D.C. mayor takes national spotlight in preparing for inauguration, making case for statehood
Julie Zauzmer and Michael Brice-Saddler, The Washington Post
Jan. 17, 2021
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1of3D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, holds a news conference on Friday, Jan. 15.Washington Post photo by Bill O LearyShow MoreShow Less
2of3D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, approaches Virginia National Guard troops guarding the Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021.Executive Office of Mayor Muriel Bowser photo by Khalid Naji-AllahShow MoreShow Less
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WASHINGTON - Workers had just fenced off all of Capitol Hill - not just the congressional complex but Mayor Muriel Bowser s Capitol Hill: the wide plaza that locals bike across on sunny days and the gentle hill where they take their children to sled in the snow.
The city will be fortified with thousands of troops, police and specialized law enforcement units in advance of planned protests and the swearing-in of the new president.
WASHINGTON – The Secret Service and federal law enforcement agencies are spending the final days of the Trump administration bracing for a possible violent assault against the Jan. 20 inauguration, launching a security mobilization that will be unlike any in modern U.S. history.
On Wednesday, the Secret Service will take command of security preparations at the U.S. Capitol and other federal buildings, backed by as many as 20,000 National Guard troops, thousands of police and tactical officers, and layers of eight-foot-tall steel fencing.
The high-alert security posture is starting six days earlier than planned to coordinate roles for the FBI, National Guard, U.S. marshals and a host of federal agencies that will fall under Secret Service command.
How the U.S. Capitol Police were overrun in a monumental security failure
Peter Hermann, Carol D. Leonnig, Aaron C. Davis and David A. Fahrenthold, The Washington Post
Jan. 7, 2021
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WASHINGTON - Inside the U.S. Capitol, the rioters were in charge.
Trump supporters were roaming freely, carrying off furniture. Capitol Police had not asked other law enforcement agencies for help until their building was surrounded by a mob seeking to overturn the election results. Now, their officers were exhausted and injured. Their chief was down the street, in the department command center, and a police commander on the scene was pacing in a circle. Top congressional leaders, hidden in secure rooms, were calling the governors of Maryland and Virginia directly to plead for help.