Hana Industries: Hawaii-based company has been paid $1.6M to protect DC through Biden's inauguration, claims report
Federal agents are reportedly hiring some "badass" security agents from the Aloha State to guard the nation's capital through President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. According to federal procurement documents obtained by TMZ, the Department of Homeland Security recently awarded private security firm Hana Industries Inc. a $1.6 million contract for protective services, effective from now until the end of the month.
Hana's protective security officers, according to the paperwork, will be keeping a close eye on the capital and surrounding areas for unusual activities. The move to hire an external security force comes at the heels of the Capitol riots last week.
Hana Industries Inc touts itself as providing armed security guards for base security operations and entry point management. They have previously protected a number of Naval bases and shipyards around Hawaii. The company has been recruiting to get more guards on the ground in the D.C. area, according to TMZ, and they are interested in anyone with 2 to 5 years of military or law enforcement experience, and prior certification from the Dept. of Homeland Security.
According to the report, external support is crucial for the National Guard and police forces in Washington D.C. - especially since the FBI has warned that armed protesters are planning to take wreak havoc in DC and all 50 states in the days leading up to the inauguration.
An FBI bulletin, obtained by ABC News on Monday, warned of a threat to storm government buildings nationwide. “Armed protests are being planned at all 50 state capitols from 16 January through at least 20 January, and at the US Capitol from 17 January through 20 January,” read the bulletin.
As per the New York Magazine, a group is calling for “storming” state, local, and federal government courthouses and administrative buildings in the event President Trump is removed prior to Inauguration Day. The FBI has reportedly received information about an identified armed group intending to travel to Washington, DC on January 16. The FBI said that the group has warned that if Congress attempts to remove POTUS via the 25th Amendment a huge uprising will occur.
Last Wednesday, a protest led by Trump supporters broke into the US Capitol and rampaged through the halls of Congress. In what many including Republican party members described as a coup attempt, a Capitol Police officer who was struck in the head with a fire extinguisher died. One protestor who was shot by a police officer as she tried to push her way into the heavily protected Speaker’s Lobby, just outside the House chamber was also killed. Three others died as a result of “medical emergencies” on the Capitol grounds, according to the authorities.
The top federal prosecutor in Washington, DC, Michael Sherwin, said he expected hundreds of people could be charged in the aftermath of the attack, and investigations may take months. "I would not be surprised if we find loose affiliations of groups that were organized and had plans in place," Sherwin told CNN. "We saw in some of these individuals we identified -- they look paramilitary almost, right? You've got the uniform, you've got communication, you have all the paraphernalia. Those show indications of affiliation and a command-and-control. So I believe we are going to find those hallmarks."