Journalists won't be allowed to wear bulletproof vests to Capitol for Inauguration Day: report
Two weeks after an armed mob stormed into the U.S. Capitol looking to harm lawmakers and journalists alike, police are banning reporters from wearing protective gear inside.
Supporters of President Donald Trump burst into the Capitol on Jan. 6 as Congress certified President-elect Joe Biden's electoral win, and videos and photographs from the siege show rioters threatening to harm elected officials and members of the media, but police are limiting some forms of protection ahead of Inauguration Day.
"Capitol Police is informing reporters that any member of the press trying to go through security screening with a bullet-proof vest will be denied entry," reported The Hill's Alex Bolton. "Reporters told they cannot wear vests, gas masks, or helmets."
Bolton said it wasn't immediately clear whether the order covered the Capitol Plaza or just inside the building, but reporters and lawmakers alike have expressed safety concerns about possible unrest in Washington, D.C., for Biden's inauguration.
"Yesterday I went shopping for a new winter coat that would fit over a bulletproof vest so I can safely (and warmly) cover the inauguration of the next president of the United States," tweetedWashington Post reporter Katie Mettler. "What an absolutely absurd sentence to write."
Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA) said she's already purchased a bulletproof vest, and some of her colleagues plan to follow her advice to buy one for themselves.
"I am, and so are a lot of my colleagues," said Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA). "We are concerned, not only about our colleagues, but just extremist elements that are out there in the country that have been emboldened by this attack that was incited by Donald Trump on Jan. 6."
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