A D.C. dispatch ahead of inauguration
Hi, all. Today I worked with a group of freelance reporters and photojournalists recruited by Insider.com to help cover D.C — which really no one knew what it was going to be like. Wednesday’s inauguration frankly feels like a very long time from now, so I can’t even really tell you what’s going to happen later tonight, let alone Tuesday or Wednesday.
But what I did know was that prior to January 6, and prior to Facebook and Twitter and all the other big tech companies shutting down right-wing social media organizing, today, Sunday January 17, was planned to be a big day of protest by Trump supporters. There were calls on Parler for Jan 17. to be a “Million Militia March” and the New York Times had reported that the extremist Boogaloo movement was also planning rallies for today. Earlier this week there were reports of an internal FBI bulletin warning of armed protests at all state capitals and in D.C ahead of the inauguration, and last night a new Department of Homeland Security memo was leaked warning of “heightened potential for violence” in D.C based on “observable indicators.”
And yet no one really knew what the day would bring! Partly, leaders admitted, because they had shut down some of the easiest social media platforms to track extremist communications.
I spent some time today talking with sellers at a local farmers market not far from downtown about if they considered staying home given all the potential for chaos. It was fairly crowded, and several told me their sales were actually higher than normal. You can read my dispatch for Insider here. (With professional photographs taken by freelancer, Alan Chin!)
Of course things can change on a dime, and there was at least one arrest made at the Capitol today (a 22-year-old Trump supporter who was armed), but for the most part, our heavily policed city was quiet. And it appears it was largely quiet at statehouses across the country, too. Here’s to hoping we can get through the next few days without a civil war.
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On a different note, I was interviewed on WYNC’s On the Media program about how the school transmission conversation became so muddled. I admit it’s much easier to be doing the interviews than to be interviewed, but I overall enjoyed the opportunity. (Note: we talked for 50 minutes but our conversation was edited down to 17. But I do think they did a great editing job and captured the central points well.) If you want to hear some of my thoughts on the arc of the last year with schools and COVID, you can check out the segment.
Thanks for reading, and more soon! Stay safe.