The presence of corruption prosecutors and agents is in part because of their expertise in financial investigations. “We are following the money,” the official said.

By Wednesday morning, the FBI reported that it had received more than 126,000 digital tips from the public regarding the attack on the Capitol — more than three times the number of tips received on Monday.

Counterterrorism strategy for arrests

At least some of the arrests already made are part of a strategy used in counterterrorism investigations, to find even a minimal charge and try to take a person of concern off the streets. That helps ease the possible threat amid concern about possible attacks on the inauguration, officials believe.

On January 4, for example, local police arrested the leader of the Proud Boys, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, in Washington, DC.

Tarrio was taken into custody for allegedly burning a Black Lives Matter banner taken from a Black church last month during protests in the city after an earlier “Stop the Steal” rally. The Miami resident was charged with destruction of property related to the banner, however, federal authorities say they found Tarrio in possession of two high-capacity firearm magazines, prompting them to add a charge of Possession of High Capacity Feeding Device.

On Tuesday, federal authorities in New York City arrested Eduard Florea, 40, on at least one weapons charge after law enforcement, including the FBI and NYPD, responded to a Queens home in response to online postings about an armed caravan heading to the US Capitol, two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the investigation tells CNN.

Law enforcement sources told CNN that the man claims to be a Proud Boy and was arrested with live ammunition in the home.

Already, the public efforts by prosecutors and the FBI to encourage people who participated In the riot to turn themselves in is yielding fruit. Some attorneys have reached out to arrange for safe surrender of their clients in order to gain a measure of leniency and lessen the chance of a police raid on their homes, two officials said.

For instance, a counterterrorism prosecutor even appeared in court for an early hearing for one of the defendants on Tuesday, signaling how integrated the Justice Department’s effort already is between the typical criminal prosecutors who handle initial criminal hearings and with the units focused on more complex crimes.

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“With this strike force that was established to focus strictly on sedition charges, we’re looking at in treating this just like a significant international counterterrorism or counterintelligence operation,” DC US Attorney Michael Sherwin said Tuesday.

“We’re looking at everything: money, travel records. Looking at disposition, movement, communication records. So no resource related to the FBI, or the US Attorney’s Office will be unchecked in terms of trying to determine exactly if there was a command and control how it operated and how they executed these, these activities.”

(Bloomberg) — Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi on Tuesday ordered flags flown at half-staff and declared three days of mourning after three police officers were killed, the latest round of shocking violence to plague the U.S. commonwealth.

On Tuesday, police said the investigation was ongoing, even after they recovered a bullet-riddled body of a man with a sign on his neck reading, “I was responsible for the killing of the guards. Here he is.”

The homicide rate in Puerto Rico is about four times the U.S. national rate. Although it has been dropping, the dramatic nature of the violence can make it all-the-more terrifying. The island is in a long population slump, and some out-migrants cite safety concerns for leaving.

The three officers, state policeman Luis Marrero Diaz, and municipal police, Luis Salaman Conde and Eliezer Hernandez Cartagena, were shot Monday afternoon as they chased a group of men in a stolen car near the island’s capital. All three died from their wounds.

The empty automobile involved in the chase was later found at the Luis Llorens Torres apartment complex in San Juan’s Santurce neighborhood.

The incident is one of the first major challenges for Pierluisi, who took office Jan. 2. On Tuesday, he said the case would remain under investigation until all the suspects had been caught.

“There’s no room for these violent acts and this disdain for life in the Puerto Rico that we want,” he said in a statement.

Puerto Rico recorded 346 murders during the first seven months of 2020, according to the most recent police data. An analysis by local media found that 2020 ended with 529 homicides — the lowest number in three decades.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

ANI |
Updated: Jan 14, 2021 10:53 IST

Washington [US], January 14 (ANI): Former FBI Director James Comey on Wednesday said that the evidence he has seen so far suggests the attack on the US Capitol was a ‘planned assault’.
“The FBI would be doing two things simultaneously — going immediately to find the bad actors all over the country that they can lay hands on and charging them but also exploring the question of conspiracy,” Comey told CNN.
“There is no doubt that there were at least some conspiracy. People wandering around exercising First Amendment rights do not bring ropes and ladders and sledgehammers to a spontaneous event. This was a planned assault like going after a castle,” he added.

His remarks come after it was reported that enforcement officials believed that the attack was premeditated rather than a protest that spiraled out of control.
CNN further reported that among the evidence the FBI is examining are indications that some participants at the Trump rally at the Ellipse, outside the White House, left the event early, perhaps to retrieve items to be used in the assault on the Capitol.
On January 6, a group of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol to protest legislators confirming electoral slates from battleground US states they thought were invalid.
Trump had made a speech among thousands of supporters earlier that day reiterated his claim a massive voter fraud had robbed his election victory and encouraged supporters to maintain support to “stop the steal.”
Five people died in the riot, including one police officer as well as one Air Force veteran and Trump supporter who was shot dead by police. (ANI)

January 14, 2021 | 8:42pm | Updated January 14, 2021 | 9:24pm

5-alarm fire blazes in Brooklyn

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A massive fire ripped through a Brooklyn building Thursday evening, authorities said.

The five-alarm blaze broke out at 244 Montrose Avenue in Bushwick just after 6 p.m., the FDNY said.

Videos on social media show the flames bursting out of the top floors of the building as black smoke billowed into the night sky.

Firefighters can be seen on the roof of an adjacent building trying to put out the blaze, video shows.

Another video shows firefighters finally extinguishing the flames, which left the top of the building charred and destroyed.

Fire officials said no injuries were reported.

It’s unknown what caused the large fire. An investigation is ongoing.

Firefighters battle the five-alarm blaze at 244 Montrose Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Gabriella Bass

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