“In many ways, our preparations for 2024 began on January 7, 2021,” said Christopher Rodriguez, a city official, during a city council meeting last week.
Even before the assault on the Capitol, Washington had been shaken by violent demonstrations during the anti-racist Black Lives Matter protest movement in the summer of 2020.
For his third candidacy for the presidential election, Donald Trump has refused to commit to accepting the results of the election, and is already advancing – without foundation – the existence of electoral fraud and cheating in key states such as the Pennsylvania.
Enough to pave the way for new civil unrest.
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Disinformation
A few steps from the White House on Friday, workers were hammering wooden planks to affix them to the windows of several businesses.
For several weeks, a security barrier has also largely cut off access to one of the squares in front of the presidential residence.
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Barricades have been erected as construction workers work in unusually mild temperatures. They are building one of the platforms that will be used during the ceremonies around the inauguration of the new president in January.
Work traditionally begins in November, but on January 6, 2021, workers had to evacuate the construction site.
So this year, the National Park Service said work would begin a month earlier “to allow the additional time needed for a safer environment.”
“I’m disappointed, because we wanted to take a photo in front of the White House,” a tourist told AFP in Lafayette Park. Wearing a pearl necklace in tribute to Kamala Harris, she came from Texas for Saturday’s Women’s March, a demonstration for women’s rights.
During last week’s city council meeting, Christopher Rodriguez particularly warned against misinformation on social media that could affect public safety in the US capital.
Geopolitical events like the conflict in Gaza add “a layer of complexity” that “could lead to political violence,” he said.
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Show of force
The federal police, the FBI, announced that they were setting up a command center to monitor these threats while the Secret Service, responsible for protecting senior political figures, declared that it would strengthen its security system if necessary.
The Capitol Police, many of whose officers were injured during the events of January 6, 2021, declined to comment on their preparations. Mayor Muriel Bowser, however, declared during a press conference in October that this police department dedicated to the security of Congress would be “ready”.
No “credible threat” targeting Washington during the period around the election has been identified, assured the city’s police chief, Pamela Smith.
Peaceful demonstrations will be allowed, she declared, before adding: “we will not tolerate any violence”.
The police chief promised a “visible” show of force in the city over the coming weeks, with a peak of 4,000 reinforcements on January 20, the day of the presidential inauguration.
On Friday, tourists admired the view from the Ellipse, the park on the other side of the White House where Donald Trump addressed his supporters on January 6, 2021 before the assault on the Capitol.
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