WASHINGTON, Jan 17, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Joe Biden’s top aide said Saturday
the incoming president would sign about a dozen executive orders on his first
day in office, as police fearing violence from Trump supporters staged a
nationwide security operation ahead of the inauguration.
Authorities in Washington, where Wednesday’s inauguration will take place,
said they arrested a man with a loaded handgun and more than 500 rounds of
ammunition at a security checkpoint, underscoring the tension in the US
capital which is resembling a war zone.
However, the man said it was “an honest mistake,” and that he was a
private security guard who got lost on his way to work near the Capitol.
Incoming Biden chief of staff Ron Klain said in a memo to new White House
senior staff that the executive orders would address the pandemic, the ailing
US economy, climate change and racial injustice in America.
“All of these crises demand urgent action,” Klain said in the memo.
“In his first ten days in office, President-elect Biden will take decisive
action to address these four crises, prevent other urgent and irreversible
harms, and restore America’s place in the world,” Klain added.
As he inherits the White House from Donald Trump, Biden’s plate is
overflowing with acute challenges.
The US is fast approaching 400,000 dead from the Covid-19 crisis and
logging well over a million new cases a week as the coronavirus spreads out
of control.
The economy is ailing, with 10 million fewer jobs available compared to
the start of the pandemic. And millions of Americans who back Trump refuse to
recognize Biden as the legitimate president.
Biden this week unveiled plans to seek $1.9 trillion to revive the economy
through new stimulus payments and other aid, and plans a blitz to accelerate
America’s stumbling Covid vaccine rollout effort.
On Inauguration Day Biden, as previously promised, will sign orders
including ones for the US to rejoin the Paris climate accord and reverse
Trump’s ban on entry of people from certain Muslim majority countries, Klain
said.
“President-elect Biden will take action — not just to reverse the gravest
damages of the Trump administration — but also to start moving our country
forward,” Klain said.
– 500 rounds of ammunition –
Meanwhile, Washington was under a state of high alert after a mob of
President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6. The
assault left five people dead, including a police officer.
Security officials have warned that armed pro-Trump extremists, possibly
carrying explosives, pose a threat to Washington as well as state capitals
over the coming week.
Thousands of National Guard troops have been deployed in Washington and
streets have been blocked off downtown with concrete barriers.
On Friday night, police arrested a Virginia man at a security checkpoint
where he tried to use an “unauthorized” credential to access the restricted
area where Biden will be inaugurated.
As officers checked the credential, one noticed decals on the back of
Wesley Beeler’s pick-up truck that said “Assault Life,” with an image of a
rifle, and another with the message: “If they come for your guns, give ’em
your bullets first,” according to a document filed in Washington, DC Superior
Court.
Under questioning, Beeler told officers he had a Glock handgun in the
vehicle. A search uncovered a loaded handgun, more than 500 rounds of
ammunition, shotgun shells and a magazine for the gun, the court document
said.
Beeler was arrested on charges including possession of an unregistered
firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition.
“It was an honest mistake,” Beeler told The Washington Post after being
released from jail.
“I pulled up to a checkpoint after getting lost in DC because I’m a
country boy,” he said. “I showed them the inauguration badge that was given
to me.”
Beeler told the newspaper he works as a private security guard near the
Capitol, and presented a credential provided by his employer.
He said he was licensed to carry his gun in Virginia, but forgot to take
it out of his car before leaving home for his overnight shift in Washington.
Prosecutors did not object to Beeler’s release from jail, the Washington
Post said, though he was ordered to stay out of Washington except for court-
related matters.
In addition to the heavy security presence in the US capital, law
enforcement was out in force at statehouses around the country to ward off
potential political violence.
Mass protests that had been planned for the weekend did not materialize on
Saturday, with security far outnumbering Trump supporters at several
fortified capitols, US media reported.
In St Paul, Minnesota, for example, hundreds of law enforcement officers,
some armed with long guns, ringed the Capitol with National Guard troops
providing backup.
The number of protesters totaled about 50.