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WASHINGTON: Washington city officials on Monday (January 4) warned supporters of President Donald Trump not to bring weapons to protests this week against Congressional certification of their electoral defeat and recruited hundreds of soldiers from the National Guard to help maintain order.
“We have received information that there are people trying to bring firearms into our city and that simply will not be tolerated,” Police Chief Robert Contee said at a City Hall news conference, adding that anyone found doing so or causing violence she would be arrested.
More than 300 soldiers will be on hand to support the city government, providing crowd control and assisting fire and rescue services, the DC National Guard said in a statement Monday. They will be joined by the United States Capitol Police, the United States Park Police and the United States Secret Service, Contee said.
The district has some of the strictest gun laws in the United States and prohibits the open carrying of weapons or the possession of a firearm without a local license.
READ: Thousands of Trump supporters demonstrate again in Washington
Thousands of Trump supporters, including some far-right nationalist groups who openly bear arms in protests elsewhere, are expected to converge on the U.S. capital starting Tuesday to oppose congressional certification the day after. the electoral defeat of the Republican president on November 3 before Democrat Joe. Biden.
Contee said the protests could be larger than the November and December rallies, marred by stabbings and fights, as hundreds of Proud Boys, a group of self-described “Western chauvinists” and other Trump loyalists clashed with counter-protesters and sought you fight with Antifa. or anti-fascists and Black Lives Matter activists.
On Monday, metropolitan police arrested Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and charged him with destroying property related to an earlier protest. Tarrio was “in possession of two high-capacity firearm chargers” at the time of his arrest, according to a police statement, and was also charged with that possession offense.
TRUMP PROMISES THAT WILL APPEAR
Trump summoned his supporters to meetings this week, saying on Twitter Sunday that “I’ll be there” and Friday that “it will be crazy. Several demonstrations are planned for Wednesday, including one outside the United States Congress.
The White House has not provided any official hours, but a person briefed on its plans said Trump will speak to his supporters on Jan.6 at the Ellipse, a park south of the White House.
READ: Georgia’s top election official says White House pressured him to accept Trump’s call
Trump falsely claims that Biden won the election through massive vote rigging, despite the fact that dozens of rulings by state and federal courts, state election officials from both parties, and the U.S. Department of Justice have found no major fraud.
Congress has a constitutional mandate to certify the results of the presidential election on Wednesday, in what would normally be a formality overseen by Vice President Mike Pence.
But at least 12 Republican senators and about 140 members of the Republican House of Representatives pledged to vote against Biden’s certification of victory, citing Trump’s allegations of voter fraud.
His move will not change the outcome, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, Democrat, said at the news conference. “Our Constitution will endure. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will serve as President and Vice President of the United States” when they are inaugurated on January 20.
Bowser urged residents to stay out of the city center, where boards hung during rallies for racial justice last summer still cover the windows of offices, restaurants and hotels.
Prior to his arrest, Proud Boys’ Tarrio said on social media that “record numbers” of members would attend, suggesting they might dress in black as antifa activists. “We will go incognito and spread out across downtown DC in smaller teams,” he said.
“We will go incognito and spread out across downtown DC in smaller teams,” wrote Enrique Tarrio.
The Harrington Hotel and attached Harry’s Bar, popular hangouts for the Proud Boys during previous protests, will close on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“While we cannot control what happens outside the hotel, we are taking additional steps to protect the safety of our visitors, guests and employees,” the hotel said on its website.
