The US Capitol police have braced themselves for possible violence surrounding the demonstration by supporters of former President Donald Trump that is due there on Saturday.

Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said in Washington on Friday that there were indications of possible threats surrounding the demo.

It is difficult to say whether these are credible, but there was similar online talk before the violent storming of the Capitol in early January.

"So we don't take any chances."

All leads would be taken seriously, said Manger.

The police have prepared for a wide variety of scenarios and made sure that sufficient emergency services and equipment were available.

Clashes with counter-demonstrators are also possible.

But everything is done to avoid that.

A senior Capitol Police officer Sean Gallagher said security preparations had been going on for several weeks.

Emergency forces from other units, such as the capital city police and the national guard, are ready to provide support.

"Our officials are prepared," stressed Gallagher.

There is hope and expectation that the event will remain peaceful over the weekend.

"But our schedules are scalable so that we are ready to handle whatever happens."

Trump supporters had violently stormed the Capitol on January 6th.

Five people were killed, including a police officer.

For this Saturday (6:00 p.m. German time) a demonstration is planned in front of the congress headquarters in support of defendants who have to answer in court because of the storming of the Capitol.

The demonstration was organized by a former employee of Trump's campaign team.

A fence was temporarily rebuilt around the Capitol with a view to the demo to protect the congress headquarters.

The fence was erected after the attack in January and only dismantled in July.

The Capitol Police were criticized at the time because the parliament's security forces were unable to repel the attack.