The Biden administration took office with a military occupation of Washington D.C. It seems to be planning to go out the way that it came in.

The Secret Service said Thursday that the upcoming Jan. 6 “has been designated a National Special Security Event by the Secretary of Homeland Security.”

“National Special Security Events are events of the highest national significance,” Special Agent in Charge of the Secret Service’s Dignitary Protective Division Eric Ranaghan said in a statement in the release. “The U.S. Secret Service, in collaboration with our federal, state, and local partners are committed to developing and implementing a comprehensive and integrated security plan to ensure the safety and security of this event and its participants.”

Why preemptively declare an NSSE when there’s currently no basis for expecting violent major protests?

It made sense to declare the DNC and RNC conventions NSSEs because violent protests were planned. Who’s planning violent protests for J6? More relevantly, whom is the Department of Homeland Security expecting to see protest on J6?

And why declare it now?

We’ve already been hearing talk of military support for the election and the aftermath. These are ugly signals to be sending in a free country especially when no one has any declared plans to rally or protest on that day.

NSSE declarations did not stop violent protests by Hamas supporters at the DNC, but you can also bet that protests will be treated very differently on J6 depending on who is seen as the winner.