Authorities on high alert for potential armed protests by extremist groups in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware did not need to use their heightened security, after all, as the demonstrations failed to materialize Sunday.
All three states had an increased police presence, as well as National Guard members, stationed at their capitols after the FBI sent an internal memo earlier in the week, warning that armed groups planned protests across all 50 statehouses in the country in the leadup to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Yet, the weekend saw no violence and riots like the one seen at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. That deadly storming by a mob of President Donald Trump supporters raised security fears across the country as ardent supporters of the president continue to peddle the unfounded claim that the election was stolen by Democrats.
But unlike the storming of the Capitol, where people entered the premises and outnumbered police for hours, law enforcement in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware appeared prepared for what was to potentially come as authorities closed off streets and officers stood guard in front of their respective state capitols.
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However, only a few scattered Trump supporters and counter-protesters showed up.
“There’s more skateboarders than protesters. So that is really good,” Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora said.
Nearly a dozen New Jersey law enforcement partners planned for days, securing the state capitol perimeter.
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"We blocked off some key streets to the capitol and also key streets to city hall," Grady Griffin, Trenton's Office Emergency Management Coordinator, told NBC10.
"It's time for the country to come back together. It's time for us to unite again. We are the United States of America. We need to remember that."
Reporting from the Associated Press contributed to this story.
