The Secret Service announced Thursday that the upcoming January 6th “has been designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security as a National Special Security Event.”
“The counting and certification of the 2025 Electoral College votes, to be held in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2025, has been designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security as a special national security event,” a press release about the secretary’s decision, first reported by The Washington Post, said.
Nearly four years ago, supporters of former President Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election. The riot on January 6, 2021, followed Trump’s baseless claims of 2020 election fraud, and the former president’s insistence during his debate with Vice President Harris on Tuesday that he won the 2020 election.
“National Special Security Events are events of the utmost national importance,” Eric Lanagan, the Secret Service’s Senior Personnel Protection Division director, said in a news release. “The U.S. Secret Service is committed to working with federal, state, and local partners to develop and implement a comprehensive, integrated security plan to ensure the safety and security of this event and its participants.”
The former president and his supporters tried to portray the 2021 attack on the Capitol as a peaceful event, but more than 140 police officers were injured and five died in the aftermath of the riot.
In January, President Biden and Harris posted on social platform X to condemn the riots, marking the third anniversary of the January 6 riots.
“Three years ago, a violent mob, driven by lies, attacked the U.S. Capitol,” Biden said in the post. “Our democracy was tested. But it stood because our people prevailed.”
He added, “It is up to us to demonstrate that American democracy, with all its imperfections, remains a beacon to the world and a promise worth keeping.”
“We realized on the day of the riot that there is still work to be done to protect our democracy and basic freedoms,” Harris said in her post.
The story was updated at 11:10 p.m. ET.
