January 20, 2025
Every 4 years on 20 January, a new president is sworn in during the Inauguration. On 20 January 2025, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president (as well as the 45th) of the United States of America. After an often controversial election cycle, this event is more polarizing than usual.
During the election campaign Trump was a victim of an assassination attempt, which led to the death of one of his supporters. More recently the CEO of United Healthcare was gunned down on a Manhattan street, reportedly by an individual with grievances against the US health insurance system.
These two events highlight the importance of security for publicly visible individuals. This includes monitoring the dark web and dark web adjacent sites to identify if any threats are being made to individuals or groups and to identify if any events are being planned. This is particularly important around an event as high profile as the inauguration. We therefore explore the discussions that are being held on the dark web relating to the inauguration.
Discussions of the Inauguration
The majority of chatter relating to the inauguration that DarkOwl analysts have observed has taken place on Telegram. Although no direct threats were identified by DarkOwl analysts, a lot of discussion was identified relating to the event. With theories about why certain actions are being taken and if anything would happen on the day. A number of the posts seem to be related to conspiracy theories.
One post identified suggested that individuals who have a fear of being arrested will not come to the inauguration. It is not clear why the poster believes this, if they think that an event will occur at the event that would lead to arrests or that arrests would happen for another reason.
Another post ponders if arrests will be seen and suggests that the event may be some kind of “trap”:
While other posts suggest that local law enforcement agencies are unwilling to help protect the security of the inauguration. Although no evidence is provided for why they believe this.
Other posts mention President Biden’s “farewell” speech claiming that it is fake as well as sharing the reporting that the inauguration will be moved inside.
While it has been widely reported that the inauguration event is being moved indoors to cold weather, many commentators on Telegram have suggested that there are other more serious security reasons for this move.
In the below post, the poster suggests that the event is being moved inside due to the previous assassination attempt against President Trump.
While other posts suggest that there are other threats against the event which led to the change in venue. Suggesting that an individual believes there will be a bomb attack. This is based on a “vision” the individual had and does not appear to be based on any credible evidence.
Others suggest that the move is not linked to the weather but don’t suggest what the alternate reason for the move might be.
Others are taking advantage of the inauguration event to publicize new cryptocurrency coins “Trump Bitcoin.” Many in the cryptocurrency community have been very supportive of Trump and his financial policies in relation to regulation and taxation of cryptocurrency. Many are using his return to the presidency to promote their activities.
DarkOwl also monitor a number of messaging app channels which are used by individuals associated with Islamic terrorism. While we did not identify any specific threats against the inauguration, the below images includes Trump and describes the reaction to his re-election.
Conclusion
The majority of chatter DarkOwl analysts observed on the dark web relating to the inauguration appeared to be related to conspiracy theories, especially related to the recent change of venue. While no specific threats were identified there was discussion about the possibility of arrests or some violence occurring and discussions that it may not be well secured.
As this marks the beginning of Trump’s second presidency, it is likely that this kind of rhetoric will continue.
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