BIDEN PLANNING CAPITOL INAUGURAL
Event on building’s steps will be two weeks after assault by violent mob
Joe Biden still plans to be sworn in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, exactly two weeks after a mob with rioters stormed the building to attack the nation Biden was elected to lead.
That moment will launch an inaug uration set to take place under extraordinary circumstances. The event was already scaled down and subdued by the coronavirus pandemic. The Biden administration has the added weight of showing streng th and stability to the rest of the world.
While changes could still be made, Biden's inaug uration and swearing are set to take place on the west front of the U.S. Capitol.
“We are conf ident in our security par tners who have spent months planning and preparing for the inaug uration, and we are continuing to work with them to ensure the utmost safety and security of the president-elect,” a senior Biden inauguration official said last week, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss security matters. “This will mark a new day for the American people focused on healing our nation, bring ing our country together and building it back better.”
After weeks of historic unrest, the Biden administration is hoping that the i naug uration will draw attention toward the importance of national unity and away from President Donald Trump, who said in a tweet Friday that he would not attend the event. He would be the f irst president to skip his successor 's swearing-in ceremony in 152 years.
Some involved in the inaug uration planning, who have been in
close contact with security agencies, noted that the security footprint for the event will be much larger than it was Wednesday at the Capitol, when the mob disrupted the Senate and House as lawmakers certified the Electoral College results.
The inauguration is deemed a National Special Security Event (NSSE), which brings in a wide range of federal agencies and law enforcement off icials that create a wide security perimeter, with road closures and barriers around the Capitol.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser released a letter Sunday urging Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Depar tment of Homeland Security, to take “a
very different approach than previous i naug urations g iven the chaos, injury, and death experienced at the United States Capitol during the insurrection.”
Bowser asked the department to extend the NSSE period and coordinate with other federal agencies to free up the D.C. police to focus on “its local mission.” She also called on Wolf to cancel and deny permits for all demonstrations from today to Jan. 24.
Some suppor ters of Trump have vowed to return to the District of Columbia on Jan. 17, with a post cited by Alethea Group calling for an “ARMED MARCH ON CAPITOL HILL & ALL STATE CAPITOLS.” Others have discussed a “Million Militia March”
on Inauguration Day.
As of Friday, the Park Ser vice had issued two permits that together allow for 75 people for demonstrations around the inauguration, according to Mike Litterst, a spokesman for the Park Service.
The Park Ser vice is still processing f ive permit applications, which include two requests for events expecting 5,000 people. The f irst of those applications was submitted last January by D.C. Action, a liberal group based in D.C. The second was submitted in December by Black Pact, a nonpar tisan political group organizing a march for reparations.