Washington D.C. is preparing for political violence as a divided nation faces another intense presidential election on Tuesday.
According to polls, most Americans expect at least some unrest after the election.
Images of businesses boarded up in downtown D.C. are making the rounds on social media.
Work crews have begun covering up the windows of buildings and stores near the White House as the election comes down to the final week. pic.twitter.com/d29CAEq0QS
— Andrew Leyden (@PenguinSix) October 31, 2024
Police in Washington D.C. will have the entire police force working 12-hour shifts, chief Pamela Smith said this week.
“We will not tolerate any violence of any kind,” said Smith at a news conference. “We will not tolerate the destruction of property. We will not tolerate any unlawful behavior. Offenders will be arrested and will be held accountable.”
The nation's capital was rocked by the George Floyd riots in the summer of 2020, as violent leftists surrounded the White House and clashed with Secret Service.
A pro-Trump election protest on January 6, 2021, evolved into unrest at the Capitol that injured many police officers and left one Trump supporter, Ashli Babbitt, shot dead by a cop.
President Trump's 2017 inauguration also was met with a violent response as rioters clashed with police, lit fires, and smashed storefronts.
While the media are stoking fears of another January 6th-style event on the right, a violent reaction from the left is also a possibility, as Democrats paint Trump as a "fascist" bent on destroying American democracy in a second term.
Democrat Kamala Harris has compared Trump to dictators like Adolf Hitler, and President Biden dismissed Trump supporters as "garbage" just days before Election Day.
This comes after Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, this summer. Another would-be assassin was arrested in September while trying to kill Trump at his Florida golf course.
Trump has blamed the extreme rhetoric of his opponents for the threats against his life, but Democrats have shown no signs of toning things down.
Anti-Trump incitement continued to build Friday when Trump was falsely accused of calling for the execution of Republican critic Liz Cheney.
Trump's critics pounced on out-of-context comments in which Trump suggested Cheney, an infamous war hawk, should be given a rifle and sent to fight overseas.
