Trump Declares State Of Emergency Ahead Of Biden Inauguration
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President Donald Trump has declared a state of emergency in Washington, D.C. ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
In a statement released by the White House late on January 11, Trump declared an emergency in the District of Columbia, calling in federal assistance as a means of supporting the District’s response efforts.
Trump has cited the reasons for this as being the ’emergency conditions resulting from the 59th Presidential Inauguration from January 11 to January 24, 2021′.
As per a press release, Trump’s action now authorises the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ‘to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population’.
This action also authorises them ‘to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the District of Columbia’.
This latest development follows warnings from the FBI of planned armed protests at all 50 state capitols, including Washington, D.C., in the days leading up to President-elect Biden’s inauguration on January 20.
In a bulletin cited by ABC’s Investigative Reporter Josh Margolin, the FBI said:
Armed protests are being planned at all 50 state capitols from 16 January through at least 20 January, and at the US Capitol from 17 January through 20 January.
The FBI has reportedly received information regarding an identified armed group that intends to travel to the American capital on January 16, just four days before President-elect Biden officially enters the White House.
As reported by Margolin, this group has warned of a ‘huge uprising’ if Congress tries to remove Trump from office via the 25th Amendment.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and Maryland Governor Larry Hogan have urged people to stay away from inauguration events on account of ‘last week’s violent insurrection as well as the ongoing and deadly Covid-19 pandemic’.
Trump’s declaration comes five days after a mob stormed the Capitol in a bid to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Five people died as a result of the chaos that ensued.
Trump has repeatedly made unsupported claims that he was cheated out of an election victory by widespread voter fraud, and had urged his supporters to march on the Capitol in a rally held hours before the riot.
Democrats have said that the House of Representatives will be considering the impeachment of Trump on Wednesday, January 13.
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Topics: News, Donald Trump, Inauguration, Now, President-elect Joe Biden, White House
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President Donald J. Trump Approves District of Columbia Emergency Declaration
Josh Margolin/Twitter
