Fortress DC: Capitol locked down a week ahead of inauguration

Normal security precautions for an inauguration entail blocking off streets near several locations a couple of days in advance. This year, neighborhoods near the White House, Capitol Hill, and in between the two famous buildings have transitioned into fenced-in city blocks where residents cannot drive out of apartment building garages or even walk outside without expecting to be questioned by police.

While the pandemic has kept many at home instead of heading into the office for work, streets downtown lay bare by Thursday, eerily silent. Some Washingtonians loaded up on groceries as if it was the onset of the coronavirus.

The preparations come after law enforcement announced that it was aware of four plots to attack the Capitol ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s swearing-in ceremony.

Military and police

Washington is swarming with law enforcement and soldiers. More than 20,000 National Guard personnel from the District of Columbia and neighboring states are in town to guard the Capitol and other federal buildings from mobs that could form outside them in the days leading up to Wednesday. The troops have continued pouring in all week from as far away as Minnesota and Illinois.

The Metropolitan Police Department called in law enforcement from across the country to help. Up to 4,000 federal officers from the U.S. Marshals Service will be deputized and on the streets. The Federal Bureau of Prisons is also “making plans to send specially trained officers” into town, according to a spokesman.

The Secret Service oversees security for the inauguration.

The Department of Homeland Security moved its lockdown of Washington up by nearly a week at the request of Mayor Muriel Bowser, which allowed inaugural security forces to set up miles of barricades across town early. Dump trucks, buses, and other large vehicles were parked in dozens of roads to prevent attacks from vehicles.

Acting DHS Secretary Pete Gaynor told department officials that the agency approved Bowser’s request to begin security preparations Wednesday, nearly a week earlier than planned. Gaynor is the head of Federal Emergency Management Agency and recently took over DHS following acting Secretary Chad Wolf’s resignation on Monday.

Graeme Jennings/Washington Examiner

Downtown tourism

The National Mall, where the public normally gathers to watch the swearing-in of a new president, will be off limits to locals and visitors, the National Park Service announced Thursday. The National Mall includes the Washington Monument and stretches nearly a mile and a half east to the back of the Capitol, where the inauguration takes place. Most Smithsonian museums are located on the National Mall and were closed in late 2020 due to the rising number of coronavirus numbers regionally. Indoor dining was banned in late December and has since been extended through the inauguration, forcing people to eat outside, which many are likely to forgo given potentially dangerous conditions outside.

Biden and Bowser have asked the public not to travel to Washington to attend inauguration festivities.

Graeme Jennings/Washington Examiner

Street closures

Starting Thursday morning, streets around the White House, downtown, and Capitol Hill were shut down to traffic. New fencing was put near the White House, further extending the temporary fence by another two blocks north from I Street to K Street and two more blocks west from 17th Street to 19th Street. Fences on the east side were pushed out from 15th Street to 14th Street. Residents who live and businesses that operate within all shut-down areas should expect to be approached by law enforcement.

Parking garages in the affected zones will be sealed. Vehicles left inside will not be able to be retrieved until late next week.

NBC Washington

A 7-foot, unscaleable fence was installed around the Capitol the day after it was attacked and has been expanded to countless places around the city. The same Capitol fencing was seen on 13th Street despite White House plans only to extend it to 14th Street. Eighteen-wheeler trucks parked on K Street offloaded shipments of plywood near the White House Wednesday night as workers secured windows and doors on office buildings and eateries.

Hotels and Airbnb

Airbnb announced this week all reservations in Washington for inauguration week are canceled, including those through its subsidiary Hotel Tonight. The company is refunding all guests and compensating hosts for lost profits.

The labor union Unite Here represents more than 7,000 hotel workers in the region and asked Bowser to close hotels “unless they are hosting security personnel” such as National Guard or law enforcement.

Marriott International has 15 hotels downtown but will remain open. Hilton and Hyatt hotels also remain open. Thousands of troops flown in from outside the region are staying in local hotels and being bused back and forth to the sites they are assigned at.

Trains and buses

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority will shut down more than a dozen train stations located underground inside a security perimeter that includes the White House, National Mall, and U.S. Capitol. Trains will be able to pass through the stations but will not pick up riders at these locations starting Friday through Thursday.

“While we are supporting law enforcement plans to enhance security, we are also keeping essential services in place for our residents who need to get to work, to medical appointments, and to grocery stores,” WMATA General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said in a statement.

Stations closing for seven days include Farragut North, Judiciary Square, Union Station, Archives, Arlington Cemetery, Farragut West, McPherson Square, Federal Center SW, Capitol South, Smithsonian, and Federal Triangle. Metro Center and Gallery Place will close a day later, starting Saturday.

More than two dozen bus routes that go through downtown will be rerouted starting Friday and lasting seven days.

Ride-sharing apps

At the same time underground trains and buses will be harder to catch, ride-sharing app Uber is warning that it will limit ridership if needed. Uber said it will not tolerate violent or illegal behavior, including “racist” or disrespectful” remarks, and will not hesitate to ban users who violate its policies. Riders can still expect to catch a ride downtown, though.

Uber said it is in contact with law enforcement in the district, the mayor’s office, and the Presidential Inauguration Committee to keep drivers informed on areas to avoid.

Lyft has not issued a statement on operations.

Airports

Airlines and airports have implemented an array of new initiatives to prevent altercations on flights among passengers flying to and from Washington, as well as at Washington Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Baltimore.

“Passengers can expect to see an increased law enforcement presence as they travel through the airports,” said Christina Saull, spokeswoman for Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which oversees the Virginia airports.

Delta Airlines is temporarily not allowing passengers to fly with guns in their luggage, which is normally allowed in most states. American Airlines is increasing security at terminal gates and on planes following the emergence of viral videos that show supporters of President Trump furious after being denied on flights in the days after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Airlines have blocked an unknown number of people from boarding flights, though those people have not been added to the government’s no-fly list. Several airlines boosted security personnel and gate agents at Washington airports in preparation, and that is expected to continue through next week.

American is allowing first-class passengers to drink onboard flights but will stop the service on all flights going in and out of Washington’s three airports from Saturday through Thursday. Flight crews for American and United are being put up in hotels away from downtown, where they normally stay overnight.