Fortress Washington

The barricading of the U.S. Capitol, after years of stepped-up security in D.C., fuels the push for statehood

- Amanda Kolson Hurley

In the days after the Jan. 6 insurrection, a 7-foot-high fence topped with coils of razor wire went up around the U.S. Capitol in Washington. It was described as a temporary measure to protect the seat of Congress for a month or longer. But on Jan. 28, Yogananda Pittman, the acting head of the U.S. Capitol Police, called for making the fence permanent, citing the need for “vast improvements” to security.

Even with the recent violence fresh in their minds, D.C.’s elected leaders denounced the idea. Mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted that the city “will not accept” a long-term fence. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the district’s nonvoting congresswoman, introduced a bill to block it. (The D.C. government has no jurisdiction over the Capitol grounds, which are federal territory, so Bowser can’t simply tell Pittman no.) Local citizens bristled. An online petition against the plan had garnered more than 20,000 signatures as of Feb. 23.

Patrolled by National Guard troops, the current fence is about 3 miles around, encompassing not just the Capitol but adjacent landmarks such as the U.S. Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and the U.S. Botanic Garden. It cuts off main thoroughfares, effectively severing areas east of the Capitol from downtown and the west of the city.