Businesses were boarding up in Washington as the US capital braced for Tuesday’s knife-edge presidential election — and any potential repeat of the shocking violence that erupted in the wake of 2020’s vote.
City authorities have warned of a “fluid, unpredictable security environment” in the days and possibly weeks after the polls close, adding that they do not expect a winner between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump to be declared on Election Day.
The specter of January 6, 2021 — the day that Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, seeking to overturn the former president’s election loss to Joe Biden — hangs heavy over the preparations.
“In many respects, our preparations for 2024 started on January 7 of 2021,” Christopher Rodriguez, Washington’s assistant city administrator, told a city council briefing on election preparedness last week.
Four years ago Washington was repeatedly rocked by at-times violent demonstrations, from the Black Lives Matter protests during the pandemic-hit summer of 2020, up until the deadly Capitol riot.
This time round, Trump has repeatedly refused to state whether he will accept the election results, and is already alleging fraud and cheating in swing states such as Pennsylvania, laying the groundwork for what many fear will be more unrest.
Around the corner from the White House on Friday, workers were hammering fresh-smelling plywood into place at several businesses on Pennsylvania Avenue.
A security fence bisected leafy Lafayette Park, in front of the presidential mansion, with barricades stacked up behind it as construction workers labored in unseasonably warm fall weather to build the stand that will form part of the ceremonies for the inauguration.
The work usually begins in November — but during the Capitol riot workers had to flee as Trump supporters swarmed the steps of the seat of Congress.
This year, the National Park Service said, construction began a month early “to accommodate additional time needed for a safer and more secure environment for construction activities.”
“I’m disappointed, because we wanted to take our picture in front of the White House,” one tourist in the park — part of a group of women from Texas in town for the next day’s Women’s March, who were wearing pearl necklaces in honor of Harris — told AFP.
– ‘Visible’ show of force –
Rodriguez, speaking during the city council briefing, warned especially of disinformation on social media in the days and weeks to come that could impact safety in the capital city.
International events such as Israel’s war in Gaza add a “layer of complexity… which could yield political violence,” he said.
The FBI said it was setting up a command post to monitor threats, while the Secret Service — the agency tasked with protecting presidents, their families and high-level officials — said it would “enhance our security posture if necessary.”
The Capitol Police, many of whose members were wounded during the January 6 attack, would not comment on its security preparations to AFP, though Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser told a press conference that they were “prepared.”
No “credible threat” to target Washington during the election period has yet been identified, Washington’s police chief Pamela Smith told a briefing.
Police would support peaceful protests, she said, but “we will not tolerate any violence of any kind.”
“We will not tolerate any riots, we will not tolerate the destruction of property, we will not tolerate any unlawful behavior,” she said.
She promised a “visible” show of force in the city in the coming days and weeks — culminating in some 4,000 reinforcements for Inauguration Day on January 20.
On Friday, tourists crowded a spot on the Ellipse — the park in front of the White House where Trump told his supporters on January 6 to “fight like hell” — that allowed for a view of the White House.
“Look at the guns,” muttered one, as armed Secret Service agents stood silently before the barricades.
bur-st/nro
