#Map of dc lockdown full#

The attack was the culmination of a months-long campaign of lies by the president and his band of hangers-on, who falsely told anyone who would listen that the election was stolen from him. It was less than two weeks ago that a mob of hundreds of the president’s supporters stormed the Capitol building in an attempt to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. Read more: Follow live updates and news on Inauguration Day 2021 But it is clear here on the streets of the nation’s capital, in the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency, that the clock on that long tradition has to be reset. The peaceful transfer of power has been a hallmark of American democracy for more than 200 years.

Roads are blocked with giant concrete barriers and high metal fences.

The streets near the Capitol are largely empty but for police and soldiers and scattered military vehicles. Coast Guard boats with mounted machine guns patrol the Potomac River.

#Map of dc lockdown full#

National Guard troops – wearing their full military gear – gather in the cold on sidewalks outside of hotels usually filled with bustling tourists. The inauguration of a new president is traditionally a day for celebration, but an eerie quiet looms over the capital ahead of Wednesday’s ceremony.

Even for Washington DC, a city which has long had a front-row seat to history, these past few weeks have been extraordinary.