Hawaii Gov. David Ige has expressed confidence in the safety of the Hawaii State Capitol building, as the state monitors activities in light of an internal FBI bulletin warning of upcoming armed protests in the nation’s state capitols and Washington, D.C.
Ige said in a video streamed on Jan. 6, the day of the protests that turned violent at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., that the U.S. Capitol storming was “an assault on our democracy” and that Hawaii’s Sheriff’s Department of Public Safety and Honolulu Police Department were working to protect the state’s Capitol.
Hawaii’s 31st legislature will convene on Wednesday, Jan. 20, the Hawaii State Legislature’s website said.
“I do feel safe here at the state Capitol. I’ve worked here at the Capitol for three decades now,” Ige said in the video. “The Capitol was designed purposefully to be a very open facility, inviting our community to observe and participate in the legislative process. That makes it very difficult to create the fortress kind of security measures that we see in most other state capitols.”
Ige said in the video that he’s aware of concern that Hawaii's capitol’s open design makes it “very difficult to make it a fortress today.”
“We do continue to work with sheriff’s and law enforcement when there are protests that we hear about or that is scheduled to make plans to be prepared to keep the occupants in this building safe,” Ige said.
In an internal FBI bulletin read to The Associated Press, it was reported that armed protests were planned from Saturday, Jan. 16, through “at least” Wednesday, Jan. 20, at all state capitols and in Washington, The Indiana Lawyer said.
“We have been monitoring what has happened here today (Jan. 6), and I did observe Trump supporters over the weekend, and I’m proud of the fact that their supporters peacefully exercised their constitutional right to state their position, and there was no violence or no problem that we observed here in the state of Hawaii,” Ige said in the video. “We do have plans. We do monitor and drill for civil disobedience, and certainly our sheriff's and Honolulu Police Department was prepared should something have happened.”
Honolulu Civil Beat reported that Hawaii House Majority Leader Della Au Belatti said “that steps are being taken now to assess and address concerns leading up to Jan. 20, which is the Legislature’s opening day as well as Inauguration Day.”
“Due to the pandemic, the Capitol remains closed to the public and plans are for most of the session to be conducted remotely with authorized members and staff meeting in-person at the Capitol,” Honolulu Civil Beat said Bellati said in a statement.
Ige said in the video that they have been proactive in planning for protests, reaching out to the organizers of protests to let them be aware they have a constitutional right to peaceful protests, but also discussing what is acceptable.
“I am proud of the people of Hawaii because they do understand how important it is for all of us to be able to exercise our constitutional right, to share their beliefs and their positions on a wide range of very controversial issues,” Ige said in the video.