A padlocked gate stands obscuring the dome of the US Capitol, which hulks behind vehicle barricades.

The Militarization of Washington DC

I visited ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration, as the Capitol increased its security. This is what I saw.

I went to DC with my friend Joe Cardamone to document what we saw. Joe created a thread of the photos he took as well.

A map of the route Joe and I walked.

We spent almost 4 hours walking, and covered over 6 miles, skirting the barricaded perimeter. We had gone down in my Element, after learning that Metro stops in and around the mall were shut down. We ended up parking near Folger Park, which was as close as we were able to bring a vehicle before being spun around by DC Metro police.

The neighbourhood was a quiet one, full of expensive brick houses.

Bicyclists stop by to gawk at the barricades.

Everything was covered with multiple layers of security, from metal fences, to flip up barricades.

A house with custom-fitted wood protective window coverings.

Even some of the very expensive local residences were boarded up, with custom-fitted plywood boards that matched their arches.

Joe Cardamone, squatting to get a better shot.

I enjoy shooting with Joe. Even though sometimes our shots overlap, we definitely sharpen each other’s craft. And no matter what, it’s impossible for us to get the EXACT same shot since we see things in different ways.

A photo of me by Joe.

A view of the Capitol dome from down an orange and white plastic barrier that denotes where a bicycle lane is.

It was fascinating to see how city politics is layered into how the barricades went up, which still made sure bike lanes were preserved, even though the streets were devoid of any automobiles save for military and law enforcement.

Four soldiers and two police, blocking a road.

There were people with all types of uniforms standing around with long guns. I wasn’t able to identify most of them, but Joe spotted several divisions he recognized.

A barely visible Capitol dome hidden behind multiple layers of barriers.

It was tough to see the Capitol building, let alone get close to it. When we asked the guards at the gate, they told us only people with congressional press passes were permitted in.

An otherwise warm DC street, flanked by cold fencing.

High black metal fences lined everything, contrasting sharply with what was otherwise a pleasant warm January afternoon.

Joe Cardamone, photographing through the fencing.

There’s already a stark contrast to the enormity of the marble and granite buildings to the ornate brick houses of Washington DC, but the fences drew a thick dark line down the border.

Military vehicles being used as gates behind metal fencing.

The fences were almost as high as the medium tactical vehicles they used to bar gateways, giving them the appearance of caged elephants.

A humvee and a soldier, seen from the tents of an encampment for the housing challenged.

Humvees rumbled by encampments where housing challenged people had gathered for protection. I wondered what the cost of all this extra security was. I wondered what the budget for housing people in DC is.

A soldier, gun strapped to his chest, mask below his nose, hanging out next to a DC Metro police cruiser.

I was struck at how comfortably the military and DC Metro police folded neatly into each other, jovially keeping each other company and trading Starbucks orders.

A soldier leans back on a green camouflaged medium tactical vehicle, the branches of a tree mimicking the black shapes in the camouflage.

Most of the military personnel seemed to range from mildly amused to bored at their assignment. They awkwardly smiled at people who rushed up to them to thank them for their service or ingratiate themselves to authoritarianism in the streets.

A view of the Capitol dome obscured by heavy metal fencing and two large military vehicles.

I couldn’t help but wonder what January 6th would have been like if these metal fences and military trucks had been installed earlier. Would 5 people not be dead. I’m not sure. But white supremacists would be less emboldened.

The Capitol dome framed by the machinery of a large military vehicle.

That, to me, is the lasting damage. Not that there is white supremacy, and that they are armed and crazed, but that they showed to the world how easy it was to almost murder representatives of the people. I fear these changes will be permanent.

A soldier standing alone in a park outside the Capitol grounds.

And I also fear that in less than two months' time, this increasingly militarized force will be used against the Black protestors that have been petitioning to not be killed in the #BlackLivesMatter Plaza on the other side of this building.

A DC Metro cop trying police tape to a metal fence.

A cop began to string up extra police tape directly in front of me, getting direction from another further down. “Go as far as you can!” they shouted, “the tape just makes people uncomfortable so they stay away.”

A medium tactical vehicle idling outside an office building.

Most of the medium tactical vehicles were running, coughing diesel fumes as they sat, with soldiers inside almost universally bored on their phones. They had to remain running, so they could be moved like a gate at a moment’s notice.

An unidentifiable sign gracing the top of a building is obscured by garbage bags taped to it

Nearly every business near the fences was boarded over, protecting the glass from whatever the owners were afraid of. This business even wrapped up the sign to make it unidentifiable. A sign was posted; “HATE IS NOTHING TO BE PROUD OF”.

A makeshift wall of plywood stands on the International Teamster’s Building, spraypainted with “Teamsters Lives Include Black Lives”, in red, black, and green.

Some boards offered messaging, like the Teamsters building; TEAMSTER LIVES INCLUDE BLACK LIVES.

Three workers, flanked by police tape, assembling the metal fencing.

As we walked, the boundaries kept advancing on us. Trucks of freshly fabricated fencing rumbled in and were rapidly unloaded by forklifts. Teams of Spanish speaking men slammed them together, securing blocks in less than half an hour.

3 black SUVs with police lights cruising down a city street, as bicyclists pedal in the opposite direction.

Meanwhile, fleets of black SUVs with police lights would drift in and out of lanes in formation, while locals carried on like nothing put of the ordinary was happening.

A man in a mask empties his pockets onto a table as he waits to pass through a metal detector at a security checkpoint.

Makeshift checkpoints stood every few blocks, where armed guards went through every pocket of every knapsack, pocketbook, and jacket. We found out later a white supremacist got caught in one, with fake inauguration credentials and a gun.

A humvee hulks behind large metal fencing, obscuring the bottom part of the Capitol dome.

Layers kept getting added as we rounded the northwest side of the Capitol building, and though the view was clearer, at least 6 barriers separated us from the steps that insurrectionists had climbed just over a week earlier.

Large light towers loom over the mall, as a pedestrian and photographer meander in an open space in the foreground.

It was remarkably empty. It was the first time in months that I had been in DC and hadn’t seen a single MAGA hat. They had lost. And they knew they lost.

An armed soldier in brown camouflage stands in the foreground, and dozens of soldiers and military vehicles can be seen in the background.

Scores of additional soldiers streamed out of trucks as we watched, with instructions being barked at them. Other soldiers weaved in and out of those standing watch, handing out gum, chapstick, water, and snacks.

An empty National Mall stands, flanked by jersey barriers and armed soldiers.

On a warm Saturday afternoon, the National Mall would usually be packed with people. But the military presence was so large that they blocked off the entirety of the park, turning it into bases of operation.

Joe Cardamone being photographed by Rose Ryan.

Rose, another amazing Baltimore photographer, met up with us (ro.rya on IG), and we playfully shot each other shooting things.

Tourists pose in front of the metal fencing outside the perimeter of the Capitol building.

The streets were not completely devoid of tourists, and the few that were there wanted selfies with the fences. The militarization of a park became the backdrop to their Instagram photos.

Two skateboarders walk towards the camera between two high sets of fences.

The layers of fencing went up so rapidly that people often got caught and lost in between the maze of barricades. A couple of skateboarders met such a fate, and had to be shooed out by multiple guards.

A grey squirrel eating a nut at the base of an oak tree, framed by the ghosted outline of a fence.

Squirrels seemed to be the only ones being unencumbered by the fencing, scurrying under the gaps to scavenge nuts and discarded food.

The walls of the National Gallery of Art rise bare and unobstructed.

The museums were remarkably bare of barricades. Fencing went up to the buildings, and stopped. I guess the assumption was that Trump supporters have little care for the fine arts.

A high steel fence juts across a road.

Some fencing zigzagged across streets with no apparent direction, other than just to be a show of force. DC streets bisect at angles and wedges, and some of the fencing stood in odd places that could easily be walked around.

The Capitol building is framed by a museum and a No U-Turn sign.

Other areas were blocked at their ends, but otherwise open. People meandered up and down them without inhibition. On a normal day, these streets would be constipated with vehicles.

A bare Pennsylvania Avenue, dotted with pedestrians and a single DC Metro cop car.

As we headed back, we often had to pick slightly different routes, as the fencing advanced on areas just a half-hour before we had walked freely.

A medium tactical vehicle blocking the road outside the Hyatt on First Street.

Medium Tactical Vehicles stood waiting for the arrival of more fencing, appearing almost like a child’s forgotten toy, out of place on the empty city blocks.

Below a purplish sky, armed soldiers stand in front of fencing surrounding the Capitol building, their faces obscured by tape reading “POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS”.

As the sun sank into a cool haze, even our starting point was inaccessible. The barriers of authority were ever moving outward, and it didn’t seem like they were stopping any time soon.

If you are a news publication and would like to use my photography to illustrate your writing, please send me a DM. Fox News need not apply.

As always, if any photo catches your eye, you can get one for yourself here.

If you enjoy independent photojournalism and essays like this one, there are many ways you can support my work.

And even if you can’t donate, sharing my work with others or letting me know you enjoyed it gives me actual serotonin boosts, which is a wonderful thing too.

Thank you for reading!