On Monday, Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser urged Americans to avoid the city during President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration next week. The Secret Service has been instructed to begin its preparations for the inauguration ahead of schedule.
Speaking at a news conference Monday, Bowser, a Democrat, stressed that she was concerned about more violent actors potentially coming to the city in the run-up to the inauguration. "If I'm scared of anything, it's for our democracy because we have very extreme factions in our country that are armed and dangerous."
"Trumpism won't die on January 20," said Bowser, who has asked Trump and acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to declare a pre-disaster declaration for DC.
"Our goals right now are to encourage Americans to participate virtually and to protect the District of Columbia from a repeat of the violent insurrection experienced at the Capitol and its grounds on January 6," Bowser said.
The White House said in a statement Monday night that Trump approved the emergency declaration requested by Bowser.
"Today, President Donald J. Trump declared that an emergency exists in the District of Columbia and ordered Federal assistance to supplement the District's response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from the 59th Presidential Inauguration from January 11 to January 24, 2021," the statement read.
Bowser is also asking the Trump administration to cancel public gathering permits between January 10 and 24.
A large rally in Washington on January 6 turned into a riot. Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Congress building. Four civilians died, and 14 policemen were injured.
Washington Police Chief Robert Conte said one of the citizens was shot dead by police.
Following the unrest in the capital, Donald Trump made a video appeal to his supporters under pressure from other politicians, including Biden. He stated that the election results were stolen but stressed the importance of non-violence.
Washington applies curfew and bans access to the streets. The situation is under police control.