Law enforcement officials are facing a new set of security concerns on Inauguration Day as racist and white supremacist groups boast growing membership numbers in the wake of President-elect Barack Obama’s victory.
An estimated 2 million people, including several thousand from the Baltimore region, will gather next week in Washington, D.C., to witness the first black president being sworn into office, a moment symbolizing progress to many Americans and daunting security challenges to law enforcement.
“Obviously, there’s rhetoric out there and comments that have been made,” said Brian Carter, an FBI spokesman from the Washington, D.C., field office.
“We’ve been working on this for six months from an FBI standpoint, and based on the intelligence that we’ve gathered, as it stands right now, there are no specific or credible threats to any of the events involved in inauguration.”
The U.S. Secret Service is overseeing 58 federal, military, state and city law enforcement and public safety agencies working in concert to ensure a smooth event, but “if an incident takes place, that’s when the FBI takes the lead in crisis management,” Carter said.
Between 500 and 700 FBI agents dressed in plain clothing will be blending in with the crowd, watching for any suspicious activity or packages left unattended during the Jan. 20 ceremony and parade on the National Mall, Carter said.
“I don’t want to comment on any specific techniques and fail-safe measures that we have in place,” said Baltimore FBI spokesman Richard Wolf.
“We’re going to abstain from giving details.”
Though authorities don’t anticipate any violent plots, several white supremacy groups are calling on members to wear black arm bands and carry the U.S. flag upside down as a symbol of their disapproval on Inauguration Day, said Marilyn Mayo, spokeswoman of the Anti-Defamation League, a national civil rights and human relations agency.
“They think this is a tragedy for America now that we have an African-American president,” she said.
Obama’s election spurred a new fervor among white supremacists exchanging racist rhetoric on Web sites like Stormfront.org, which crashed from the number of visitors logging on to blast Obama, Mayo said.
“We obviously have to be concerned about the safety of Obama as the first black man in the White House … but the reality is that it’s extremely difficult to anticipate any kind of attack,” said Mark Potok, spokesman for the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit that tracks the 888 active hate groups nationwide.
“Presumably, anyone targeting Obama is not going to chit-chat about it on a Web site. The more likely scenario is a ‘lone wolf’ who’s not working with a group.”
The Secret Service has released few details of safety measures in place, other than screenings at entry points on the Mall, a loudspeaker for crisis notification and increased security in the air and water for the Washington metropolitan area.
Security checkpoints and K-9 units also will be implemented around critical transportation infrastructures, including MARC lines.
For a list of road closures and other security requirements, visit www.secretservice.gov.
