Army Sec. Says A 'Non-Scalable' 7-Foot Fence Is Going Up Around U.S. Capitol

[Dennis Donovan]

https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-electoral-college-tally-live-updates/2021/01/07/954469642/army-sec-says-a-temporary-fence-is-going-up-around-u-s-capitol

January 7, 2021 2:14 PM ET

MARK KATKOV


Workers install a fence in front of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday.

Updated at 3:24 p.m. ET

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy announced Thursday that a "7-foot non-scalable fence" is being erected around the entirety of the U.S. Capitol, and it will be in place for at least the next 30 days.

McCarthy also said 6,200 members of the National Guard will deploy to the National Capital region by this weekend. He made his remarks at a press briefing with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Acting Police Chief Robert Contee.

McCarthy said the entire D.C. National Guard has been mobilized and is being supplemented by Guard troops from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and New York.

In revisiting what she called the "failure" of security at the Capitol on Wednesday, Bowser said responsibility for the assault lies with President Trump, whom she described as "unhinged."

"What happened yesterday is what he wanted to happen and we must not underestimate the damage he can do to our nation and our democracy over the next two weeks," Bowser said.

-/snip-

Good idea at this point.

[Arne]

1. 24 hrs too late.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. Ain't that the truth!

[TygrBright]

2. The Army has never heard of 8-foot ladders? Weird... n/t

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. No. It's security for Inauguration to keep protesters at bay. Terrible optics, but it is on tRump

He owns these optics. It's his goons who did his bidding on Wednesday. The whole purpose of the rally was to terrorize lawmakers into breaking their oath and overturn the election.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Day 1 vs Day 1448. See the second picture: very dramatic and disgusting. Worst president ever

Link to tweet

[SoonerPride]

7. American Carnage

[dewsgirl]

16. +1000

[Squinch]

6. A 7 foot fence is, by definition, scalable.

[Arkansas Granny]

8. A day late and a dollar short.

[trc]

9. uhhhh

I can jump up and grab the top of that fence...and I am 58. This is a complete misunderstanding of how mobs work. Oh, and umm, it's too fucking late.

[marble falls]

14. But can you jump over it. The fencing doesn't have purchase for gripping or climbing.

[trc]

18. Thus the mob comment

Push it over, maybe. Have two people help you over, yep.

[marble falls]

19. And by that time about 7,000 Nat Guard from PA, VA, MA, DC and a few other states ...

... will be there to give you the welcome you'd deserve.

Fences this height are all over DC temporarily and permanently, and they've worked well up to this point. They'll work well on Jan 20 when we get back on-line as a nation.

[Bobstandard]

11. Now everything looks like coup to me

I can see how surrounding the Capitol with troops and nonscalable walls can also be used to prevent congress from entering, or keep them from leaving. That’s what the military does in a successful coup.

The question remains, who are the troops loyal to? More specifically, who is some unknown key figure in the chain of command loyal to?

We’l see.

True, I’m paranoid. I was before the storming and I’m even more so now.

12 more days.

It’s a long time.

[sarisataka]

17. If the military isn't loyal

The fence is extraneous. They could easily prevent exit or entry without it.

I have faith in the armed forces. They are trained in honor and ethics, something not required of politicians.

There will always be a few that the training doesn't take, like the woman who died, but the overwhelming majority are loyal to their oath to the Constitution.

[FSogol]

12. It would have gone up anyway for the Inauguration. Possibly nothing to do with yesterday? n/t

[Arne]

15. I was struck by the fact that mobsters were using the barricades as ladders.