D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said there are “no credible threats” to the District ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election, despite several downtown businesses boarding up their buildings and the White House and other federal properties erecting climb-proof fencing along their perimeters.
Ms. Bowser delivered her message on election concerns in the Metropolitan Police Department’s new Joint Operations Command Center, where local and federal police departments from around the region will gather to monitor any potential security concerns that manifest on election night.
LIVE: Mayor Bowser and Chief Smith Hold Briefing on Security Plans for Election Day and Inauguration https://t.co/7woq5dkqKh
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) November 4, 2024
MPD Police Chief Pamela Smith said the department’s intelligence unit has no indication that activist or extremist groups are looking to stoke unrest in the nation’s capital, but still the mayor urged people to get their election news from official sources and avoid misinformation that can turn inflammatory.
As for the boarded-up buildings, Ms. Bowser said last week that she didn’t think those businesses should take such measures. She said Monday that police will be ready to handle any agitators who take to the streets.
SEE ALSO: Massive security walls and fences transform Washington streets ahead of Election Day
“The winning side wants to celebrate, and we want them to celebrate peacefully and responsibly as well,” Ms. Bowser said. “And the losing side, as the chief has already addressed, may be feeling destructive, and that is not going to be tolerated.”
Polls show a neck-and-neck race between Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, and former President Donald Trump, a Republican. Political observers have said it’s unlikely the American people will know the results by the end of Tuesday night.
Another wrinkle is Ms. Harris will be holding her watch party at Howard University, her alma mater, which is located in Northwest. Federal and local police will have active patrols through the campus and surrounding neighborhoods and began blocking off roads Monday.
Mr. Trump is holding his watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida, where local police and Secret Service members will be carrying out similar protocols.
Federal buildings in the District are also getting extra layers of defense.
A work crew was seen installing anti-climb fencing Sunday outside the vice president’s official federal residence at the Naval Observatory.
The residence already has a wrought-iron fence and a security station at the front gate, but crews added the special fence along most of the property’s perimeter lining Massachusetts Avenue Northwest.
The White House, which also has a wrought-iron fence along its border, had its South Lawn almost completely cordoned off by an additional layer of the anti-climb fence. New fencing encircled the half of Lafayette Square that’s connected to the Executive Mansion’s northern face.
The statue of Andrew Jackson that sits in the heart of Lafayette Square — a monument that has been a popular target for vandals in past protests — is now inside the fencing.
Some of the fencing surrounding the White House appeared to be topped with barbs. There also appeared to be a stage under construction between the White House and Lafayette Square.
Ms. Bowser said Monday those precautionary measures were undertaken independently by federal officials and that it is the job of local officials “to support them.”
Multiple office and retail buildings were boarded up just west of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest.
One office building, which houses a U.S. Post Office, had its entire front facade covered in sturdy wooden planks. Another building diagonally across the street had a Peet’s Coffee and a Potbelly Sandwich Shop boarded up thoroughly enough that the two businesses had signs reassuring customers they were open.
A boarded-up McDonald’s on nearby 17th Street Northwest also had multiple handwritten signs taped to the wooden barriers saying “McDonald’s we are open.”
About a block away from the White House near McPherson Square, a six-man work crew was sawing up plywood and positioning supportive braces on the front of the McPherson Building.
The building includes offices for Booz Allen Hamilton and the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, which were also heavily boarded up.
Further down I Street Northwest near Franklin Square Park, a protruding wooden barrier walled off windows to the Pow Pow vegan restaurant and the Blick Art Materials storefront.
The District is not the only place preparing for potential vandalism in reaction to Tuesday night’s election.
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, said he has the National Guard on standby in case of post-election violence. And just south in Portland, Oregon, some of the Rose City’s downtown businesses have boarded up their buildings as well.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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