D.C. and Nation Prepare Security for Election Protests and Violence

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser is assuring the city council that local police will be ready for any security concerns surrounding the Nov. 5 election.

The local police force is being buttressed by law enforcement officers from across the country.

They want to make sure there is no repeat of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection in which police protecting the Capitol were overwhelmed. Police also are setting up 10-foot high riot fences and concrete barriers around key sites.

With predictions of a close presidential election, emotions are running high among Donald Trump's supporters and critics.

“The biggest thing that I would ask people to exercise is patience,” Bowser told the city council.

Bowser has been meeting with city officials to explain how police would address concerns by residents about whether they will face disruptions similar to the 2021 riot at the Capitol. Some business owners have been asking city officials whether they should put boards over their windows and pull outdoor trash cans inside to avoid having them tipped over by protesters.

“I don’t think they should be boarding up their buildings,” Bowser said during a breakfast with the city council.

Bowser won agreement from the Department of Homeland Security that the election and surrounding events will be designated as National Security Events.

The designation is most typically used for presidential inaugurations and political party national conventions. It means the Secret Service will lead the security effort.

Bowser said she also plans to ask assistance from the D.C. National Guard.

In addition to the Nov. 5 election, additional security is planned for the certification of the election results by Congress on Jan. 6 and continuing to Jan. 22, the day after the inauguration.

Violent troublemakers are only part of the focus. The security plan also calls for the Secret Service and police to try to control misinformation and to keep crowds from spilling over into protected areas.

The roughly 4,000 police officers planned to be deployed around the Capitol are only precautionary, said D.C. Police Chief Pamela A. Smith.

“Right now we are not seeing any credible threats here to the District of Columbia,” Smith said.??

Although the preparations in Washington, D.C., are the most high profile, similar precautions are being taken at potential hotbeds of election interference nationwide.

Nearly 40 percent of local election officials nationwide recently reported threats or harassment, according to a survey announced in May by the nonprofit voter rights group the Brennan Center.

For more information, contact The Legal Forum (www.legal-forum.net) at email: [email protected] or phone: 202-479-7240.