Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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Troops, Police Line Washington Streets for Biden Inauguration

Jeff Seldin

   WASHINGTON - U.S. National Guard troops, many wearing combat fatigues
   and some carrying weapons, are lining the streets of Washington as the
   United States prepares to swear in the country's 46th president.
   In all, about 25,000 of the part-time troops from all 50 states, backed
   by a heavy police presence, have been called to duty in what has become
   an unprecedented show of force, meant to bolster security and repel
   possible violence by extremists unhappy with the outcome of the U.S.
   presidential election.
   "This is a deterrent," one official told VOA early Wednesday, hours
   before President-elect Joe Biden was set to take the oath of office.
   For days, security officials have been warning of what they described
   as "concerning chatter" on social media, with suspected domestic
   extremists threatening members of Congress, or even calling for a
   repeat of the January 6 riot and siege of the U.S. Capitol building
   that left five people dead.
   "We're tracking calls for potential armed protests and activity leading
   up to the inauguration," FBI Director Christopher Wray warned last
   week. "We're concerned about the potential for violence at multiple
   protests and rallies planned here in (Washington)."
   The U.S. Secret Service, normally charged with protecting the
   president, was more specific, raising concerns that far-right groups
   like the Boogaloo Boys or Proud Boys might seek to cause trouble.
   "I don't know if anyone has raised their hand to say, 'We are coming.
   We will be there.' but we are preparing as if they are," Matt Miller,
   the agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service Washington Field Office,
   told reporters.
   Further heightening tensions, security forces responded to the U.S.
   Supreme Court early Wednesday after a reported bomb threat, though they
   quickly determined there was no actual threat.
   Ahead of the inauguration, police and National Guard troops helped
   erect fencing around the Capitol complex, complete with barbed wire, to
   keep any would-be instigators at bay.
   Checkpoints also went up around Washington, with the Secret Service
   establishing its own "Green Zone."
   Even those assigned to protect the Capitol have come under intense
   scrutiny.
   The National Guard on Tuesday confirmed 12 of its members had been
   pulled from security details after increased vetting turned up
   questions about their behavior, and in a couple of cases, potential
   ties to extremist groups.
   "We're not taking any chances," Chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan
   Hoffman told reporters.

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