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DC officials discuss Presidential Inauguration security
Ahead of the January inauguration, D.C. leaders say they are committed to the peaceful transfer of power and the security measures they have been tasked to handle. FOX 5's Lili Zheng has the latest.
WASHINGTON - Ahead of the January inauguration, D.C. leaders say they are committed to the peaceful transfer of power and the security measures they have been tasked to handle.
At a briefing Tuesday, D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said her team and other partners have been planning for the January 20 inauguration since mid-summer.
Agencies across the country have been intentional about supporting D.C. law enforcement, Chief Smith said.
"We hope we can get to 4,000 police officers to assist us in this process. We are close to that number. We do have other agencies who are continuing to reach out to us. As they reach out, we will accept their request to provide mutual aid support for the District of Columbia during the inauguration process," Smith said Tuesday.
Along with the January 20 inauguration, the 2025 Counting and Certification of Electoral Votes has been set for January 6.
"Certainly, working with the D.C. government agencies [including] fire and EMS, OUC, which are the parameters and nerve center here for the District of Columbia, we continue to prepare with our internal agencies on a regular basis," Smith said. "With our federal partners, we have been meeting on a bi-weekly basis. Sometimes, a weekly basis to determine what intelligence information that may arise, not just in D.C. but across the U.S."
Smith added Tuesday, that the department is also tracking other potentially large-scale events.
"Currently, we’re tracking I think four major…if you want to call it…major events as it relates to First Amendment activity. As you know, this is nothing new to the MPD. We handle large protests and demonstrations, not just coming on the heels of a January 6th certification of the elections and inauguration, but we do this year-round," she said. "We signed up for this job. We understand the risks are and what’s associated with this, and as with any protests and demonstrations, we will be prepared to address what comes with that."
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take the oath of office, there are questions surrounding what a second Trump term could look like for the district. D.C. Mayor Muriel said her office has requested a meeting with the president-elect.
"We have been discussing and planning for many months in the case that the District has to defend itself and its values on all regards. In terms of what we should know is that we’re still a country of laws and the district has home rule and the congress could change it, they could. It is possible. That is probably, as you mentioned, not a likely occurrence," Mayor Bowser said. "What I think is important for all DC residents to recognize, we’re not in a new place. We’ve been in this place before. What we have done, is we have followed the law and we defended ourselves and that would be our approach in any further occurrence."
‘Home rule’ refers to the law signed in 1973 by President Richard Nixon, which created a local government for Washington, D.C. It granted DC residents the ability to elect a mayor and council, but Congress retained the power to overrule local legislation and D.C. residents remained without a vote in Congress.
Trump has also been vocal on the intention to overhaul federal departments and agencies by firing "corrupt actors in [the] National Security and Intelligence apparatus" and moving as many as 100,000 government positions out of D.C.
Bowser said some of those are not in D.C. proper and would welcome a meeting on the federal workforce.
"There is a lot that our region offers to attract and retain and have a productive federal workforce, so we’re going to make our pitch," she said Tuesday.
On inauguration safety, a spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service released the following statement to FOX 5 on Tuesday:
"We continue to work closely with our law enforcement and public safety partners as we plan for the 2025 Counting and Certification of Electoral Votes on Jan. 6, and the 2025 Presidential Inauguration on Jan. 20, both of which have been designated National Special Security Events. More details, including the security perimeter and road closures, will be released a few weeks prior to each event."