TEHRAN – Businesses and shop owners in Washington DC are once again boarding up their windows to protect their properties in case further rioting breaks out during the Biden inauguration on January 20. They are concerned about what happened during the recent attack by Trump supporters on the Capitol.

Over the past few days, all states have taken precautionary measures ranging from boarding up windows to erecting fences around government buildings to prevent any repeat of the January 7 deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol. Further, all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia (DC) have been put on high alert for possible violent protests ahead of Joe Biden’s inaugurations on Wednesday. National Guard troops in camouflage and flak jackets and heavily armed state troopers were deployed to state capitals throughout the U.S. A group of National Guard troops has also been sent en masse to Washington DC to maintain security during the inauguration, a move that made the U.S. capital looks more like a garrison town.

These measures were taken after the FBI warned of “armed protests” being planned at all 50 state capitols and the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC in the days leading up to Biden’s inauguration this week, according to an internal bulletin obtained by CNN.

“Armed protests are being planned at all 50 state capitols from 16 January through at least 20 January, and at the U.S. Capitol from 17 January through 20 January,” the FBI bulletin said.

The FBI also tracked reports of threats to harm Biden, VP-elect Kamala Harris, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. These threats seem to have changed Biden’s agenda. The president-elect was expected to travel to Washington by train. But The Associated Press reported that Biden will no longer be taking an Amtrak train to Washington for his inauguration because of security concerns.

These concerns were exacerbated on Sunday after CNN reported that the U.S. Capitol Police arrested a Virginia man as he attempted to pass through a police checkpoint in downtown Washington Friday with fake inaugural credentials, a loaded handgun, and over 500 rounds of ammunition.

These incidents have once again highlighted how deep the U.S. is divided in the wake of Biden’s win in the November election. Biden had campaigned allegedly on uniting the American people and healing the divisions created by the Trump administration. But after he secured election win, Biden and his fellow Democrats are now moving toward brutally suppressing a large group of Americans who did not vote in favor of the Democratic Party. The Democrats and their mainstream media were quick to label protesters attacking the U.S. Capitol as pro-Trump “mobs”, urging the law enforcement forces to quash them as soon as possible. The Capitol Police used lethal force to repress the protesters, killing at least four people.

If these incidents had occurred in a non-Western country, the U.S. diplomats would have worked their butts off to denounce “violations of human rights”. But they are now tight-lipped about the situation in their country, though Washington is now looking more like heavily guarded U.S. embassies in war-torn countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

The recent developments also revealed the true color of the U.S. democracy, which tolerates criticism as long as it is expressed in television shows and on social media platforms, not on the streets.

PA/PA