At its pace Washington moves, with authorities having taken unprecedented security measures, following an election campaign marked by violence. On Monday (20.01.2024) Donald Trump’s inauguration will be the third “national special security status event” within two weeks, following the ratification of the results of the presidential election by Congress and the funeral of former US President Jimmy Carter. Washington is used to such events, but so many are rarely held in such a short time. CORVERSE City authorities prepare to welcome fewer visitors than they had attended the first inauguration Trump eight years ago, when authorities had predicted that up to a million people would be gathered in Washington. But rails have already been set up on the streets around the White House, the Capitol and on part of the route that the new president of the United States will follow. The security perimeter has been placed 48 kilometers of bars, record number. In addition, about 25,000 police and military officers will be deployed in Washington, according to Matt McCul, a Secret Service agent, who is responsible for protecting important political persons and of course the presidents. CORVERSE “We have a more compact security plan” compared to previous years, he commented this week, while adding that “a set of security measures, some of which are visible and some are not”. In addition the guests in the inauguration will undergo thorough checks, snipers will have taken positions on the roofs of neighbouring buildings, drones will supervise the events from above, while there will be security teams on the ground as well. “What has changed is that we are in an environment that is more threatening,” McCul appreciated. The campaign was marked by violence: Trump escaped an attempt at his life in July during an election rally in Pennsylvania, where a spectator was killed. Two months later he became the target of a second attempted murder on a golf course in Florida. The Secret Service was severely criticized for its action following these two incidents. After all, on 1 January a man dropped the car in which he was riding a crowd in New Orleans, causing the death of at least 14 people, and an explosion occurred in a Tesla vehicle in front of Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas. These two incidents have caused concern to the authorities. According to Capitol Police chief, Thomas Manger, about 250,000 guests will attend the inauguration ceremony. “The greatest threat to all of us remains that of the lone wolf,” he said, referring to attacks that unleash individual persons. But for the authorities so far there is no known and specific threat to the ceremony. “Every four years our city participates in the peaceful transfer of power. We are proud of this responsibility,” said Muriel Bowzer mayor of Washington. Thousands of protesters against Trump will be present in Washington, but much less than the hundreds of thousands who protested one day after the Republican’s previous inauguration in 2017: authorities expect about 25,000 people at a demonstration scheduled for Saturday. More protests, smaller scales, are scheduled for the day of inauguration. REUTERS/Leah Millis Police will ensure that people can “prove and gather in a peaceful manner,” Bowzer said. But “violence, destruction and illegal behaviour will not be tolerated,” he stressed. On Sunday thousands of Trump supporters will flock to Washington for a Republican gathering. Last week the fullness of the hotels in Washington for Sunday reached 70%, although it is expected to increase. However, this is a smaller percentage than the 92% recorded in the first Trump inauguration, the STR company noted. Many hotels have announced bids for inauguration, including Watergate: With $73,500 one can sleep in the presidential suite and have a helicopter available.
An unprecedented security measure for the inauguration of Donald Trump- 48 kilometers of railing, 25,000 police officers
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in World