Report: Before riot, NYPD, FBI warned Capitol Police about possibility of violence

A pro-Trump mob at the Capitol.
(Image credit: Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Prior to Wednesday's riot at the U.S. Capitol, the FBI and New York Police Department notified Capitol Police about the possibility of violence, senior law enforcement officials told NBC News.

On Wednesday, President Trump spoke at a rally held to coincide with the tallying of electoral votes. He said supporters should "walk down to the Capitol" where they could "cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we are probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them, because you will never take back our country with weakness." By saying this, law enforcement officials familiar with the matter told NBC News, Trump likely got more people to go to the Capitol than might otherwise have gone.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.