will DC be safe on the 20th?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:15,000 National Guard troops will be stationed. I'm not worried. I'm more concerned about other places across the country with less security.

Will they be armed?

[Anonymous]

I think there could be random acts of violence near the Mall. I don't think there will be large-scale riots since there are a lot of national guard and police around now. Since I live less than a mile from the Capitol I am planning to stay in--don't want to encounter any rioters (both because they could be violent and because they tend not to take covid precautions) or get stuck away from home if streets shut down for suspicious packages or something, as happened several times near me in the past couple days since the coup. But if I had to go out for something urgent I don't think I'd be terribly worried--more just careful because of people driving big vehicles around the city--there was a cyclist killed by a military vehicle in 2010 when the nuclear security summit was at the convention center.

As for OP's question about safety living "just off the red line" clearly there is a difference between White Flint, Union Station, and RI Ave, for example, in answering this question!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Gonna get absorbed into MD.

What do you mean by this? That MD will get it worse than DC??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a Jewish person I plan to be staying inside around the time of the inauguration. Do not need to run into any "6 million wasn't enough"-ers around my city.

As a Jewish D.C. native, I say, f*** these Nazi clowns. I'm not going looking for confrontations with them, obviously, but I'm also not planning on staying inside in my house nowhere near downtown lest I encounter one. This is our city, not theirs.

[Anonymous]

I am staying away from downtown, obviously.

What hotel chains are open? Have any said they will close to everyone on Jan 17-20? I hope the ones I have loyalty points for will do the right thing and close.

I concern about Trump's "Alamo" visit and if it will be more incitement. I hope the day can be peaceful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:15,000 National Guard troops will be stationed. I'm not worried. I'm more concerned about other places across the country with less security.

Most National Guard are not as well prepared for serious law enforcement and stopping active threats/terror attacks as people seem to think. They are quite different from other types of military. Don't conflate it just because they are in uniform.

I know the FBI and other police agencies are very involved, but thinking of the National Guard like they are great law enforcement is a mistake. Low experience, training is often focused on more common domestic issues. I'd say when you hear "National Guard," compare most of them to Coast Guard, not Army. Sure they are trained well to follow direction, and there's plenty of them to just be a visual presence. But most don't have experience in handling domestic conflict/terorism/violence.

Also, the radical right will be energized by the appearance of a big "army" to fight. They need to be there, but it actually does whip up these terrorists.

[Anonymous]

I think that the Trumpers will include at least two types of people — well trained people, some in groups, who might have specific, strategic goals, and a much larger group of people who are imagining something like extreme paintball — where they don’t imagine that they could get hurt, and might even be bringing their children. I thing the National Guard will deter the second group. The crowds last week sometimes resembled people at a tailgate party. The large NG presence will give many indications that the inauguration week will be something very different. The FBI, MPD, the Secret Service, and other forces will be able to direct their resources towards the potentially more lethal people in the first group.

The visuals are a chilling reminder of who we are as a country: a massive military presence instead of parties and festive parades.

[Anonymous]

I think the seriously violent insurrectionists will not have the large crowd of willing/unwilling idiots to hide among (or try). I am worried that with the large National Guard presence that they will turn to asymmetrical warfare - IEDs / bombs or soft targets.

[Anonymous]

Is no one else considering that there will be militias with large weaponry, helicopters, etc.? Aren't there a lot of ex-military among the Trumpers? Haven't they been planning for this for years?

What about rogue National Guard, police, or other forces? We saw that happen on the 6th. Biden is changing his secret service (or at least more than usual). There could be attacks from within.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is no one else considering that there will be militias with large weaponry, helicopters, etc.? Aren't there a lot of ex-military among the Trumpers? Haven't they been planning for this for years?

What about rogue National Guard, police, or other forces? We saw that happen on the 6th. Biden is changing his secret service (or at least more than usual). There could be attacks from within.

I think the word you're looking for is "terrorist," not "militia." The militia is already there, sleeping on the floor of the Capitol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:15,000 National Guard troops will be stationed. I'm not worried. I'm more concerned about other places across the country with less security.

Most National Guard are not as well prepared for serious law enforcement and stopping active threats/terror attacks as people seem to think. They are quite different from other types of military. Don't conflate it just because they are in uniform.

I know the FBI and other police agencies are very involved, but thinking of the National Guard like they are great law enforcement is a mistake. Low experience, training is often focused on more common domestic issues. I'd say when you hear "National Guard," compare most of them to Coast Guard, not Army. Sure they are trained well to follow direction, and there's plenty of them to just be a visual presence. But most don't have experience in handling domestic conflict/terorism/violence.

Also, the radical right will be energized by the appearance of a big "army" to fight. They need to be there, but it actually does whip up these terrorists.

This post is both ignorant and insulting.

[Anonymous]

Comparison to Coast Guard is wrong, but the rest is not off-base. A lot of the Nat Guard are 18yo kids who were wondering if the Capitol gift shop would be open.

I am thankful they are there maintaining a perimeter but agree that they are a deterrent and not a necessarily a tested fighting force.

However, I also have doubts that the vast majority of Trump supporters will be meaningfully organized. But I worry about IEDs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lived here for over 30 years and only went down for Clinton's inauguration - anyone else remember that? They Might Be Giants and other cool bands on the Mall. It was such a fun, inclusive party. I was disappointed Obama didn't do anything like that.

Anyway, this year with all the fuss - the crowds will probably be down and security will be up - I'm contemplating going down for a moment of joy like it was on the day the election was called. That was sublime.

Umm. . .Obama's inauguration committee held a concert at the Lincoln Memorial, which I attended. Where were you?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_One:_The_Obama_Inaugural_Celebration_at_the_Lincoln_Memorial

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://wagingnonviolence.org/2020/08/plan-prevent-trump-election-coup-research/

Me again. Just in case.

Good article but it seems to me that one of our challenges is that we are split almost 50/50. So any conflict could go either way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lived here for over 30 years and only went down for Clinton's inauguration - anyone else remember that? They Might Be Giants and other cool bands on the Mall. It was such a fun, inclusive party. I was disappointed Obama didn't do anything like that.

Anyway, this year with all the fuss - the crowds will probably be down and security will be up - I'm contemplating going down for a moment of joy like it was on the day the election was called. That was sublime.

Sure he did. A couple days before the inauguration, Obama had a concert in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I went by myself and it was so fun to see the diversity of people there and the great atmosphere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_One:_The_Obama_Inaugural_Celebration_at_the_Lincoln_Memorial

But no, I would have loved to take my young kids to see the first woman VP who is also Black but between Covid and they will see it on TV instead.

Not the same by any stretch. A huge section of the mall was taken up with tents - multiple bands playing - it was like a festival where you could get up close to the bands. Lots of good food. Not like being stuck in a huge crowd back behind the Washington Monument. Since you were not there and I went to both you really have no room to comment. So sit back down

NP. I assume it’s the difference between pre 9/11 and post 9/11 Mall security. Even the folk life festival changed.