Armed Pro-Trump Prostestors Gather at Texas State Capitol, Spark Heavy Police Presence

Days after a mob of President Donald Trump‘s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, another group of pro-Trump individuals has gathered at the Texas State Capitol in order to protest the outcome of the presidential election, which Joe Biden won. According to KSAT News, this gathering prompted a heavy police presence at the location, as more than 100 Texas troopers stood outside of the Capitol. In an effort to prevent another chaotic scene from unfolding at a government building, members of the Texas National Guard were also tasked with patrolling the Capitol building in Austin, Texas.

Authorities were tasked with patrolling and guarding the Texas State Capitol as lawmakers returned to work for the first day of Texas’ legislative season. An internal FBI bulletin warned that there were plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and Washington D.C. in the days leading up to Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20. When it came to the gathering at the Texas State Capitol, there was only a small number of pro-Trump demonstrators who gathered there by mid-morning. They noted that the gathering included several men carrying long rifles and some who were dressed in combat fatigues. However, their demonstration was far from the Capitol’s entrance. In response to these demonstrations, the Texas Department of Public Safety said that they would deploy more security to the Capitol. Although, they did not share whether any specific threats were made.

This demonstration comes nearly a week after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. on Wednesday. At the time, Congress was in the midst of certifying the results of the presidential election. But, the scene at the Capitol quickly turned chaotic when rioters made their way inside the Capitol, causing the building to go into lockdown. Trump did release a statement on Twitter (that was subsequently deleted as it violated the company’s Civic Integrity policy) in which he told his supporters to “go home.” He also said that he loved them and that they were “special.” The president’s account was temporarily suspended in light of these tweets and the events that took place at the Capitol. His account has since been permanently suspended.

Twitter released a statement about his permanent suspension of Trump’s account, which read, “After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” Twitter went on to note that they have a “public interest framework” in place so that its users can “hear from elected officials and world leaders directly.” They noted that Trump pushed the limits of that framework.