US media reported Tuesday that federal forces and personnel from the Justice Department’s Bureau of Prisons, as well as others from the Marshals Service, are preparing for deployment in the streets of Washington for confronting potential unrest.
Trump has previously declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, citing voter fraud.
In the city of Kenosha — where Trump had one final campaign rally Monday night — police forces were deployed to City Hall and polling places.
Some urban areas, including Minneapolis are also prepared for chaos, according to reports.
At least 3,671 US troops are on stand-by in 16 states for rapid deployment. They include 1,000 troops in Massachusetts, 300 in Arizona, 300 in Alabama, and an undisclosed Guard troops have been committed to the effort.
In New York, stores and businesses are boarding up in anticipation of unrest and potential looting by covering windows with plywood.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city wasn’t directing business owners to do so, but admitted, “Everyone, of course, is concerned about the election results and what plays out after.”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, I don’t think any of us do, but given the events over the summer, better safe than sorry,” said owner of a marketing agency.
In Los Angeles, Beverly Hills cops will put Rodeo Drive on lockdown as the feds plan to erect a massive fence around the White House.
The mobilization of forces suggests that the Justice Department was reprising its activities from June, when anti-racial protests sparked across the nation in response to death of African American George Floyd at the hands of US police.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said her city has prepared for election-related protests and unrest, with, plans to curb violence including increased police patrols and the use of dump trucks and other heavy vehicles as blockades.
“No matter the outcomes of [the] elections, we all know that emotions will be high because they already are, and I urge you to channel those emotions into peaceful and productive expressions,” Lightfoot said at a press conference last week.
In Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed in May, election officials will deploy a “sergeant-at-arms” at each polling site to “help ensure an orderly voting process,” said Sarah McKenzie, a city spokeswoman.
“We continue to plan for the worst and hope for the best,” she added.
Fears of violence have erupted since Trump called on his supporters, during the first presidential debate, to voluntarily go to polls to combat voter fraud.
His campaign argued that that poll watchers are essential in combating voter fraud, but election experts believe this could frighten voters.
Trump supporters have already taken part in violence acts during anti-racial protests in several cities, including Portland, where the clashes resulted in shooting death of a supporter of the president.
On Friday, Trump supporters surrounded a Biden campaign bus with their vehicles bearing Trump flags and signs in Texas. Video of the incident showed a collision between two cars, with the Biden campaign saying the pro-Trump trucks tried to run the bus off the road as it traveled from San Antonio to Austin.
Trump supported Texas drivers who surrounded Biden’s campaign bus, lashing out at the FBI after it said it was conducting an investigation into the incident.
White House barricaded over fears of unrest
A temporary wall has been erected around the White House perimeter as law enforcement agencies prepare in advance for potential unrest and violence on Election Day.
Media reported a non-scalable “anti-climb” fence, made from a welded wire mesh that is impossible to climb and very difficult to cut, installed around the White House on Monday.
Additional fencing already had been erected around Lafayette Square, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, the location of protests over racial equality in June following the police-killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died on May 25 when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on the neck of the handcuffed former bouncer for nearly nine minutes during an arrest.
The new fencing was among other measures being taken in Washington, DC, and other cities ahead of expected protests.
Meanwhile, fears of possible unrest on Election Night and beyond prompted many businesses and shops to board up doors and windows.
Workers put up plywood on November 2, 2020, boarding up buildings as they make plans for potential civil unrest during the US presidential race for the White House in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)
In anticipation of violence, in New York City, the Empire State Building, the Macy's department store, and the skyscraper that houses the Trump-favored Fox News channel were all boarded up.
On Rodeo Drive, one of the most expensive shopping streets in California's Beverley Hills, staff stripped the display windows at Tiffany & Co. and Van Cleef & Arpels of their jewels.
"Hopefully this is all for nothing," Kathy Gohari, vice president of the Rodeo Drive Committee, the merchants association, said on Monday as she watched workers nail plywood over luxury storefronts.
However, in New York City's Times Square in recent days ardent Republican Trump supporters and Democrats, as well as adherents of the anti-fascism movement known as ANTIFA, have been clashing with one another.
US President Donald Trump has warned that he expected an unprecedented level of cheating and violence in the course of the 2020 presidential election.
"[C]heating can happen like you have never seen," Trump told a rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania on Monday.
In a Monday night tweet, Trump criticized the US Supreme Court's decision to allow officials in Pennsylvania and North Carolina to continue accepting and counting mail-in ballots for a few days after Election Day, saying the court ruling will "induce violence in the streets."
Trump's prediction or threat of violence has increased anxieties about the potential for violence in a polarized nation engaged in a bitter and divisive race to send their favored presidential candidate to the White House..
Trump reportedly plans to declare a premature victory if he is “ahead” on Tuesday night, despite uncounted ballots.
The incumbent has highlighted massive voter fraud in this year's election, downplaying the chances of a peaceful transition to his probable successor.
Thousands of US troops have been put on stand-by for rapid deployment in case of violence.
Trump supporters have already initiated violent acts during anti-racial protests in several cities, including Portland.
Trump supporters are notorious for forming huge noisy, honking, traffic-jamming caravans comprising mostly of massive pick-up trucks and Hummers. Some election security experts say the caravans could be illegal as they intimidate voters or spiral into violent confrontations.
On Friday, Trump supporters surrounded a bus belonging to the campaign of Democratic candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, with their vehicles bearing Trump flags and signs in Texas.
Videos of the incident showed a collision between two cars, with the Biden campaign saying the pro-Trump trucks tried to run the bus off the road as it traveled from San Antonio to Austin.
Trump has supported the Texas caravan who surrounded his presidential election rival’s campaign bus, lashing out at the FBI after it said it was conducting an investigation into the incident.
“In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong. Instead, the FBI & Justice should be investigating the terrorists, anarchists, and agitators of ANTIFA, who run around burning down our Democrat run cities and hurting our people,” Trump said on Twitter.
While defending the violent acts and clashes of the mostly armed members of his own White voter-base, Trump has repeatedly blasted the Democrat and ANTIFA supporters, referring to the Democrats as violent thugs and to the anti-fascism group as terrorists.