Siege ups inauguration safety fears
Attack fuels worry about securing Biden-Harris event
WASHINGTON — The violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is intensifying scrutiny over security at the upcoming inauguration ceremony for President-elect Joe Biden, which already has been reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic and President Donald Trump’s decision not to attend.
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will take the oath of office from the Capitol’s West Front, one of the locations where a mob overpowered police and stormed the building on Wednesday. They also scaled and occupied the scaffolding and bleachers in place for the ceremonies.
Plans for the Jan. 20 inauguration were already scaled back because of the coronavirus. But the brazen attack raises new questions about preparedness for the event that will welcome a new administration after a bitter election.
Trump’s announcement on Twitter that he would boycott the inauguration came as he holed up in the White House with a dwindling coterie of aides and as momentum grew on Capitol Hill to subject him to impeachment for a second time.
“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th,” Trump tweeted.
Biden said he was just fine with that, calling it “one of the few things we have ever agreed on.”
“It’s a good thing him not showing up,” he added, calling the president an “embarrassment” to the nation and unworthy of the office.
Trump’s decision was not a surprise: For more than two months he has falsely claimed he won reelection and advanced baseless claims of widespread voter fraud, even though his own administration has said the election was fairly run.
Traditionally, the incoming and outgoing presidents ride to the U.S. Capitol together on Inauguration Day for the ceremony, a visible manifestation of the smooth change of leadership.
Biden will become president at noon on Jan. 20 regardless of Trump’s plans. But Trump’s absence represents one final act of defiance of the norms and traditions of Washington that he has flouted for four years. The co ngressional leaders responsible for coordinating the inauguration have insisted that events will move forward.
“The outrageous attack on the Capitol, however, will not stop us from affirming to Americans — and the world — that our democracy endures,” said Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. “The great American tradition of an inaugural ceremony has occurred in times of peace, in times of turmoil, in times of prosperity, and in times of adversity. We will be swearing in President-elect Biden.”
Security forces have already begun taking extra precautions in the wake of Wednesday’s mayhem. Five people died, including a Capitol Police officer.
Roughly 6,200 members of the National Guard from six states — Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland — will help support the Capitol Police and other law enforcement in Washington for the next 30 days.
Crews erected tall black metal fences on the Capitol grounds that are designed to be impossible to climb. Similar structures have previously been used around the White House and in other cities that faced prolonged demonstrations.
Such barriers would have gone up anyway in coming days, however, because the inauguration is a National Special Security Event overseen by the Secret Service and scores of other federal agencies, including the Defense Department, which helps lead counterterrorism efforts associated with the event. That’s the same level of security provided during political party conventions or when a dignitary lies in state at the Capitol — but not during a normal congressional session like when rioters breached the building.
“The safety and security of all those participating in the 59th Presidential Inauguration is of the utmost importance,” the Secret Service said in a statement. “For well over a year, the U.S. Secret Service, along with our NSSE partners, has been working tirelessly to anticipate and prepare for all possible contingencies at every level.”
Biden told reporters Friday that he has “great confidence in the Secret Service” and their ability to make sure the inauguration “goes off safely.”
Authorities will have the same military and civilian footprint to handle a crowd of more than a million people for an event expected to draw a small fraction of that because of restrictions to combat the coronavirus, according to a person familiar with the security planning.
Those who have worked on previous inaugurations said that while this year’s events will look different, the tradition of passing power from one administration to another will continue.
“Is it as impactful? You don’t have a photo of a million people lined up, so you don’t have that sort of powerful image. But I think you will still have the feel there,” said Bill Daley, a former commerce secretary and White House chief of staff who helped organize President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. “The aura of change will be there.”
Still, the outgoing president has skipped the incoming president’s swearing-in only three times in U.S. history, and the last one to do so was Andrew Johnson 152 years ago. Trump only acknowledged the upcoming transfer of power after the Capitol was stormed.
The inaugural committee said Biden would receive an official escort, with representatives from every military branch, for a block before arriving at the White House from the Capitol.