Armored and deserted, Washington awaits the assumption …

For fear of further protests from supporters of incumbent President Donald Trump, central Washington and the seats of parliaments in several states across the country were protected and virtually isolated. The image marks the tension that exists in the United States on the eve of Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration next Wednesday, and which has increased after the attack on the Capitol on January 6.

Last week, FBI warned Trump supporters called for protests outside 50 state and capital legislatures. So Sunday some of those Districts like Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania have decided to make these buildings more secure by protecting them. The same has happened in the capital, Washington DC, where, beyond a few isolated arrests, scenes of violence or tension similar to those that hit the world a few days ago have yet to be seen. views.

The capital of the United States has become a fortress since the violent invasion of Congress: at least ten thousand members of the National Guard have already been deployed and several streets in the center have been blocked by concrete barriers. This operation will convert the investiture of biden in which it counts with the largest security deployment in U.S. history. The 25,000 troops expected in Washington on Wednesday will be five times the total of 5,000 troops currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Washington DC authorities arrested a woman posing as a police officer and a second gunman near the Capitol over the weekend, after stopping another Friday, which ensured he was lost. So far, it has not been confirmed that any of the three detainees had a clear intention of provoking further episodes of violence in the capital, or that they were followers of the Republican president.

The last man arrested, identified as Guy Berry, he walked early Sunday morning on Massachusetts Avenue, a mile from the Capitol, with his gun “clearly visible” in a holster, according to the police report. He was arrested for carrying an unlicensed pistol, possessing high capacity magazines and having unregistered ammunition..

The day before, Saturday morning, a woman was detained at one of the access points to the large fenced perimeter that covers all of central Washington. The woman, who has not been identified, said she was a security guard and displayed a pocket medallion which is usually owned by military commanders. Capitol Police didn’t believe her story and the woman was eventually arrested accused of having usurped the identity of a security agent, of not having obeyed a police officer and of having fled from him.

These two new arrests come in addition to that of another man, Wesley Allen Beeler, which police accused of attempting to enter the fenced in downtown Washington area on Friday with at least one weapon and more than 500 bullets. However, Beeler assured the Washington post that he only approached the checkpoint near the Capitol because he got lost in the capital, where he had come from Virginia to work as a security guard for a private company. “It was an innocent mistake,” Beeler said, adding that he had a license to carry weapons, but forgot about it at home, and that it is not true that he had more. of 500 bullets in the car, as claimed by the police.