The United States capital is beefing up its security as it prepares to certify the election results, four years after the same process was interrupted by hundreds of Donald Trump’s supporters in a historic assault on the Capitol.
The congressmen of the House of Representatives and the Senate today have the task of making official the victory of Trump in the November elections, in what the mayor, Muriel Bowser, ordered to be classified as a “special security event.”
It is the first time in modern US history that the certification of electoral results receives this label, which brings with it greater federal resources to reinforce security, and with it the authorities seek to avoid a repeat of an event like the 2021 assault.
The anniversary also resonates with the campaign promise of Trump to grant clemency to his followers accused of the riots: more than 1,500 people, most of them for minor charges, and of whom about a thousand have already been sentenced, 650 of them with prison sentences.
Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger indicated last Friday in a press conference that his team is prepared for a peaceful transition of power and for the “legislative process to proceed without interruption.” Its agents will also have the support of more than 500 members of the National Guard.
After the assault, this police force – in charge of the security of the Congress building – was under the scrutiny of a special investigation led by a group of legislators into the flaws in their preparation and protocol that led to the former president’s followers managing to enter through force and take the chamber.
Since then, Manger reported, the police force has incorporated the recommendations provided by the Government Transparency Office to improve its performance after the attack.
This year, the agent highlighted, “There is no credible information” that leads the authorities to think “that a massive demonstration will occur.”
The Secret Service – the body in charge of the security of the heads of state – and the residents of the city must be prepared for a level of security similar to the State of the Union address, when the president visits Congress, said the director of this body, Matt McCool, at the same press conference.
And, in addition to the certification of the results, Washington will also receive the coffin of former President Jimmy Carter, who will be honored with a state funeral this Tuesday also at the Capitol.
That event, which will culminate with a mass at the Washington National Cathedral, is also designated as a “special security” event, and important political figures, including former presidents of the country, are expected to participate in the funeral.