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Inauguration Security Bracing for Protests, Threats

Inauguration Security Bracing for Protests, Threats

A member of the Secret Service stands guard as workers prepare the inaugural parade reviewing stand where President Donald Trump will sit to view the parade. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

By    |   Friday, 20 January 2017 06:58 AM EST

Inauguration security is expected to be at a high in anticipation of protests in the nation’s capital on Friday, as the Obama administration transfers political power to Donald Trump and his team.

Law enforcement officials will section off a “security zone” surrounding the Capitol and the National Mall, as they prepare for potential protests that could take place Friday and throughout the weekend, according to The New York Times.

Officials estimate that a march planned for Saturday could bring as many as 500,000 people, which would leave law enforcement with their work cut out for them.

“We’ve got to be vigilant, we’ve got to plan, we’ve got to prepare,” said Jeh Johnson, secretary of homeland security, according to the Times.

CNN reported that some 900,000 people are expected to attend the inauguration and related activities in Washington.

Nearly three miles surrounding the area where the inauguration ceremony will be held will be blocked off, not allowing for any vehicles to travel through.

Johnson said there will be an estimated 28,000 people from the U.S. Secret Service, Transportation Security Administration, FBI, U.S. Park Police, U.S. Capitol Police, Coast Guard and local police working this weekend to assure the city’s safety, CNN noted.

Authorities are taking no chances given new threats, including “weaponized drones, thousands of protesters, terrorists, trucks plowing through crowds and cyberattacks,” U.S. News noted.

“The global terror environment is very different even from 2013,” Johnson said, according to U.S. News. “We have to be concerned about individual acts of violence.”

Almost 100 groups have applied for demonstration permits, which is significantly more than what we’ve seen in the past. Of the 99 groups that applied, officials say 63 of them are expected to protest during the inauguration.

“As long as they are nonviolent, [protesters] will be allowed to exercise their First Amendment rights,” Johnson said, according to U.S. News.

Trump’s inauguration will be authorities’ “most difficult security challenge” since President Obama’s first inauguration in 2009, which attracted a record-high 1.8 million people.

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TheWire
Inauguration security is expected to be at a high in anticipation of protests in the nation's capital on Friday, as the Obama administration transfers political power to Donald Trump and his team.
inauguration, security, protests, threats
335
2017-58-20
Friday, 20 January 2017 06:58 AM
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