PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Fearing the possibility of an insider attack during President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, the FBI is screening all 25,000 National Guard members who will be in Washington, D.C., this week.
Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told the Associated Press there is no known credible threat, but they don’t want to take any chances — especially just two weeks after extremists, who support President Donald Trump, stormed the U.S. Capitol.
“We’re continually going through the process, and taking second, third looks at every one of the individuals assigned to this operation,” McCarthy said in an interview on Sunday, after he and other top military leaders went through a three-hour security drill.
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“This is completely unprecedented, obviously extraordinarily sad in many ways,” said CBS News national security analyst Retired Col. Jeff McCausland. “But conditions at the moment seemed to warrant this as extra security is being taken in the preparation for the inauguration.”
Federal authorities have made more than 100 arrests of people who allegedly took part in the Capitol violence on Jan. 6. According to AP, at least 21 are current or former members of the U.S. military or law enforcement.
“The American military is a reflection of American society. The problems that start to worsen in American society will appear inside the American military,” McCausland said.
About 25,000 National Guard troops are assigned to protect the inauguration — nearly three times greater than previous inaugurations. Two-thousand are from Pennsylvania, about 500 from New Jersey, and 200 from Delaware.
While the military routinely reviews service members for extremist connections, the FBI screening is in addition to any previous monitoring.
Multiple officials said the process began as the first National Guard troops began deploying to D.C. more than a week ago. It is slated to be complete by Wednesday.
“The question is, is that all of them? Are there others?” said McCarthy. “We need to be conscious of it and we need to put all of the mechanisms in place to thoroughly vet these men and women who would support any operations like this.”
The threats against Biden’s inauguration have been fueled by Trump supporters, far-right militants, white supremacists and other radical groups. Many believe Trump’s baseless accusations that the election was stolen from him — a claim that has been refuted by many courts, the Justice Department and Republican officials in key battleground states.
“This is a national priority. We have to be successful as an institution,” said McCarthy. “We want to send the message to everyone in the United States and for the rest of the world that we can do this safely and peacefully.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.