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WASHINGTON (AP) – A little over three weeks have passed. What will happen in Washington on July 4th remains a matter of great confusion.
Will the Independence Day celebration of the country be centered on the National Mall, as usual, or will it pass to the Lincoln Memorial, as apparently the House has requested? white? Will President Donald Trump follow up on his intention to deliver a speech? And if he does, will the speech be open to anyone – including the protesters – or will the White House limit its audience to Trump supporters during this traditionally non-political event?
The White House has not revealed its plans. The National Parks Service, which is primarily responsible for the event, has also become silent. This leaves the city government, which contributes to security, in the dark.
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, representative of the District of Columbia at Congress, said the July 4 interdepartmental planning meetings usually began up to three months in advance. But to his knowledge, none of these meetings took place.
"The city is struggling to know what to do because it only has the outline of what (the White House) wants," Norton said. She said she approached the park's services for details, but: "They would not tell us anything, you know why, because they know nothing."
Mayor Muriel Bowser refused repeated requests for comments.
Independence Day normally attracts tens of thousands of people to the National Mall for a celebration crowned with fireworks. A major overhaul of security has been implemented following the attacks of 11 September, but the opportunity has arisen smoothly for years.
The first sign that the celebration of 2019 is perhaps a little different came in a February tweet from Trump announcing on July 4th a special "Hi to America" that would feature "an address by your favorite president, me!"
Last week, a National Park Service official was quoted in the Washington Post, claiming that the White House was preparing a Trump speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the event.
But since that report, the White House and the National Parks Service have declined to comment. Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst issued a terse statement saying that "we continue to work with the White House to create a US Salvation program that will bring together Americans from across the country to celebrate our great country ".
Norton predicts a security nightmare, with a new location and new format set up at short notice, as well as the President's security movements and requirements causing chaos.
"It will be all kinds of headaches for security," she said.
The confusion spreads to DC activists, who do not know how to respond to Trump's speech of 4 July. Some see a golden opportunity to disrupt Trump in a way that he is not used to; others fear a trap.
Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the Code Pink movement, planned to travel to Havana on July 4 to protest the new restrictions imposed by the Trump government on travel to Cuba. But she changed these plans last week and her group is now organizing a protest.
"It's not often that President Trump performs in a public hall in front of a crowd that is not guaranteed to be friendly," she said. "It will be very difficult for them to control, we will see what kind of problem we can have."
Others fear that an attempt to directly confront Trump or disrupt the event may turn against them.
Nadine Bloch, a local organizer with a long history of protests for decades, said that a speech would give left-wing activists an opportunity to show up in front of television cameras and reach a wide audience. But she added that the protesters risked playing too much with the hand and being accused of ruining the 4th of July.
"It's a delicate balance," she said. "You could end up making more enemies."
Adam Eidinger, a prominent local activist, predicted that speech disruption attempts would be easily repressed, with security concerns being a justification.
"I fully expect the president to create a VIP section from the outset where only his supporters are allowed to enter," he said. "All the protesters will be reduced to a couple of people shouting in the distance."
Eidinger said he was leaning towards this event.
"I think it's a trap to force the opposition to weaken on July 4th," he said.
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