No specific threats in Pa., but police in Harrisburg bolster security

Pennsylvania Capitol Police and state police said Thursday there are no specific threats against the Capitol Complex in Harrisburg, though the departments say they are prepared should rumors of attacks come to fruition.

“We have no specific intelligence relative to the Capitol Complex,” state police Lt. Col. Scott Price said during a virtual press briefing. “There’s a lot of generalized intelligence, and we continue to scour various platforms incessantly in an attempt to get a very robust operational picture.”

The recent shutdowns of some social media platforms — particularly Parler, a now-defunct social media site favored by conspiracy theorists and far-right posters and planners — have hampered some police surveillance efforts, officials said.

“I supposed you could phrase it as potentially unintended consequences,” Price said of the social media crackdowns. “Social media gave a window into some of these activities.”

He said as one platform dies, another often takes its place. Some groups have become wise to the fact they’re being watched.

“The folks that are posting — we see the generalized postings of information, but people are less likely to post (specifics),” he said. “Of course, they realize that we see a lot of this information; it’s publicly accessible. That’s become somewhat of a challenge, but it’s not insurmountable for us.”

While there have been no specific threats on the Capitol outside of general rumors of plans for armed marches in all 50 states, police and the National Guard will remain in place in the lead-up to President-elect Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration, officials said.

About 450 Pennsylvania National Guard members have been activated, according to Gov. Tom Wolf, though it is not clear how many will be stationed in Harrisburg and how many will be elsewhere in the state.

That’s on top of the more than 1,000 guard members sent to assist in Washington, D.C.

“I will not allow what happened at our nation’s capital to happen here,” Wolf said in a statement announcing the activation.

Two people were killed and three others died in the Jan. 6 chaos in Washington as Congress met to affirm Biden’s presidential victory. A Capitol police officer died from injuries he sustained in the riots, and a woman was shot by police as she tried to climb through a broken door inside the building.

Three others among the crowd suffered medical emergencies and died.

In the aftermath, rumors of armed marches on state capitols began to spread, sparking the preparations in Pennsylvania and beyond.

“The Pennsylvania Capitol Police are now forced to prepare to take the appropriate and necessary actions to prevent that type of situation here,” said Capitol Police Superintendent Joseph Jacob.

That includes patrols around the complex by the department’s Special Response Team in full tactical gear and backup from state police, Harrisburg police and the National Guard.

Neither Price nor Jacob would say how long the increased security will remain in place. Price said the coordinated plans among his department, Capitol police and others are scalable and flexible.

Jacob noted that the state House and Senate are closed for part of next week, and the Capitol Complex has been closed to visitors for months amid the covid-19 pandemic. Harrisburg police Chief Thomas Carter pledged that officers would keep any chaos at the Capitol from spilling into residential neighborhoods.

“We are well-prepared to take on anything that may or may not come our way the next couple of days,” he said. “For me, I hope it is a drill of us working together.”