Members of the California National Guard will soon be heading to the state Capitol to help keep the building and other critical infrastructure safe ahead of Inauguration Day.
Armed soldiers are already out in force at the nation’s Capitol. Soon, California's Capitol grounds will become a similar scene as federal agents monitor threats of violence.
"All 50 states, FBI, JTTFs (Joint Terrorism Task Forces) and the four territories are working 24 hours a day to pursue every lead, every credible threat," U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Matt Miller said.
Protective fencing went up at the state Capitol Thursday and the California Highway Patrol is now standing guard. Soon, 1,000 guard members will join them.
"The only mistake that could be made at this point is to not be prepared, and so we should expect our leaders to err on the side of being prepared," retired San Francisco police commander and University of San Francisco professor Richard Correia said.
Correia said calling in the California National Guard makes sense. He said scaling up instead of pulling officers from local police and sheriff's departments is smart.
"The public should find some calm in knowing that the situation's being monitored and that what happened last week at the Capitol won’t happen here in California," he said.
