Officials: Extremist threat to Minnesota Capitol has faded

Published 6:50 am Saturday, January 16, 2021

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MINNEAPOLIS  — Authorities now believe there is no credible, immediate threat from extremists to Minnesota in the runup to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said Friday, but he said law enforcement agencies won’t be taking any chances.

The FBI this week warned of potential attacks at state capitols following the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump. That followed a bulletin from the FBI Minneapolis field office late last month about potential threats from the right-wing Boogaloo movement to the Minnesota and Michigan capitols this Sunday.

All those warnings, in the wake of the violence at the U.S. Capitol, led Gov. Tim Walz to call up the Minnesota National Guard to bolster state and local law enforcement as they beef up security at and near the state Capitol for this weekend and through Wednesday’s inaugural.

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At a news conference called to show a united front, Harrington said that the Dec. 29 FBI bulletin is now “really pretty dated material.” He didn’t provide details on how circumstances have changed since then. But he said the head of the Minneapolis FBI office told him Friday morning that “there is no credible, local, immediate threat to the state of Minnesota.”