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 Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to be declared on election day.
The specter of Jan. 6, 2021 — the day that Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, seeking to overturn his loss to US President Joe Biden — hangs heavy over the preparations.
Photo: Reuters
“In many respects, our preparations for 2024 started on Jan. 7 of 2021,” Washington Assistant City Administrator Christopher Rodriguez told a city council briefing on election preparedness last week.
Trump has repeatedly refused to state whether he would accept the election results, and is already alleging fraud and cheating in swing states such as Pennsylvania, laying the groundwork for what many fear would be more unrest.
US intelligence agencies on Friday blamed Russia for making a video that falsely purports to show a Haitian immigrant claiming to have voted multiple times in the battleground state of Georgia.
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 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 would form part of the ceremonies for the inauguration.
During the Capitol riot workers had to flee as Trump supporters swarmed the steps.
This year, construction began a month early “to accommodate additional time needed for a safer and more secure environment for construction activities,” the US National Park Service said.
The FBI said it was setting up a command post to monitor threats, while the US Secret Service said it would “enhance our security posture if necessary.”
On Friday, tourists crowded a spot on the Ellipse — the park in front of the White House where Trump told his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, to “fight like hell” — that allowed for a view of the White House.
“Look at the guns,” one said, as armed Secret Service agents stood silently before the barricades.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, Washington Governor Jay Inslee on Friday said he was activating some members of the US National Guard to be on standby amid concerns regarding potential violence related to the election.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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