DC locks down a week before Biden inauguration

Washington DC: All through downtown Washington, the primary sound for several blocks was the beeping of forklifts unloading more fencing.

There were no cars or scooters and seemingly no tourists on Wednesday, just the occasional jogger and multiple construction crews at work. The US Capitol that proved such a soft target last week was visible only through lines of tall, black fence.

Two blocks from the White House, a group of uniformed National Guard troops emerged from a tour bus and headed into a hotel as a state of lockdown descended on Washington that will last through the Jan. 20 inauguration.

Clearly we are in uncharted waters, said Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Last weeks violent insurrection at the Capitol by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump has impacted the way we are approaching working with our federal partners in planning for the 59th inauguration, Bowser said Wednesday.

The FBI has warned that armed protests by violent Trump supporters were being planned in all 50 state capitals as well as in Washington for the days leading up to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

Between the pandemic and the security threat, Bowser is flat-out asking people not to come to the District of Columbia for the inauguration. And at Bowsers request, a National Special Security Event declaration was moved up to Jan. 13, a distinction which she said "puts in place an entirely different command and control structure for security.

The NSSE status is normal for a presidential inauguration and other major events like an international summit or the Super Bowl. But it's rare to start the lockdown so far in advance of the event.

Police vehicles sealed off a huge swath of downtown DC Wednesday, causing immediate traffic snarls. Starting Wednesday, Bowser said, anyone inside the inauguration perimeter might be stopped and questioned. Starting Friday, all parking garages in the downtown restricted zone will be sealed through the inauguration.

Bowser is also being pushed to deny lodging options to potentially violent protesters. The local Black Lives Matter affiliate and Shutdown DC issued a joint statement Wednesday urging all downtown hotels to voluntarily close and pay their staffs. In addition to the threat of violence, the activist groups say Trump supporters are a threat to the health of hotel staff for their general refusal to wear facemasks amid the pandemic. Several downtown hotels, including one which had become a favourite hangout of the militant Proud Boy faction, chose to avoid trouble by closing last week.

Closing hotels completely for these six nights is the only way to guarantee the safety of hotel workers, neighbours, vulnerable and unhoused residents, incoming administration officials, members of Congress, and our democracy, the statement said. If hotels do not willingly close, we ask Mayor Bowser to extend todays emergency order and close all hotels in the city.

On Wednesday, Airbnb announced it was cancelling all reservations in the Washington metro area.