conference because of a conspiracy theory that Donald Trump would be inaugurated that day for a 2^nd term.

Pelosi added, “The silliness of this being Inauguration Day and that in May the president will be inaugurated falls into the realm of ‘Let’s not waste our time on it’”. It is noteworthy that the 4^th March was the inauguration day of American presidents until 1933. But, an amendment to the Constitution changed it to 20^th January. Some followers of the elaborate conspiracy theory QAnon believe the March date is still the ‘Real’ inauguration day and Trump will return to power then. The Capitol Police said they had received intelligence that a militia group was planning to storm the Capitol a 2^nd time in order to make that fantasy a reality. The federal law enforcement was on high alert on Thursday because of the threat.

But, the House Speaker didn’t seem overly concerned. She said, “I hope you felt safe coming in today. We’re way ahead of where we were last time because we have fences, and we have National Guard and the rest”. Pelosi also referred the Last Time to 6^th January when a mob of Trump supporters overwhelmed Capitol Police and stormed the building, caused 5 deaths. After the incident, Capitol Police requested that 4,900 National Guard troops remain in Washington, DC until 12^th March 2021. Pelosi said on Thursday that it wasn’t up to her how long they would stay after that point. She said, “The issue about the National Guard is one that will be made by the Capitol Police and the police board and the rest. But we should have them here as long as they are needed”.