Photos show what DC looks like a day before Biden's inauguration
Alan Chin, Andrew Lichtenstein, Bre'anna Grant
- Inauguration Day 2021 will be like no other amid the coronavirus pandemic and looming threats following the deadly insurrection that took place two weeks earlier.
- DC is preparing for a scaled-back event — which includes a seven-foot, non-scalable fence around the Capitol Hill complex — to keep everyone safe.
- Both President-elect Joe Biden and VP-elect Kamala Harris said they will continue with a traditional outdoor ceremony at the Capitol building despite security concerns throughout the country.
Inauguration Day 2021 is unlike those in the past.
President-elect Joe Biden and VP-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn in amid a coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 400,000 lives in the US as of Tuesday and just two weeks after the deadly breach of the US Capitol.
Last week, Harris said that she and Biden would not "yield to those who would try and make us afraid of who we are," in response to soon being sworn into office outside of the US Capitol.
"We cannot abandon the appreciation that we should all have for the traditions that are symbolic of our commitment to our democracy," she told NPR.
Biden also said he was not afraid to take the oath in the traditional outdoor ceremony at the Capitol building despite security concerns throughout the country.
Since the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has urged Americans to stay home and out of DC during the inauguration. In their place, 200,000 American flags have been set up at National Mall for the ceremony.
Here are photos that show what DC looks like a day before Biden and Harris are sworn into office.
National guardsmen on the outer perimeter along Massachusetts Avenue, NW.
The armed and deadly insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6 has prompted increased security measures, including the deployment of more than 20,000 members of the National Guard to DC.
Man showing his middle fingers as his wife take a picture of him, John Hyde, from Oakland, CA. "This is to the entire regime, the 4th Reich," he said.
Close up detail of wanted billboard on bus stops from January 6 insurrection.
More than 145 pro-Trump rioters have been charged in the Capitol insurrection.
A soldier from the 29th Infantry Division of the Virginia National Guard at the Capitol on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Typically filled with celebration-goers, downtown streets in DC are deserted this year.
The 2021 presidential inauguration will be scaled back and is expected to gather a smaller crowd than at past events due to COVID-19 restrictions and heightened security.
President-elect Joe Biden said last month that he expected his Jan. 20 inauguration to be a "more imaginative" virtual event.
"It is highly unlikely that there will be a million people on the mall, going all the way down to the [Lincoln] Memorial," Biden said.
And even if they did, it would be difficult for them to celebrate in person or in the city altogether.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam issued a statement ahead of the ceremony that typically draws hundreds of thousands of people calling on Americans to stay out of DC for the inauguration.
"Due to the unique circumstances surrounding the 59th Presidential Inauguration, including last week's violent insurrection as well as the ongoing and deadly COVID-19 pandemic, we are taking the extraordinary step of encouraging Americans not to come to Washington, D.C., and to instead participate virtually," the joint statement read, according to WTOP News.
In an effort to prevent hate groups from disrupting Biden's inauguration, Airbnb announced it would cancel and block all reservations in Washington, DC made for the week of the ceremony.
The Transportation Security Administration "significantly increased" security at DC airports ahead of Inauguration Day. TSA is processing hundreds of names with law enforcement agencies for a thorough risk assessment, according to a statement published Friday.
Guard trucks at the inner perimeter in front of the Teamsters building.
Union Station was near-empty ahead of Inauguration Day.
Fences and soldiers surround the Capitol.
National Guard troops are being taught to screen their colleagues as US defense officials said they fear an insider attack on Biden's inauguration.
"We're continually going through the process, and taking second, third looks at every one of the individuals assigned to this operation," Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said.
Anti-abortion activists chalk the residential streets of the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Solider from the 29th Infantry Division of the Virginia National Guard at the Capitol on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Cement blocks have been placed around the Capitol perimeter.
National guardsmen on the outer perimeter along Massachusetts Avenue, NW.
National guardsmen on the outer perimeter along Massachusetts Avenue, NW.
Caution tape has been put up to block off streets around the Capitol building.
threats that police/fbi is looking out for on jan 20
Pedestrian walks with a political sign near the Capitol building.
The US Capitol went into lockdown Monday following an "external security threat" that turned out to be a fire at a nearby homeless encampment, according to law enforcement officials.
The alert came as security at the complex has been increased to unprecedented levels ahead of Inauguration Day.
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