Inauguration security in the District of Columbia has “permeated every aspect” of former Lynner Kathryn Halloran and other D.C. residents’ lives, in a way that feels “almost surreal.”
More than 20,000 National Guard troops flooded the district this week in preparation for the inauguration and unprecedented restrictions have been put in place throughout large areas of the city.
Halloran grew up in Lynn, and moved to Washington, D.C. in 2018 where she earned a master’s degree in Middle East Studies from George Washington University and where she now works as a contractor for the Department of Defense.
“It feels very militarized,” Halloran said. “It’s just crazy to see soldiers everywhere, and tanks.”
The city has been divided into zones with varied security restrictions.
Halloran lives only a couple blocks away from the Capitol, just outside of the Green Zone and right next to one of several vehicle checkpoints throughout the city.
In the Green Zone, traffic is restricted to residents or businesses, while in the Red Zone, which is closer to the National Mall, traffic is restricted to authorized vehicles only.
Parking garages in both areas are closed until after the inauguration, and residents in those areas can be required to show their identification to National Guard officers.
Tall heavy fencing has been erected around the Capitol and other federal buildings.
“My friends who live within the perimeter have a much harder time moving around because they need to make sure they have ID,” said Halloran. “(The National Guard) needs to know exactly who you are and why you’re in there and why you have to be there.”
The result of the restrictions is a city that seems eerily calm, the quietest Halloran has seen since the beginning of the pandemic.
The increased security comes in the wake of the attempted insurrection on Jan. 6, which occurred only blocks away from Halloran’s apartment.
Jan. 6 began as a normal day for her — she was working from home while following the events of the riot unfold on the TV.
Halloran “watched in horror” as, only blocks away, armed protesters stormed the Capitol building to protest what they viewed as a rigged 2020 election, resulting in the deaths of six individuals.
As the situation escalated, and she began to hear reports of bio-weapons, she made the decision to evacuate to her fiancé’s parents’ house in Pennsylvania.
“It was just unacceptable and heinous and without a doubt, an act of terrorism in my book,” she said. “It’s just disheartening that it has to be like this because of what’s happened so close to home.”
After the riot, Halloran spotted many of the protesters throughout the city.
“It was a wide spectrum of people, which is almost more alarming,” she said. “You saw people with children and their whole family walking around and others in camouflage and military-type gear.”
By inauguration day though, these people were nowhere to be seen, Halloran said.
At noon Wednesday, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, at a secure ceremony, without the sort of incident security had prepared for taking place.
Halloran feels like the change in administration will be taken positively by the residents of the largely liberal district.
“As soon as the election results came in everyone was yelling and cheering outside. The atmosphere that day was definitely joyous,” said Halloran. “People are ready for the change.”
