Jan 7, 2021 at 3:38 pm ET
By Ian Talley and Rachael Levy
Several websites that analysts say are hotbeds for far-right and racist ideology hosted numerous chat threads urging Trump supporters to "storm the Capitol" on Jan. 6.
On Monday, several posters in the chat room boards.4chan.org/pol/ said Trump supporters planned to force an evacuation of the Capitol on Wednesday as lawmakers voted to affirm electoral ballots for President-elect Joe Biden.
"The storm is coming," anonymous poster "txMkt1BK" said on the nearly 10,000-word thread. Another person, "ptwPefMr," wrote that after Trump supporters "storm the Capitol" the "Vote doesnt (sic) finish, Ensuing chaos."
Multiple posters on a site created last yearâTheDonald.winâalso discussed storming the Capitol in the days leading up to Wednesday's riot. One person under the moniker "EvilGuy" said Monday he was "scouting" Washington as part of an effort to "end this shit this week."
"You mean when we storm the Capitol?" responded a "PikachuJohnson."
Over the past 12 months, the Anti-Defamation League sent 1,000 tips to law enforcement based on tracking of social-media comments made by U.S. extremists groups leading up to Wednesday's riot, and noted the increasing ratcheting up of violent rhetoric.
The FBI didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some of those tips led to arrests and prosecutions, and the ADL will continue to work with law enforcement to help identify perpetrators, said ADL head Jonathan Greenblatt.
"We knew this wouldn't dissipate after Election Day and sure enough, we had been seeing an increasing degree of activity ahead of yesterday," Mr. Greenblatt said.
Robert Evans, who specializes in far-right extremism for the research group Bellingcat, predicted an attempt on the Capitol in a post Monday on Bellingcat's website. The taking of the Capitol "was planned by a distributed network of extremists for months, and in some ways for years," said Mr. Evans, who has advised federal law enforcement on the growing extremist movement in the U.S.
Mr. Evans, pointing to multiple social-media and chat room sites, said symbols used by rioters captured by videos and photos of Wednesday's attack identified the ideology of conspiracy theories promoted by far-right extremist groups, especially QAnon. He said a noose in one protestor's hand is likely to represent "The Day of the Rope." A man inside the Capitol wearing a fur hat with horns is known as the "QAnon Shaman," and others seen armed with guns and zip ties all represent the elements of an attack called for by the group to ensure President Trump held on to the White House and Democrats are unseated from power, Mr. Evans said.
Other signs indicated the violent attack was premeditated, such as a man wearing a black shirt emblazoned "MAGA CIVIL WAR January 6, 2021" along with a Trump baseball cap. His photo appeared on Twitter.
The "pol" chat room on the 4chan board is known among analysts as a hub for spreading far-right ideology, especially white supremacy. Those activists, analysts say, have used TheDonald.Win site to foster their beliefs among the Trump supporters.
Subscribers to the QAnon conspiracy theories believe that the Democratic Party is almost entirely populated with members of an authoritarian, pedophile Satanic cabal secretly ruling the world. Mr. Trump is viewed by many white supremacists and those tied to the QAnon group as a necessary leader to help challenge the cabal, researchers specializing in extremism say.
Social-media postings by the woman killed Wednesday while attempting to occupy the Capitol, Ashli Babbit, suggest she was a dedicated QAnon believer, including saying she was willing to risk her life for the cause.
Although the Proud Boys' leader, Enrique Tarrio, was arrested Monday in D.C. and told by a judge to stay away from the city, there was plenty of evidence of the group's presence on Wednesday.
"We are everywhere," a Proud Boys Telegram channel posted Jan. 6, a post reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. "Things will get difficult soon but don't lose heart. We are growing and our unity will terrify the evil elites running this nation."
The Proud Boys are a far-right group whose members have engaged in violence.