Guard activated at Capitol amid increased security

LANSING» Gov. Gretchen Whitmer activated the National Guard, the state police continued to augment its presence at the Capitol and crews installed a 6-foot, chain-link fence around the 142-year-old building before expected protests ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.

The Legislature on Friday also canceled session next week, citing law enforcement’s concerns about “credible threats regarding events” at the Capitol.

Michigan State Police Col. Joe Gasper said an unknown number of demonstrators were expected to gather on the grounds Sunday, a week-and-a-half after the deadly breach by a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters at the U.S. Capitol. Troopers were being mobilized from across the state and will be joined by the National Guard and local law enforcement.

Biden will be inaugurated Wednesday, when protesters also may be in Lansing.

“I assure you that we take our responsibility for safeguarding the Capitol very seriously,” Gasper said during a news conference. “Together

with our law enforcement partners, we are prepared for the worst, but we remain hopeful that those who choose to demonstrate at our Capitol do so peacefully, without violence or destruction of property.”

Increased state police staffing at the Statehouse will last through at least mid-February, he said. Ground-level windows at a nearby state building that houses the governor’s office were boarded up. It was believed to the first time such fencing has been positioned around the Capitol in decades.

Maj. Gen. Paul Rogers, adjutant general of the Michigan Army and Air National Guard, said Whitmer — at the request of local officials — had activated troops to help protect people, facilities and key infrastructure. He declined to say how many will be involved but said the response is “significant.” The governor also deployed several hundred Guard members to Washington, D.C., to help with security and traffic control related to the inauguration.