DC Mayor asks public not to attend inauguration

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said on Wednesday that in order to prevent violence during President-elect Joe Biden's January 20 inauguration officials are asking the public not to attend the event. Bowser says the city has also discussed with the U.S. Department of Interior the cancelation of public gathering permits in the days before and after the event.

Those discussion are ongoing, the mayor said. The mob attack on the Capitol starkly highlighted a longstanding local security paradox: the District of Columbia government lacks authority over much of the area within its borders. Now, as the city braces for a nerve-racking lead-up to President-elect Joe Biden's Jan. 20 inauguration, the city's mayor is seeking increased security and better coordination among the multiple law enforcement agencies involved.