Washington, DC – High fences with thick, twisted razor wire entered the U.S. Capitol area on Friday, while thousands of heavily armed National Guards stood. Bridges entering the closed city will begin this weekend. Access to the gardens will be severely limited.
In many ways, the run-up to the inauguration of President Joe Biden is more like a head of state’s visit to an army camp in a battlefield than it involves the president of the United States at the building taking home to the legislature of the country.
The swearing in of the 46th president lacks not only the tumult and display of past years, but also a symbolic openness that resembles a peaceful movement of power in the world’s most proud democracy.
This year’s performances will be different in three main ways and have never been seen, according to experts: First, the city is locked in anticipation of more violence following last week’s attack on the Capitol building by President Donald Trump’s armed supporters.
Second, Trump has refused to attend the service, still making a loss and claiming the election was stolen.
Third, the consecration ceremonies will be greatly reduced to prevent the spread of COVID-19, as the country continues to struggle to keep the deadly pandemic at bay.
Crews install razor wire on top of the fence that now surrounds the U.S. Capitol before being established in Washington, DC. Following last week’s Capitol Riot, the FBI has issued a warning of further threats against the U.S. Capitol and in all 50 states [Liz Lynch/Getty Images/AFP]High alert security
Chuck Hagel, former defense secretary to President Barack Obama and a former U.S. Republican grandfather, said this was the most secure establishment since President Abraham Lincoln took office. in 1861 and 1865, just before and during the Civil War.
While Trump and Obama were also opposed to credible threats and protests on the days of the invasion, Hagel said this level of Washington, DC militarism is unusual and difficult, even if needed because it fell from our grasp. at the Capitol last week. It seems to show up badly not only at home, but also abroad, he said.
“It’s a difficult day for America,” Hagel said in a phone interview. “When they see this world and what they saw last week, they have a big doubt: ‘Is America as good as we think they are?’ “
“It is not our symbolism as usual, a wise country that can move power peacefully, and can work democratically with different ideas,” Hagel continued.
“It will not only damage our image, but the confidence and trust that other countries have in us, especially our friends, and our friends and partners.”
Of course, the ways in which this year’s establishment is different from previous years in terms of security are too many to list.
The US capital has already been confirmed several days away from the main event. Guards of national guards have been sleeping on the floor of the Capitol building while their companions guard fenced roadblocks around the building next to large beige armored trucks.
Members of the National Guard rest at the Capitol Visitor Center on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC [Saul Loeb/AFP]
Officials have announced that as many as 25,000 of these soldiers will be available to secure the incident, not to mention graduate forces from the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department and U.S. Capitol Police.
In fact, all vehicular traffic in and out of central Washington, DC, and around the National Mall and the monuments will be closed through Thursday, including several major bridges that are arterial back and forth from northern Virginia across the Potomac River and southern Maryland across the Anacostia River.
Attendance is also severely limited. The National Park Service announced Friday that it would only allow two “First Amendment Zones” on Pennsylvania Avenue, the road that connects the Capitol to the White House.
There, only 100 people can gather in time, a far cry from the record estimates nearly two million people celebrate Obama’s first appearance in 2009 or about half a million people -a strong female campaign with a pink hat that took to the streets of the day. after Trump’s founding in 2017.
Members of the U.S. National Guard are seen in central Washington, DC as they prepare to elect President Joe Biden as the 46th U.S. President [Daniel Slim/AFP]Where is Trump?
Also absent from the events of the day will be Trump himself. It is not since President Andrew Johnson refused to attend President Ulysses S Grant 152 years ago that a president has refused to attend the subsequent oath.
In 2017, the Obamas welcomed the Trumps with a handshake at the steps of the White House. President George HW Bush left a handwritten note for President Bill Clinton and sat through the inauguration, just after Clinton was made a one-term president. Even in the midst of the 2016 constituency, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton was in attendance along with her husband, the former president.
Trump will be in attendance not only from the public events. Traditionally, incoming and outgoing leaders and their spouse begin Starter Day with a tea or coffee meeting at the White House and take part in the laying of a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery, a military cemetery just across the Potomac River in Virginia.
Trump, however, will leave the city Wednesday morning, prior to their inauguration, to begin his post-primary life in Florida.
“I feel sorry about it, because I love tradition,” said Elizabeth Goldsmith, consecration historian and professor emerita professor at Florida State University. “It just marks, as a rule, from the old to the new, you know, the day you say that.”
Members of the National Guard stand at a roadside in preparation for the election of President Joe Biden [Brendan Smialowski/AFP]
However, Alan Fitts, who led Capitol’s activity for the President’s Inaugural Committee for Obama’s second inauguration in 2013, said that despite Trump’s public refusal to model an unbroken set of key sequels, event organizers will find ways to remove it.
For example, Vice President Mike Pence is expected to attend the service, with Obama, Clinton and President George W Bush joining Biden at the wreath-laying ceremony.
“Symbolically, they will find ways to present Biden fundamentally taking place in that line,” Fitts said.
“You still establish Biden within this series of presidents in that way, so symbolically, he embraces the healthy. You put him together with those presidents as the new president. “
Coronavirus is still lying
While the security enhancements are a more recent development, many of the day ‘s festivals have already been postponed for reasons unrelated to physical threats and more to a biological threat: COVID-19.
As a result, perhaps the most obvious separation from past years will be obvious to listeners who watch television with so little attendance.
Members of the National Guard walk up an empty Avenue Avenue next to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC before the main re-election week of U.S. President Joe Biden [Saul Loeb/AFP]
Access to the National Mall was already largely restricted to adhere to social distance guidelines before any other security alert was issued, and a traditional parade from the Capitol to the White House and a kick-off concert were made meaningful.
Even chairs on the west front of the Capitol are set up six feet apart, allowing for fewer attendees. All attendees must first undergo a coronavirus test at least a few days before the event.
Contrary to years gone by, when members of Congress received as many as 200 tickets or more to give to voters, they are limited to one ticket for themselves, and another for a guest, the former Representative said Gregg Harper, who will be flying in from Mississippi for the event.
“It looks very different in that regard,” said Harper, a Republican who chaired the House Management Committee.
“The biggest highlight of all is the low number of people who come to attend this dedication, with social distance and limited tickets. That is going to be very important. “