Walking around Capitol Hill this week, you would think we were at war. National Guard troops stand outside every federal building. A massive steel barricade blocks off the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Capitol building from the surrounding streets. Just getting into the neighborhood has been restricted.
Meanwhile, day-to-day life in the area remains undisturbed. With the exception of a few homes right next to the Capitol, Capitol Hill residents went about their business on Jan. 6 as they normally would. Sirens blared and a curfew was set for 6 p.m., but unless you were watching the news, you would not have thought something serious had happened just a few blocks away.
But even though the siege at the Capitol never left the campus, the entire neighborhood has felt its aftereffects — and it’s the reaction that we’re feeling. Some of my neighbors remarked that this feels a lot like the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Businesses in the area are already preparing to shut down on the day of inauguration, and Mayor Muriel Bowser plans to implement additional curfews over the next week.
Everyone is on edge — and not entirely without good reason. This was, after all, a direct attack on our federal government. If this could happen to our lawmakers, what’s to keep the rest of us safe?
But that’s the thing: We were safe. Not once throughout the entire Capitol siege did I feel as though I needed to evacuate the area, though plenty of other district residents did. Traffic on the highways leading out of the city was bumper-to-bumper for hours as residents fled, while I met up with some friends and took my dog for a walk.
It’s almost impossible to determine what the appropriate response to Jan. 6’s disaster would be. Not since the War of 1812 has the U.S. Capitol building been taken over in such a hostile manner. Those rioters ransacked one of our democratic institutions and tried to make it their playground. Our government needed to respond with a show of force.
So, yes, some of this has been necessary. But the government’s response is starting to feel like an overreaction. Turning the U.S. Capitol building into a military base is over-the-top. And locking down an entire community over a threat that occurred a week ago is excessive.
Officials will say it’s to keep us safe. But a better precaution would be a thorough investigation into how the rioters were able to break into the Capitol building and why law enforcement was unprepared for such a threat. Let’s figure out what went wrong and make sure it never happens again.
