Biden’s Inauguration Planners Step Up Security After Capitol Riot
The president-elect said he isn’t concerned about his safety: ‘I am not afraid to take the oath outside’
Organizers for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration and federal officials are boosting security in response to growing concerns after last week’s attack on the Capitol by a mob of supporters of President Trump.
The entities organizing the inauguration—the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and the Presidential Inauguration Committee—are sticking by their plan to hold Mr. Biden’s swearing-in ceremony on the west front of the Capitol. He will also deliver his inaugural address there.
Both committees have had ongoing discussions in recent days about security protocols, according to people familiar with the talks. The congressional committee, which includes House and Senate leadership, convened a meeting on Monday to discuss efforts to bolster security.
Senators will receive a briefing Tuesday afternoon on inauguration security, according to a Senate aide. The briefing will be given by officials including representatives from the Secret Service, the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security, and it will not take place in person.
A House Democratic aide familiar with the inaugural committees’ security said that, in response to last week’s deadly violence, construction efforts are now under way to erect “the largest perimeter ever established around the Capitol” for Mr. Biden’s inauguration. The new perimeter will add another layer to the secure areas typically in place for inaugural ceremonies at the Capitol.
Those talks came as federal officials decided to begin coordinating security steps sooner than they had planned and the National Guard announced it would bolster its presence in Washington ahead of the inauguration.
Mr. Biden said on Monday he isn’t concerned about his safety. “I am not afraid to take the oath outside,” he told reporters.
A senior official from Mr. Biden’s inaugural committee said they remain confident in their security partners for the event, which is designated as a national special security event.
That designation, which signifies an event could be a target of attacks and calls for coordination on security plans among several different agencies, will now begin Jan. 13 instead of the following week, Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement Monday. Mr. Wolf later stepped down from his position.
Paige Waltz, spokeswoman for the congressional inaugural committee, said those on Capitol Hill “can expect a significant law-enforcement and national guard presence as part of the layered security measures within the expanded footprint.”
Ms. Waltz also said more briefings will be held for members of Congress in the coming days on updated security plans.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser had called on federal officials to implement additional measures, including extending the time period for the special security designation from Jan. 19-21 to Jan.11-24 and canceling permits for public demonstrations during that period. She also asked for a “federal force deployment plan” to protect all federal property in the city.
The senior official from Mr. Biden’s inauguration committee said they were supportive of Ms. Bowser’s efforts.
Trump supporters are already promoting marches in Washington for the week of Mr. Biden’s inauguration. The Site Intelligence Group, which tracks extremist threats online, said in a report Saturday that a day of armed far-right protests is scheduled for Jan. 17 and has been in the works for weeks. Fliers promoting the event are circulating online, including one encouraging people to “come armed at your personal discretion.”
Others online are touting a Million Militia March in Washington on Jan. 20, the day of the inauguration, according to screenshots provided by Meili Criezis, a research associate tracking violent extremism at American University.
The U.S. Secret Service serves as the lead agency for inauguration security and said in a recent statement that it “has been working tirelessly to anticipate and prepare for all possible contingencies at every level to ensure a safe and secure Inauguration Day.” Mr. Biden said on Friday he has “great confidence in the Secret Service,” and organizers have stressed that the agency has been planning the event for months.
The National Guard is also increasing the number of troops in Washington to at least 10,000 by Saturday ahead of the inauguration, the Guard’s top officer said Monday.
Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson, who is in charge of the National Guard Bureau, said the troop levels could rise to 15,000. He didn’t specify which states the Guard members would be coming from, whether they would be armed or the specifics of their mission.
The planned deployments represent a significant increase from the roughly 6,200 troops who arrived from six states after the attack on the Capitol Wednesday. The force also would be larger than contingents of Guardsmen at past inaugurations. Roughly 9,000 Guardsmen were in Washington for President Barack Obama’s inauguration, Gen. Hokanson said.
Planning an inauguration with heightened security concerns is adding to the already tough job for organizers this year. Due to the pandemic, organizers have scaled back their approach, opting for a virtual parade, scrapping inaugural balls and telling the public not to attend the event. After he is sworn in, Mr. Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and their spouses will visit Arlington National Cemetery to lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They will be joined by the former U.S. presidents attending the inauguration.
The attendance at the Capitol is also expected to be much smaller than usual, too. Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, the Republican who chairs the congressional inaugural committee, said the crowd will be restricted to roughly 3,000 due to Covid-19. Typically, about 200,000 people are invited to the ceremonies at the Capitol.
“In some ways, the absence of a crowd makes it easier,” said David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to Mr. Obama. “In other ways, this is a much more complex situation where you have people all over the country, essentially domestic terrorists, who somehow feel committing acts of violence in the next week is patriotic.”
Mr. Axelrod recalled being notified of what officials said was a serious terrorist threat the night before Mr. Obama’s 2009 inauguration. The risk was believed to be so imminent that Mr. Axelrod was tasked with preparing a brief statement for Mr. Obama to deliver in the event they needed to disperse a crowd of millions.
“It was a sobering message around the reality of what we were about to enter,” he said.