D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and law enforcement officials on Monday sought to assure the public they are prepared for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next week in what they described as a “higher threat environment.”
Mr. Trump is set to take the oath of office outside the U.S. Capitol building at noon on Jan. 20, marking the culmination of a presidential election that divided the nation and saw the iconoclastic and charismatic 78-year-old narrowly survive an assassination attempt. A second alleged assassination attempt also was thwarted.
“Our message today is very direct: We’re prepared,” said Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith. “The men and women of the Metropolitan Police Department, D.C. government and our partners are fully prepared for the 60th presidential inauguration.”
Security officials are on high alert following the deadly New Year’s attack in New Orleans and the recent attempts to bring a machete and knives into the U.S. Capitol and light a car on fire near Capitol grounds. The incidents at the Capitol occurred while Mr. Trump was there.
The ceremony also is playing out just over six months after Mr. Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania where a bullet came within mere inches - perhaps less - of killing him and left him with a bloodied right ear.
Special agent in charge William McCool of the Secret Service, which is leading the security effort, said there will be 25,000 law enforcement and military personnel on site to help carry out the ceremony. The event is attracting 250,000 ticketed guests and tens of thousands of others, including protestors.
“We are in a higher threat environment,” Mr. McCool said when asked how safety concerns compare to years past. “We are 100% confident with the plan we have put in place for this inauguration that our public and our attendees will be safe.”
J. Thomas Manger, chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, said that “the biggest threat, I think for all of us, remains the lone actor.”
“That threat of the lone actor remains the biggest justification for us being on at this heightened state of alert throughout the next week,” Mr. Manger said.
Law enforcement officials signaled they feel well-prepared for the Trump inauguration after successfully watching over last week’s certification of the 2024 Electoral College votes and President Jimmy Carter’s funeral.
Tall security fencing was erected around the White House and the Capitol building weeks ago.
There will be road closures and flight restrictions. Attendees will have to pass through designed security checkpoints and screening.
Safety concerns spiked this month after Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a pickup truck into a New Year’s crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, leaving 14 people dead and dozens injured. Investigators said he was inspired by the Islamic State terrorist group.
Hours later, Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Green Beret, set off a crudely built explosive outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. He killed himself before the explosion went off.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.