Washington barricaded forty-eight hours before Joe Biden’s inauguration

Thousands of National Guard soldiers have already been deployed in the capital and they will be up to 25,000 on Wednesday, the day of the inauguration ceremony of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden.

Downtown Washington looked like an entrenched camp on Monday 18 January, forty-eight hours before the inauguration ceremony of US President-elect Joe Biden, under close surveillance.

Thousands of soldiers from the National Guard, the U.S. reserve army, have already been deployed, and they will be up to 25,000 on Wednesday in the capital to protect a large « red zone » stretching from Capitol Hill, where Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in at the White House on Wednesday. The huge National Mall plaza, where hundreds of thousands of Americans usually flock every four years to attend the ceremony, is also padlocked.

The streets were virtually empty Monday morning, a holiday in memory of civil rights icon Martin Luther King. MLK Day is traditionally a volunteer day for Americans.

This volunteering « is a fitting way to heal, unify and rebuild this country we love, » Biden said in a Twitter post, which seeks to reconcile deeply divided Americans after Donald Trump’s term in office. In the morning, he participated in a food distribution for a charity in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In Washington, D.C., armed soldiers and police stationed in front of armoured vehicles replace bystanders and traffic in streets blocked by concrete blocks. At least two armed civilians have been arrested in recent days on the outskirts of the « red zone ».
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Nearly 70 demonstrators charged
The National Guard heads to Capitol Hill as security is tightened ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony in Washington on Monday, January 18, 2021.
The National Guard heads to Capitol Hill as security is tightened ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration in Washington on Monday, January 18, 2021. John Minchillo / AP

The city remains traumatised by the deadly assault on Capitol Hill on January 6, when hundreds of Donald Trump supporters invaded the seat of Congress in an attempt to overturn the victory of former Barack Obama’s vice president.

The outgoing president, who had called on his supporters to march on Capitol Hill, has been indicted by the House of Representatives for « inciting insurrection » and his Senate trial could begin soon after his successor’s inauguration.
Article reserved for our subscribers Read also Donald Trump, the first U.S. president to undergo two impeachment proceedings.

Since 6 January, nearly 70 demonstrators have been charged with participating in the violence and hundreds of people are under investigation. Among them are elected officials and former or active members of the security forces.

To ensure that the National Guard does not pose a security risk to the inauguration ceremony, the FBI has announced background checks for reservists who will be deployed on Wednesday. « We want to make sure we have the right people in the bubble » that will protect the president and vice president, General William Walker, head of the Washington National Guard, told Fox News on Monday.

As a sign of the tension in the federal capital, a rehearsal of the congressional ceremony was interrupted Monday morning and participants were taken to safety due to an « outside threat, » according to police, which turned out to be a false alarm.

BREAKING: Smoke rising behind Capitol building. Inauguration rehearsal appears to be evacuating. Emergency announce... https://t.co/C3aC5cJzgu
- JProskowGlobal (@Jackson Proskow) 

Read also the analysis: Will Joe Biden mark the return to normal in the United States?
Presidential pardons

This investiture ceremony will be exceptional in more than one way: it will be attended by a limited number of guests and no public, due to the coronavirus pandemic. A field of more than 190,000 flags has been planted on the esplanade of the National Mall to represent this absent audience.

Also absent, Donald Trump will leave the White House early Wednesday for his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. He will become the first president to refuse to attend the swearing in of his successor since Andrew Johnson in 1869.

In the meantime, the Republican billionaire is preparing to pardon or commute the prison sentences of about 100 people, according to several media. In recent months, Trump has pardoned employees and relatives convicted in the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and his campaign team in 2016. What they all had in common was their lack of cooperation with the judiciary.

The outgoing president, who had called on his supporters to march on Capitol Hill, has been indicted by the House of Representatives for « inciting insurrection » and his trial before the Senate could begin soon after his successor’s inauguration.
Article reserved for our subscribers Read also Donald Trump, the first U.S. president to undergo two impeachment proceedings.

Since 6 January, nearly 70 demonstrators have been charged with participating in the violence and hundreds of people are under investigation. Among them are elected officials and former or active members of the security forces.

To ensure that the National Guard does not pose a security risk to the inauguration ceremony, the FBI has announced background checks for reservists who will be deployed on Wednesday. « We want to make sure we have the right people in the bubble » that will protect the president and vice president, General William Walker, head of the Washington National Guard, told Fox News on Monday.

As a sign of the tension in the federal capital, a rehearsal of the congressional ceremony was interrupted Monday morning and participants were taken to safety due to an « outside threat, » according to police, which turned out to be a false alarm.

BREAKING: Smoke rising behind Capitol building. Inauguration rehearsal appears to be evacuating. Emergency announce... https://t.co/C3aC5cJzgu
- JProskowGlobal (@Jackson Proskow) 

Read also the analysis: Will Joe Biden mark the return to normal in the United States?
Presidential pardons

This investiture ceremony will be exceptional in more than one way: it will be attended by a limited number of guests and no public, due to the coronavirus pandemic. A field of more than 190,000 flags has been planted on the esplanade of the National Mall to represent this absent audience.

Also absent, Donald Trump will leave the White House early Wednesday for his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. He will become the first president to refuse to attend the swearing in of his successor since Andrew Johnson in 1869.

In the meantime, the Republican billionaire is preparing to pardon or commute the prison sentences of about 100 people, according to several media. In recent months, Trump has pardoned employees and relatives convicted in the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and his campaign team in 2016. What they all had in common was their lack of cooperation with the judiciary.

The list, which could be made public on Tuesday, could include the names of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, rapper Lil Wayne, who faces up to 10 years in prison for possession of a gun, or a famous doctor convicted of fraud. He could also pardon some of his supporters prosecuted for the assault on Capitol Hill.

« What if he pardoned those people who are Capitol Hill terrorists? « The Democrat congressional leader, Nancy Pelosi, was alarmed on Sunday. This prospect worries even within the Republican camp. « Asking for a pardon for these people would be a bad thing, » Senator Lindsey Graham, a close associate of Mr. Trump, told Fox New on Sunday.