Last Updated on February 7, 2023
For the third year in a row, the U.S. Capitol Police constructed a metal fence around the Capitol building ahead of President Biden’s State of the Union address.
The fence was initially installed in the aftermath of the January 6 Capitol protests and remained in place for months afterwards. It was eventually removed in July of 2021, though the barrier has been reinstalled on multiple occasions. This includes a rally in support of January 6 prisoners, a planned trucker protest and previous State of the Union addresses.
The latest construction was ordered by the U.S. Capitol Police Board, a group of congressional security officials who oversee the Capitol grounds, but whose meetings and reports are not made publicly available, CBS News reported. “National Special Security Events require a robust security plan, so out of an abundance of caution, the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Capitol Police temporarily put up a fence around the U.S. Capitol Building,” said the U.S. Capitol Police in a statement.
Joe Biden has refused to secure our Border, but he made sure to put the fence back up around the Capitol ahead of the State of the Union.
Democrats know Walls work but they only use them to protect themselves instead of everyday Americans.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 6, 2023
Citing “multiple federal law enforcement” sources, CBS News reported that there are no known threats to the speech. They did, however, mention a “heightened threat environment” with no further explanation.
The Biden Administration has routinely warned of threats from right-wing “domestic terrorists” and “white supremacists,” groups that present the “#1 threat” to the homeland, per the administration. Biden himself has routinely referred to his detractors as “extreme MAGA Republicans” and has framed them as an imminent violent threat.
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