US Capitol prepared, tense for inauguration
The turning of the US Capitol into a fortress of fences, concrete barriers and security checkpoints continued on Monday as thousands of National Guard troops and federal and local law enforcement officers remained vigilant for any threats before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, law enforcement officials are vetting airplane passengers at airports across the nation, putting any who have been identified among the violent protesters at the Capitol on Jan 6 on a “no fly list”.
And the FBI and US Army, prompted by some current and former police officers and military personnel who joined the attack on the Capitol, screened National Guard troops in the capital for any extremist elements among the thousands of troops.
To get a glimpse of how careful authorities in the capital are being following the deadly Jan 6 attack on the US Capitol, the Capitol complex temporarily locked down for about an hour on Monday morning during a rehearsal for the Wednesday event.
The lockdown was ordered and some participants were evacuated after a fire in a nearby homeless encampment sent a plume of smoke into the air and caused security concerns.
The rehearsal resumed not long after the fire had been extinguished.
The ceremony will also be dramatically affected by the pandemic, and by the extraordinary security necessitated by the attack on the Capitol on Jan 6.”
William Banks, distinguished professor emeritus at the Syracuse University College of Law
Biden has urged his supporters not to travel to Washington for his inauguration on Wednesday, which President Donald Trump said he won’t attend — Trump continues to claim the election was stolen from him.
William Banks, distinguished professor emeritus at the Syracuse University College of Law in New York, said that only once in US history, just after the Civil War, has a departing president not attended the inauguration.
“The ceremony will also be dramatically affected by the pandemic, and by the extraordinary security necessitated by the attack on the Capitol on Jan 6,” he said.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser also asked the public not to come to Washington for Biden’s inauguration, because of the possibility of violence and the spread of the coronavirus.
“Our goals right now are to encourage Americans to participate virtually and to protect the District of Columbia from a repeat of the violent insurrection experienced at the Capitol and its grounds on Jan 6,” Bowser said at a news conference.
The traditional parade of military units and bands on Pennsylvania Avenue that draws hundreds of thousands of people and is reviewed by the new president and vice-president has been replaced by a “virtual” parade.
According to the National Park Service’s list of inauguration permit applications it had received, only one permit, which was still being processed, was explicitly pro-Trump.
Journalists covering the inauguration also were preparing for possible violence, with CNN reporting that news organizations were giving staffers gas masks, helmets and body armor.
At least nine journalists were physically assaulted, at least five were arrested and at least four had equipment damaged while covering the storming of the Capitol, officials said.
Monday was a national holiday in observance of the birthday of civil rights icon Martin Luther King, but the memorial in the capital is closed to the public through Thursday.
The National Mall, the Washington Monument and other public landmarks were inaccessible; bridges were shut down and Metro stations shuttered. Streets from the Capitol, where the inauguration of the 46th president will take place, to the White House are closed, and some residents had to show identification to get home.
Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security, told the 60 Minutes current affairs TV program that National Guard members in the nation’s capital swore an oath to the Constitution and will do whatever it takes to keep the public safe.
“We’re going to complete our jobs. There’s not a stand-down. We have a statutory mission we’re going to perform under all circumstances. And I think that hypothetical is not going to happen. It’s unimaginable,” Cuccinelli said.
As the FBI issued last week a warning of “armed protests” in all 50 state capitals during the presidential transition this week, at least 21 states have mobilized their National Guard to help protect their capitols. Some states, such as Michigan, canceled legislative sessions and closed their capitols through Wednesday.
On Monday, Biden’s spokeswoman Jen Psaki dismissed Trump’s plan to lift travel restrictions on much of Europe and Brazil starting from Jan 26. Trump said in a proclamation that the travel restrictions imposed on Brazil, Britain, Ireland and the Schengen Area of Europe, and would be terminated effective on Jan 26, the same day that the US requires all travelers to test negative for COVID19 before flying to the country.
“With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel,” Psaki said on social media.