PublishedJanuary 16, 2021, 10:50 p.m.
The police arrested a man in Washington, not far from the US Capitol. He was heavily armed and had falsified access authorization for the swearing-in ceremony that Wednesday.
The new US President Biden will be sworn in on Wednesday.
AFP
After the storming of the US Capitol by supporters of the elected President Donald Trump on January 6, with several fatalities, there is great concern about further acts of violence surrounding the swearing-in of Biden.
AFP
A few days before the inauguration of the future US President Joe Biden, an armed suspect was arrested in the capital Washington. The man from the state of Virginia drove to a police checkpoint not far from the US Capitol on Friday evening, according to a police report that is available to the German Press Agency. Accordingly, he had a loaded pistol and 500 rounds of ammunition with him. The police also seized shotgun ammunition. The arrest was made, among other things, because neither the firearm nor the ammunition was registered.
The news channel “CNN” reported that the man had presented a fake access authorization for the swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday.
Event with maximum security
After the storming of the US Capitol by supporters of the elected President Donald Trump on January 6, with several fatalities, there is great concern about further acts of violence surrounding the swearing-in of Biden. In the center of the capital, where the White House and the Capitol are located, as well as a large open space with various landmarks, drastic security measures have been taken. Metal fences and concrete barricades were erected next to police checkpoints. Thousands of members of the National Guard – part of the US Army Reserve – were deployed to protect the Congress seat.
Members of the National Guard arrived in the US capital by buses and airplanes on Saturday. In the past 72 hours, more than 130 flights by the US Air Guard brought at least 7,000 emergency services to a base in Maryland, as US officials only wanted to describe with the assurance that they would remain anonymous. Thousands of other emergency services were traveling in buses and trucks of the military on the highways towards Washington.
The inauguration on the west side of the Capitol is an event with maximum security, even under normal circumstances. This year, in view of the recent riots, this is particularly true – even if the ceremony takes place without the usual mass audience due to the corona pandemic. At the inauguration, the Secret Service responsible for protecting the President is in charge of the security precautions.
(dpa)