Fence removed at Capitol Campus in Olympia after months of heightened security
.jpg "Workers remove fencing around key buildings on Washington state’s Capitol Campus in Olympia on Tuesday morning. The security fences had been there since January.")
Security fencing around key buildings on Washington state’s Capitol Campus in Olympia was removed on Tuesday after nearly four months.
By about 8:30 a.m., the domed Legislative Building was clear of the chain-link security fencing and crews were working on removing it near the switchbacks that lead from the campus to Capitol Lake.
“I’m pleased to announce that we’re removing the temporary construction fencing on West Campus,” said Department of Enterprise Services Director Chris Liu in part of a prepared statement.
“It was an important measure to protect free speech rights, the democratic process and government operations. We are hopeful that political temperatures will continue to cool and that threat levels or illegal activity will not necessitate such security measures again.”
Enhanced security measures have been in place since January. A crowd of supporters of former President Donald Trump breached the gates to the Governor’s Mansion in Olympia on Jan. 6, the same day a pro-Trump mob stormed the nation’s Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Gov. Jay Inslee announced on Jan. 8 he had activated the Washington State National Guard to be in Olympia with State Patrol and local law enforcement ahead of the first day of the state’s 2021 legislative session Jan. 11. Groups had announced, then publicly canceled, protest plans that included entering the Legislative Building, which has been closed to the public due to COVID-19 precautions.
Security efforts were then extended through the inauguration of President Joe Biden Jan. 20.
The first day of session was largely uneventful, with a couple arrests, and the presidential inauguration passed without incident. The governor credited the heightened security for the relative calm and announced longer-term security measures — including the fence and increased Washington State Patrol presence — as the National Guard started to draw down.
Calls to remove the fence from Republican state lawmakers were unheeded during the 105-day legislative session that ended April 25. Democratic leaders in the legislature said they deferred to security experts on that call, such as State Patrol.
In mid-March, the restricted area reopened to pedestrian access from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The order that restricted access to parts of the campus expired April 30, according to Enterprise Services, which manages the campus.
Asked if the fence’s removal was delayed due to May Day, which has typically been a day of protests in Olympia and other cities, department spokesperson Linda Kent said, “May Day is always something we keep a very close eye on,” but that Tuesday was the first day the contractor was available.
The pedestrian gates had been left open at all times since the order expired, according to Kent.
State Patrol spokesperson Chris Loftis declined to provide specific details regarding staffing levels, writing in an email that additional resources were called in from across the state in January, but most returned to regular assignments after the inauguration when the National Guard was demobilized.
“There have been adjustments made to deployments, schedules and availabilities since that time; but again, we prefer not to talk about specific numbers,” he wrote.
“Suffice to say we are all happy to see the temporary construction fencing come down,” Loftis wrote. “It was a necessary response to real safety concerns but certainly detracted from the beauty of the campus.
“That said, we are very aware that the events of the past several months have changed the security environment for each of the state capitols and the national capitol as well. So even with the temporary fencing being removed, we will continue to be vigilant, flexible, and prepared for whatever that new environment portends.”
This story was originally published May 4, 2021 at 9:36 AM with the headline "Fence removed at Capitol Campus in Olympia after months of heightened security."
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