The White House is constructing a "non-scalable" fence around the entire perimeter of the government building –– and is planning to have an additional 250 National Guardsmen on standby in anticipation of a surge in protests in the wake of election day
The White House is constructing a "non-scalable" fence around the entire perimeter of the government building –– and is planning to have an additional 250 National Guardsmen on standby in anticipation of a surge in protests in the wake of election day, according to reports. The fence, which will surround the Ellipse and Lafayette Square, will reportedly be similar to the tall metal fencing built around the White House during protests this summer, NBC first reported.
The White House did not wish to comment and referred Inside Edition Digital to the Secret Service who was not available when reached for comment by email and phone Monday.
The fence will run down 15th Street to Constitution Avenue and then over to 17th Street. The structure will then run up to H street and across by Lafayette, then back down 15th Street, CNN reported.
Following the 2016 presidential election that saw Donald Trump elected into office, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in cities across the U.S., from Oakland to Washington, D.C., to march in opposition of Trump's victory.
More recently, the White House security team erected fences around the Oval Office in June amid protests, NBC reported. In the same month, the president was taken to an underground White House bunker for nearly an hour, CNN reported. Trump said the visit to the shelter was only an "inspection" of the space.
In September, as protests roared on, Portland, Washington, and New York City were deemed three "anarchist jurisdictions" by the Justice Department because they have "permitted violence and destruction of property to persist" and "refused to undertake reasonable measures to counteract criminal activities."
The DC Metro Police have been preparing its officers for over a year, as the department does in anticipation for every general election to handle potential riots and disturbances in the metro system, CNN reported.
Peter Newsham, the department's police chief, warned the District's City Council last month that they were expecting "some type of civil unrest" following the election, the outlet reported. Many businesses in the proximity of the White House have already boarded up their windows and doors in preparation.
Police departments in cities including Los Angeles, New York, Detroit, and Chicago are similarly deploying more officers ahead of election day in preparation of civic unrest without intimidating voters, the New York Times reported.
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