Fence around White House before Election Day leave visitors anxious

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Fence around White House before Election Day leave visitors anxious

At noon on the eve of Election Day, the familiar mix of tourists, locals, and government workers seeking fresh air on lunch hour milled as usual in Lafayette Square, next to the White House in downtown Washington, D.C.

They were met with an unusual sight – a heavy, metal fence around 10 feet high surrounded the White House, the street in front, and a bronze statue of former President Andrew Jackson astride his horse at the center of the park.

The Secret Service’s decision to erect the fence ahead of Election Day left tourists frustrated and Americans on edge at the prospect of violence or unrest in the nation’s capital amid an extraordinarily tight election.

Signs on a fence erected around Lafayette Square ahead of Election Day read 'No Trespassing: Authorized Personnel Only.'

“I’m disappointed,” said Rose Jones, 77, standing with her family in front of the heavy perimeter. “The kids wanted to see the White House, and now they can’t see it.”

Jones, visiting from North Carolina, had just one day in the nation’s capital. She was not the only who arrived to the square surprised to find Washington’s most famous building walled off.

“We traveled a lot of time to come here, but it’s not open,” said Alison Carrillo, 16, in Washington with her parents, brother, and grandmother for the first time.

Visitors expressed disappointment that a fence blocked off the White House and part of Lafayette Square.

After the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a mob supporting former President Donald Trump, “It’s really understandable that they are closing here,” she said.

People filtered through a few openings in an outer fence running along Lafayette Square on H St NW. Tourists peered through the inner fence, trying unsuccessfully to snap pictures through the tightly woven wire.

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