Speaking ahead of Inauguration Day, Matt Miller, special agent in charge of the US Secret Service’s Washington Field Office, said federal officials were monitoring a “proliferation of, for lack of a better term, chatter around the country” about potential threats. The same bulletin added that the FBI had identified a group that is “planning to ‘storm’ government offices including in the District of Columbia and in every state, regardless of whether the states certified electoral votes for Biden or Trump, on 20 January”. An internal FBI bulletin leaked to the press last week warned of “armed protests” at state capitol buildings across the country, as well as in DC.
Online chatter from extremists has law enforcement on high alert for another attempt to stop Mr Biden taking office. The extra security measures in place for the Inauguration were taken to counter an ongoing threat of violence, according to authorities. “The biggest thing people are hoping for after the Inauguration is just a return to normalcy, whatever that means in 2021,” he adds. They are a confusing if not welcome presence for the time being. “It’s almost as if the National Guard is a welcome presence because we know what they are preventing from happening - something like the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th. This time, he says, things are different. “They were called to DC under the auspices of keeping the peace, but in a lot of cases, they were the ones aggressively engaging peaceful protesters, directed by none other than the Commander in Chief himself.” “A lot of people were really angry, disgusted, and appalled by the National Guard presence back in June because of what they were being used for,” he says. But it’s understandable the Capitol just got raided,” he adds.įor Jesse Ilan Kornbluth, a photographer who has lived in DC for nearly four years, the arrival of the National Guard brings back uncomfortable memories of the heavy handed response to racial justice protests in the city this summer. “I wouldn’t expect it to be so difficult to move around. I was chilling and a fire happened in a homeless camp nearby and everything went crazy,” he says, referring to an incident on Monday which led to the evacuation of the Capitol building. “This only happens every four years, but this one has been really extreme. Read more: Where will Trump be on inauguration day? Mr McIntyre, originally from Baltimore, has spent the past few days navigating the checkpoints that have sprung up near his home.
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“I wonder how other countries see this,” says Kenneth McIntyre, a 28-year-old software technician who lives near the US Capitol, as he looks down the street towards a road block. The dramatic change that has taken place in such a short time has jarred an already weary city. Most bridges leading into the city have been closed off and a “Red Zone” has been created in the centre of the city that is off-limits to unauthorised cars. Unlike previous years, when tens of thousands packed the National Mall to witness the swearing in of the president, the entire area is shut down to the public. That attack has left a mark not just on the city, but on the democratic process itself.įearing another attack by extremists to thwart Mr Biden’s inauguration, some 25,000 National Guard troops have been brought in from across the country to ensure security. The attack was the culmination of a months-long campaign of lies by the president and his band of hangers-on, who falsely told anyone who would listen that the election was stolen from him. It was less than two weeks ago that a mob of hundreds of the president’s supporters stormed the Capitol building in an attempt to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. Read more: Follow live updates and news on Inauguration Day 2021 But it is clear here on the streets of the nation’s capital, in the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency, that the clock on that long tradition has to be reset. The peaceful transfer of power has been a hallmark of American democracy for more than 200 years. Roads are blocked with giant concrete barriers and high metal fences. The streets near the Capitol are largely empty but for police and soldiers and scattered military vehicles. Coast Guard boats with mounted machine guns patrol the Potomac River.
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National Guard troops – wearing their full military gear – gather in the cold on sidewalks outside of hotels usually filled with bustling tourists. The inauguration of a new president is traditionally a day for celebration, but an eerie quiet looms over the capital ahead of Wednesday’s ceremony. Even for Washington DC, a city which has long had a front-row seat to history, these past few weeks have been extraordinary.
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