COLUMBUS – Saying that “violence will not be tolerated in Ohio,” Gov. Mike DeWine vowed National Guard personnel, Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers and local law enforcement officers would be “out in force” at the Ohio Statehouse this weekend in the wake of warnings of potentially violent protests by supporters of President Donald Trump who believe the election that ousted Trump from the White House was not legitimate.
DeWine also ordered the Statehouse and state offices in downtown Columbus closed from Sunday through Wednesday, when President-elect Joe Biden will take the oath of office in Washington, D.C. as the nation’s 46th president.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther along with Police Chief Tom Quinlan and other city leaders urged residents to stay home and avoid the downtown area until after Inauguration Day.
UPDATE 1/15/21: The following city buildings will be closed to the public Tuesday and Wednesday: City Hall, 90 W. Broad Street; 77 N. Front Street; Michael B. Coleman Government Center, 111 N. Front Street; Beacon Building, 50 W. Gay Street.
City employees who regularly work in those buildings have been asked to work remotely if at all possible.
All other City facilities will remain open during regular operating hours though all city facilities will be closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
COTA announced Friday it would reroute bus lines during scheduled protests on Sunday, begin at 10:00 a.m. and concluding when the protests end.
Columbus police, who were criticized for their tactics during protests last summer following the death of a black man at the hands of police in Minnesota, will operate under a ban on the use of chemical irritants, such as tear gas, on peaceful demonstrators, but Ginther says those tactics can be employed if protesters grow violent.
DeWine on Tuesday activated 580 National Guard members in preparation for what the FBI identified as massive armed protests planned to take place in Columbus and every state capital in the country leading up to Inauguration Day.
The Republican governor issued a proclamation placing Ohio’s National Guard on “state activity duty status,” to be prepared in case called upon to assist local police anywhere they are needed in the state.
Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers stood atop the Statehouse Saturday.
DeWine would not comment on whether authorities had received any indication that any protests were planned in other Ohio cities.
The ornate halls of government and symbols of democracy looked more like heavily guarded U.S. embassies in war-torn countries after DeWine and several other governors received a warning from the FBI on Monday to prepare for potentially dangerous riots by violent Trump supporters being planned in all 50 state capitals and in the nation’s capital for the days leading up to the inauguration.
Signs of ramped up security were in abundance from Atlanta to Sacramento, California throughout the week. SWAT officers stood guard at the Georgia State Capitol. A bomb-sniffing dog surveyed the capitol in Jackson, Mississippi.
DeWine authorized the activation of additional Guard members Friday, bringing the approximate number of Ohio soldiers and airmen activated to provide assistance to federal authorities in the nation’s capital to 1,000.
Between the pandemic and the security threat, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is flat-out asking people not to come to the city for the inauguration. Much of the most visible security in the district will come in the form of more than 15,000 National Guardsmen from multiple states, including Ohio.