'Armed Marches' Threatened In NC Before Inauguration

NORTH CAROLINA — In the wake of the riots at the U.S. Capitol last week, security groups are warning about continued threats from far-right extremists nationwide, including in North Carolina.

Flyers calling for an "armed march on all state capitols" in the closing days of Donald Trump's presidency have been circulating the internet for days, alarming researchers and security analysts tracking online threats on several social media platforms.

"There is concern about potential threats of violence, threats that are already out there," North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday.

Law enforcement throughout the state are on alert, according to Eric Hooks, Secretary of North Carolina's Department of Public Safety.

"I have been in constant contact with all of our partners in state law enforcement, local law enforcement and our federal partners," such as the FBI to discuss "potential eventualities," Hooks said.

"We want to make sure that we maintain a high level of vigilance, that we're well partnered and well-position to address any threat that comes our way," Hooks said.

The violence in D.C. brought criticism against security plans for the event by officials, who some say were woefully unprepared. The FBI warned state officials about these potential threats to state capitols in a memo circulated on Dec. 29, before the Capitol attack occurred, according to a Yahoo News report Monday.

RELATED: State Capitols Step Up Security Amid New Safety Concerns

Much of the unrest is planned in the lead-up to the Jan. 20 inauguration of Joe Biden. The marches on state capitols are called for on Sunday, Jan. 17, the final Sunday of the Trump presidency.

The online flyers have found a home on pro-Trump forums such as Parler and The Donald, which researchers with the SITE Intelligence group said openly organized the violence in Washington, D.C., and interpreted Trump's statements as orders. Parler's website was offline Monday after Amazon removed it from its web hosting service, and Apple and Google removed it from their app stores. Parler has filed a lawsuit in response.

"When democracy is destroyed, refuse to be silenced," one advertisement reads. "Come armed at your personal discretion."

SITE published a report Sunday that indicated further violence was threatened. "No matter how all this plays out, it's only the beginning," the report quotes one Parler user.

While other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have moved to ban or temporarily close Trump's accounts and others that they say are fomenting insurrection and violence, the flyers have continued to be widely disbursed on those sites, too.

Other unrest is planned in D.C. on Jan. 20, the day of the inauguration, and is called alternatively a "Million Militia March" or a "Million Martyr March."

"We will come in numbers that no standing army or police agency can match," one Parler post read. "However, the police are NOT Our enemy, unless they choose to be!"

Justin Heinze, Patch staff, contributed