Trump declares state of emergency in US capital

As the days go by, the panic over the swearing in of President-elect Joe Biden is growing. No one knows when something like this happened before the inauguration of a newly elected US president. 

Alerts are in place across the country following the unprecedented violence by Trump supporters on Capitol Hill. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn in on January 20.

Trump has declared a state of emergency in Washington DC to prevent any sabotage at the inauguration ceremony, US media reported.

On Monday, he instructed the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to work in coordination with local authorities.

The order authorizes federal assistance to be extended through January 24 to support efforts in Washington, DC to respond to the emergency situation.

Specifically, it allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency to “identify, mobilize and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.”

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The move comes after pro-Trump rioters overran the US Capitol building on January 6 in support of Trump’s false claims that the US election was stolen from him. Five people were killed in the violence.

Earlier on Monday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in an internal bulletin warned of possible armed protests in all 50 states and in the US capital in the days leading up to Biden’s inauguration on January 20.

Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser sent a letter on the weekend requesting tighter security ahead of the inauguration in light of the “chaos, injury, and death” at the Capitol on January 6.

Bowser asked the Homeland Security Department to extend emergency provisions to allow federal and local agencies to better prepare for the inauguration and requested daily intelligence and threat briefings from the FBI from January 11 to January 24.

Meanwhile, US Senators Chris Murphy, Kirsten Gillibrand and Martin Heinrich sent a letter to Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller on Monday asking for a full account of what happened during the Capitol riot.