A steel security fence has been installed around the U.S. Capitol in anticipation of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday night. Republican lawmakers have criticized the Biden administration for installing fencing around the U.S. Capitol while it refuses to secure the southern border.
In a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, Chad Pergram, a senior congressional correspondent for Fox News, said security officials began constructing the 12-foot-tall steel fence around the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday night. Pergram noted that Thursday’s State of the Union address will mark the fourth time the fencing has been installed for the event since the Capitol Hill protest on January 6, 2021.
Sources told Fox 5 Washington DC that the steel fencing for the State of the Union address is the “new normal.” Sources also described the State of the Union as a “national security event of the highest order.”
“Fox is also told there is no direct threat to the speech,” Pergram stated. “But multiple sources have alluded to concerns about pro-Palestinian demonstrators potentially causing havoc around the Hill around the time of the speech.”
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According to Pergram, the Secret Service ordered the fence to be installed for Thursday’s State of the Union event. The fencing is expected to be removed immediately following the president’s speech.
A video posted on social media by Brian Glenn, director of programming for Right Side Broadcasting Network, shows a portion of the steel fencing that has been installed around the U.S. Capitol. Glenn noted that sources have claimed the fence is intended to “protect those in attendance” at the State of the Union speech.
In addition to the installation of fencing for Thursday’s speech, U.S. Capitol Police announced that multiple roads in Washington, D.C., will be temporarily closed prior to and during the president’s speech.
The Biden administration’s installation of fencing around the U.S. Capitol has received significant criticism from Republican leaders who point to the president’s refusal to complete the border wall and defend the southern border.
Sharing a picture of fencing around the U.S. Capitol Building, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) tweeted, “Remember this when @POTUS talks about the border tonight. Biden doesn’t hesitate to put a barrier up for his speech in Washington but refuses to build a wall and secure the southern border.”
Addressing the political position of the Democrats regarding the security of the southern border, Sen. Marco Rubio wrote, “They claim a border wall to protect America is racist & immoral. But it took them less than 12 hours to put up a fence around the Capitol to protect themselves at tonight’s [State of the Union address].”
