The scene has mirrored the atmosphere in Washington for the past week: strange, offbeat, vaguely absurd. A column of National Guards comes out of the Capitol, locked behind barriers, leans to pass under a security tape, and marches to the sound of … “America, Sweet America”, a song by Ray Charles from 1972, then “We Are Family”, Sister Sledge’s disco hit, released in 1979 and became a gay and feminist anthem. We owe the musical background to a man, sitting on a folding chair, who put up a sign that reads “Stop hating yourself because you don’t agree”.
The 25,000 National Guards, a military reserve force, deployed in Washington for the inauguration of Joe Biden came from all 50 states for Operation “Capital Response”. This is 2.5 times more than the number of men expected before the invasion of the Capitol on January 6. And walking the streets of Washington these days doesn’t really make America feel so sweet, or a tight-knit family.
Four of the bridges leading from Virginia to the capital have been closed, much of the center condemned. Access is controlled at checkpoints manned by armed soldiers (not loaded outside the Capitol) with trucks and armored vehicles. The National Mall, on which the nomination will be held this Wednesday, January 20, is completely surrounded by fences, with tents serving as entrances for those who have special accreditation.
Among them, some journalists. The Committee of Reporters for Freedom of the Press, the National Association of Press Photographers, the New York Times and the Washington Post had unsuccessfully asked the intelligence services for permission to wear protective equipment: “As we learned from our emergency hotline, a photojournalist was not injured on January 6 because ‘she was wearing a bulletproof vest when she was stabbed. However, the media, which Donald Trump called “fake news” all day long and that he encouraged to boo at each demonstration, became the bête noire of his supporters and on January 6, many journalists were attacked.
National guards scrutinized
But nothing helped, the tension is so high in Washington. After a complicity from the inside was raised on Capitol Hill, attention shifted to the National Guards themselves. Their files are scrupulously examined for any indication of affinity with an “extremist” ideology. The day before the inauguration, twelve were excluded from the operation, two of whom posted or texted inappropriate comments about the event. The Twelve, according to officials interviewed by The Associated Press, appear to have ties to far-right militias. However, recent FBI investigations reveal that some, as well as followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, had plans to infiltrate the security forces.
The center of Washington, emptied of its inhabitants and populated by soldiers on patrol in its long deserted avenues, looks like a barracks. Near the Supreme Court, an ultra-religious group brandishes photos of fetuses and signs warning: “God hates hands that shed innocent blood” or “Jesus saves from hell”. “If there is not the light of God in your heart and you put up with this world, if you love transgender people, abortion, you are an enemy of God,” shouts a man in a loud voice. speaker, without audience. Further down, two National Guards stand guard while two others set up chemical toilets. At the hotel, in Army t-shirts and sandals, they eat the rations that have been delivered to them in boxes. A guard swallows his, mauve charlotte on her head to protect her hairstyle.
Invested on the sly
Nothing more surprises, in Washington, which will know its smallest presidential inauguration since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, January 20, 1945. The ceremony had been completed in fifteen minutes in the White House, and was followed by a salad buffet of chicken, cakes and coffee for 2,000 guests. The balls and the parade had been deemed incompatible with the war. The enemies were then Germany and Japan. This year, there will be fewer guests than the 1,600 the facility can accommodate. The enemies this time are the Covid and domestic terrorism.
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