The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-01)

B2 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, MARCH 1 , 2022

insurrection. The D.C. National
Guard has been called upon for
assistance, and on Monday bus-
loads of about 100 police officers
from New York City arrived to
help. Police from Philadelphia
are also in the District, and Balti-
more officers are on standby,
officials said.
At a news briefing, D.C. Police
Chief Robert J. Contee III said
that lawful First Amendment
demonstrations would be wel-
come, but police would take ac-
tion in the event of illegal activity.
The possibility of caravans of
truckers heading to the District
has added to the security con-
cerns, drawing in police agencies
from Maryland and Virginia to
monitor the Beltway.
The heightened security mea-
sures are precautionary, Contee
said.
“While there is a possibility
that some may come to our city
with the intent of going beyond
what is allowed as a constitution-
al right and seek to engage in
unlawful acts or acts of civil dis-
obedience, it is my hope that
guests to our city will abide by the
laws of the District of Columbia,”
Contee said. “I want to be very
clear that we are prepared to take
swift law enforcement actions for
violations of our local and federal
laws if necessary.”
Biden is scheduled to address
the nation at 9 p.m. People from
around the world, from Berlin to
Buenos Aires, have taken to the
streets to protest the Russian
invasion of Ukraine, and hun-
dreds of Ukrainians and their
supporters have rallied in D.C. to
demand a stronger response from

SECURITY FROM B1 the Biden administration.
“Considering recent events at
home and abroad, this address is
as important as ever,” D.C. Mayor
Muriel E. Bowser (D) said during
a Monday news conference.
The Secret Service is the lead
agency overseeing security prepa-
rations for the State of the Union,
classified as a National Special
Security Event, which allows for
intensified public safety mea-
sures.
Bowser emphasized that in the
immediate aftermath of Jan. 6,
2021, when a violent pro-Trump
mob stormed the Capitol, it was
clear that any joint session of
Congress, especially one includ-
ing the president, should have
enhanced security.
Capitol Police also said that
since the riot, authorities routine-
ly have sought security assistance
from the National Guard and
other agencies. Every four years,
authorities in the District bring in
help from outside police agencies
for presidential inaugurations,
deputizing as many as 3,000 offi-
cers from departments across the
country.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R)
said in a tweet that he rejected a
request from the Biden adminis-
tration to send his state’s National
Guard troops to D.C. ahead of the
State of the Union address. Con-
tee said the city would be assisted
by the D.C. National Guard.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Aus-
tin approved a Feb. 16 request
from the city’s Homeland Secu-
rity and Emergency Management
Agency that allows for the help of
about 400 D.C. National Guard
personnel, and 50 large tactical
units stationed at traffic posts on
a 24-hour basis through March 7.
Capitol Police said in a state-

ment that the reinstalled fencing

around the Capitol was “out of an

abundance of caution.” The tim-

ing of its removal will be deter-

mined soon after Biden’s address,

Capitol Police Assistant Chief

Sean Gallagher said.

There have been varying con-

voy spinoffs in the United States,

with different routes, dates and

organizers, making it difficult to

predict how many people will

participate, where demonstra-

tions could take place, what pro-

testers will do or how long they

intend to stay.

Although protesters against

pandemic restrictions and man-

dates are decrying a perceived

infringement of their “freedoms,”

many of those measures at the

federal and local levels have been

blocked or rescinded. In the Dis-

trict, Bowser has lifted the re-

quirement for residents to show

proof of vaccination to enter most

businesses. Officials in parts of

the Washington region are re-

moving indoor mask mandates,

and the Centers for Disease Con-

trol and Prevention recently

eased mask recommendations.

Still, Brian Brase, an organizer

of the “People’s Convoy,” said the

group wants an end to the nation-

al emergency declaration in re-

sponse to the coronavirus — first

issued by President Donald

Trump in March 2020 and later

extended by Biden — and for

Congress to hold hearings investi-

gating the government’s response

to the pandemic.

Corinne Geller, a spokeswom-

an for the Virginia State Police,

said the agency is still “just moni-

toring” the trucker convoys, say-

ing most remained days from

Virginia and their size and

amount of disruption they might

City bolsters police presence

before State of the Union

ago and expressed regret, still

holding L’Enfant’s architectural

genius in high esteem. “The con-

tinuance of your services (as I

have often assured you) would

have been pleasing to me,” the

president wrote.

Even though L’Enfant didn’t

finished what he started, his im-

print on the federal district re-

mained. Bowser said that while

having the second statue of L’En-

fant was important for the Dis-

trict, she said she wanted to make

sure this “is not where we stop,”

listing the numerous impedi-

ments the District encounters

while Congress still has oversight

of its laws and residents have no

voting representatives.

“We know achieving this mile-

stone is so important, but we also

know our goal is two senators,”

she said. “The goal is D.C. doesn’t

have to rely on the Senate to con-

firm local judges. The mayor

doesn’t have to ask for the D.C.

National Guard.”

And in a dig at Republicans

who have been challenging her

directives relating to pandemic

mandates or other local laws,

Bowser added, “The goal is D.C.

residents who elect their local

leaders to represent their values

don’t have those values or laws

questioned by lawmakers from

thousands of miles away.”

The House passed legislation to

make D.C. the 51st state last year,

but the bill faces steep opposition

in the evenly divided Senate,

where not all Democrats have said

they would support it and the

Senate filibuster would require

the support of 60 senators.

a Maryland man’s house against

his will and without seeking per-

mission from anyone, something

that Washington said caused him

“sincere concern.” And he refused

to listen to the federal commis-

sioners Washington appointed to

supervise him, believing they

were impeding his vision.

L’Enfant resigned after Wash-

ington repeatedly urged him to

stop his insubordination. Wash-

ington dismissed him 230 years

City, to erect and beautify Build-

ings to that degree of perfection,

necessary to receive the Seat of

Government of so extensive an

Empire, in the short period of

time that remains to effect these

objects is an undertaking vast as it

is Novel,” he wrote in a letter to

Thomas Jefferson in 1792.

But L’Enfant’s ornery personal-

ity made him difficult to work

with. He earned a reprimand from

Washington when he demolished

legislative branch to the “Presi-

dent’s House” through a main

thoroughfare on Pennsylvania Av-

enue.

He envisioned a great “public

walk,” now the National Mall,

even though the details may differ

from L’Enfant’s idea, along with

13 diagonal avenues representing

the original colonies slicing

through the city grid, interspersed

with parks and market squares.

“To change a Wilderness into a

United States to serve in the war

as an officer in the Army Corps of

Engineers, including under

George Washington at Valley

Forge, and was taken as a prisoner

of war by the British in 1780,

according to the National Library

for the Study of George Washing-

ton at Mount Vernon.

In his service, Norton said, he

fought to end taxation without

representation and for the con-

sent of the governed, the same

thing D.C. is fighting for now, she

noted.

After serving in the war, L’En-

fant racked up a prestigious ca-

reer as an architect, and when he

heard Washington would be solic-

iting designs for the new federal

city, he was quick to raise his

hand.

“Having had the honor to be-

long to the Corps of Engineer

acting under your orders during

the late war, and being the only

officers of that Corps remaining

on the Continant I must confess I

have long flattered myself with

the hope of a reappointment,”

L’Enfant wrote in a letter to Wash-

ington in 1789. “I view the ap-

pointment of Engineer to the

United States as the one which

could possibly be most gratifying

to my wishes.”

Washington obliged his wishes,

selecting L’Enfant to design the

new federal city in 1791. The archi-

tect envisioned a grandiose capi-

tal rising up from what was then a

rural marshy wilderness. He se-

lected a large hill overlooking the

Potomac, a “pedestal awaiting a

monument,” for the “Congress

House” and sought to connect the

formation from rural port towns
to a thriving metropolis, a trans-
formation that began as one
man’s vision for a capital city
that would represent the found-
ing principle that all men are
created equal.”
By contrast, Bowser said, the
statue’s pairing with Douglass
represents the nation’s struggle to
live up to those founding princi-
ples, both in equal representation
for Black Americans and resi-
dents of the nation’s capital who
are still disenfranchised, she said.
Norton first introduced a bill to
allow the District to have statues
in the Capitol like the states in

2002. Commissioned by the city,
      both statues of Douglass and
      L’Enfant were initially unveiled in
      2008 at the Marion S. Barry Jr.
      Building, with the hope of one day
      going to the Capitol.
      The debate over whether to al-
      low D.C. statues in the Capitol
      dragged on for more than a dec-
      ade, as Republicans opposed al-
      lowing the District to have equal
      footing with the states, until final-
      ly, in 2013, its Douglass statue was
      installed in Emancipation Hall.
      “Nine years later,” Norton said,
      “D.C. takes its rightful places
      among the states in the Capitol”
      with its second statue.
      Norton stressed the impor-
      tance of L’Enfant’s story in the
      fight for D.C. statehood, not just in
      his vision to build the District into
      a regal capital city but also in his
      service in the Revolution. L’En-
      fant, a Frenchman, came to the

STATUE FROM B1

D.C. statehood supporters praise L’Enfant statue’s new place at the Capitol

AMANDA ANDRADE-RHOADES FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) poses with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) after the

unveiling of a statue of Pierre L’Enfant at the Capitol, where each state is permitted two statues.

cause remained unclear.

Geller said last week the state

police had developed a plan to

respond to the protests, but its

deployment depended on the

number of truckers on state roads

and whether they were causing

traffic problems. She declined to

discuss the specifics of the plan.

The agency is not involved in

security for the State of the Union

address.

One protest organizer request-

ed to hold a rally Tuesday with

1,000 to 3,000 attendees at the

Sylvan Theater on the Washing-

ton Monument grounds, in “sup-

port of convoys in Canada,” ac-

cording to a permit application

submitted Feb. 18 to the National

Park Service.

By Monday, the estimated

number of participants had

dropped to 500 or fewer for a

demonstration from noon to 8

p.m. that will include speeches,

music and prayer, according to

the issued permit.

The People’s Convoy, a

U.S.-based group of activists also

opposed to vaccine mandates, left

Southern California on Wednes-

day, aiming to arrive in the D.C.

region on March 5. Organizers say

they intend to target the Beltway

but not travel into the city. It’s not

clear what their plans are once

they arrive.

Contee said during the news

conference that protests and oth-

er First Amendment demonstra-

tions are not new to District resi-

dents and visitors. And if a person

drives a truck into the city and

refuses to move, Contee said, they

could be arrested.

“We’ve been doing the State of

the Union for many, many years

now,” Contee said. “But again,

always planning for the worst and

hoping for the best in this situa-

tion.”

Karina Elwood, Justin Jouvenal and

Jasmine Hilton contributed to this

report.

BONNIE JO MOUNT/THE WASHINGTON POST

Chris Rodriguez, director of D.C.’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, speaks

during a security-related news conference Monday that included the city’s police chief and mayor.

BY ERIN COX

First the Russian vodka came
off the shelves in Montgomery
County. Then Maryland’s thr-
ee-decade relationship with the
Leningrad region dissolved with a
curt letter.
Next might be the state’s ap-
proximately $100 million worth of
investments linked to Russian
companies as Maryland leaders
outraged with the invasion of
Ukraine seek to wield whatever
authority they hold to make a
statement and inflict economic

pain — however small.

“We are not doing anything to

support Russia in any way — or

their economy,” Gov. Larry Hogan

(R) told reporters Monday, hours

after he terminated the state’s sister-

city relationship with the Lenin-

grad region as a “symbolic” gesture.

“It is the duty of every govern-

ment to remain vigilant of unlaw-

ful acts against public order, dem-

ocratic principles, and innocent

civilians,” he wrote in a letter to

Leningrad’s governor, Aleksandr

Drozdenko. “Having witnessed

the unprovoked invasion of

Ukraine by the Russian Federa-

tion, I am obliged to immediately

dissolve and terminate Mary-

land’s partnership with the Lenin-

grad Region.”

Montgomery County Executive

Marc Elrich (D) on Sunday or-

dered all products produced in

Russia removed from shelves of

county-run liquor stores.

Governors, mayors and city

leaders across the country have

sought similar boycotts against

Russia over the weekend, calling

on residents to avoid Russian cavi-

ar, spirits and other goods. New

York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on

Sunday signed an executive order

barring the state from doing busi-

ness with Russian entities.

Hogan said Monday he would

seek a review to see if there were

any further ties Maryland could

sever.

Comptroller Peter Franchot (D)

on Monday urged fellow members

of the state’s pension board to

“immediately” sell off all assets

tied to Russian entities. Franchot

noted the state’s $197 million in

Russian-linked assets had plum-

meted — losing $101 million in

value — during the five days since

the assault on Ukraine started and

Western countries deployed eco-

nomic sanctions. The state’s pen-

sion fund has about $68.4 billion

in assets.

“It would not only be financially

unwise to maintain any assets tied

to Russian entities, but it would

continue to embolden a brutal dic-

tator and the legion of oligarchs

who have turned a blind eye to a

regime defined by fear, violence,

and anti-democratic values,” Fran-

chot wrote.

Maryland senators also sought

to make a statement, including

introducing a formal resolution

encouraging residents to boycott

Russian products.

Senate President Bill Ferguson

(D-Baltimore City) endorsed swift

action by state leaders.

“Certainly the people of Mary-

land stand with the people of the

Ukraine,” he said. “It’s pretty hor-

rific to see what is happening,

truly a travesty beyond imagina-

tion almost.”

Ovetta Wiggins contributed to this

report.

MARYLAND

Montgomery pulls Russian vodka f rom shelves; sister-city ties are severed

“It is my hope that

guests to our city

w ill abide by the laws

o f the District.”

Robert J. Contee III,

D.C. police chief

Subscriber Exclusives

Almost “tutu” good to be true: Specially priced tickets to

American Ballet Theatre’s Don Quixote March 29 - April 3 at The Kennedy Center

The star-studded company returns with Don Quixote, the beloved tale of determined Spanish lovers and comic hijinks, plus

a program featuring works by ABT Artist-in-Residence Alexei Ratmansky, Jessica Lang, and Alonzo King. Choreographed by

Marius Petipa and his talented contemporary Alexander Gorsky, and with bravura dancing by the spirited maiden Kitri and her

charming amour Basilio, this staging by Kevin McKenzie and Susan Jones explodes with a feast of choreographic fireworks.

See details at washingtonpost.com/my-post.