As World Pride flows straight into the military parade, DC officials say they're ready for anything
WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials in the nation's capital generally express full confidence in their ability to handle large, complicated events and huge crowds. As Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith recently put it, 'We are really the experts in this space when it comes to crowd management.'
That expertise will be publicly put to the test over the next eight days.
The District of Columbia is playing host to massive events on back-to-back weekends. Two wildly divergent events each carry the extra possibility of counterprotests or disruption, adding a layer of anxiety to the usual logistical hassles.
June 7 and 8 brings the peak of the two-week World Pride celebration with two days of mass gatherings — a parade on Saturday and a rally and protest March Sunday. Both days culminate in a giant street party and concert covering a multi-block stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Then as cleanup from World Pride wraps up, preparations will begin for the much-hyped June 14 military parade to celebrate the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army (and the 79th birthday of a certain White House resident).
And while D.C. officials can claim they have seen it all before in terms of mass events, June 14 will present some genuinely unique challenges — actual 60-ton M1 Abrams battle tanks and Paladin self-propelled howitzers rolling through the city streets.
The cost of potential repairs is a concern
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has gone out of her way to stay on the good side of President Donald Trump, has not disguised her discomfort at the prospect of armored vehicles chewing up the downtown asphalt. And she is still openly leery, despite assurances from the military that it will cover the costs of all repairs, and a plan to install protective plates at intersections.
'I think that there has been time and attention paid to how to move this heavy equipment in a way that doesn't hurt (roads),' Bowser said last week. "I remain concerned about it. If they are rendered unusable, we have to make them usable and then go seek our money from the feds.'
For each of these high-profile weekends, police and security officials are on alert for any sort of counterprotest or attempts to disrupt the proceedings. Trump's campaign against transgender protections and oft-stated antipathy for drag shows have fueled fears of violence against World Pride participants; at one point earlier this spring, rumors circulated that the Proud Boys were planning to disrupt this weekend's celebrations.
Those fears have proven to be unfounded so far, although one D.C. queer bar was vandalized last week. With those fears in mind, organizers will install security fencing around the entire two-day street party.
'We wanted to provide some extra safety measures (based on) concerns from some people in the community,' said Ryan Bos, executive director of the Capital Pride Alliance.
The bi-annual World Pride has, in the past, drawn as many as 1 million visitors to its host city. It remains to be seen just how large the final influx will be for the nation's capital. Early hotel reservation numbers had indicated that attendance would be down somewhat, a possible result of international participants staying away out of either fear of harassment or in protest of Trump's policies.
But Elliott Ferguson, president of Destination D.C. — which tracks hotel reservations — told reporters last week they were witnessing 'a surge at the last minute' of people coming in for the final World Pride weekend.
Protests planned for military parade
The military parade, meanwhile, is expected to draw as many as 200,000 people, according to Army estimates. A large counterprotest against Trump — dubbed the No Kings rally — will march down 16th Street to within sight of the White House but isn't expected to get close enough to the military parade to disrupt things.
Lindsey Appiah, the deputy mayor for public safety, acknowledges that longstanding plans for the Army's 250th birthday 'got a lot bigger on short notice' when Trump got involved.
'You have to be very flexible, very nimble. Things change and you have plans and then those plans change," she said. "I think we've really learned to do that.'
Appiah points out an example of the District's capabilities from early this year, when the city hosted the congressional certification of Trump's electoral win, the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter and then Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20 — all in the span of two weeks and in the midst of a huge winter storm.
D.C. officials also point out that the logistical challenge facing the capital city doesn't actually end on June 14. The military parade will be followed by three matches for the FIFA Club World Cup starting on June 18 and running through June 26, which will then roll straight into preparations for the traditional July 4 fireworks extravaganza.
Clint Osborn, head of the city's Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, said the summer planning schedule "feels like Super Bowl after Super Bowl after Super Bowl.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
22 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Israel says it has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage kidnapped into Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel says it has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage kidnapped into Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, as it continues its military offensive across the strip, killing at least 22 people overnight, according to health officials. The Prime Minister's office said Saturday that the body of Thai citizen Nattapong Pinta was returned to Israel in a special military operation. Pinta was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed in captivity near the start of the war, said the government. This comes two days after the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages were retrieved. Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza, of whom Israel says more than half are dead. The defense minister said Saturday that Pinta's body was retrieved from the Rafah area. He had come to Israel from Thailand to work in agriculture. A statement from the hostage forum, which supports the hostages, said it stands with Pinta's family and shares in their grief. It called on the country's decision makers to bring home the remaining hostages and give those who have died a proper burial. Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive by Hamas militants. Many of the Thai agricultural workers lived in compounds on the outskirts of southern Israeli kibbutzim and towns, and Hamas militants overran those places first. A total of 46 Thais have been killed during the conflict, according to Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One strike hit an apartment killing seven people including a mother and five children. Their bodies were taken to Shifa hospital. Israel said Saturday that it's responding to Hamas' 'barbaric attacks' and is dismantling its capabilities. It said it follows international law and takes all feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm. ——
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Israel says it has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage kidnapped into Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel says it has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage kidnapped into Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. The Prime Minister's office said Saturday that the body of Thai citizen Nattapong Pinta was returned to Israel in a special military operation. Pinta was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed in captivity near the start of the war, said the government. Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive by Hamas militants. This comes a day after the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages were retrieved. Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza, of whom Israel says more than half are dead.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump boasts of ‘big win' over AP as court allows WH to ban access after ‘Gulf of America' spat
President Trump celebrated a 'big win' Friday as a federal appeals court ruled that his administration can ban the Associated Press from entering the Oval Office and other restricted areas amid its ongoing legal spat with the outlet over the Gulf of America. The White House can now restrict the wire service from the Oval Office, Mar-a-Lago and Air Force One, per a split 2-1 ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. 'Big WIN over AP today,' Trump posted on Truth Social. 'They refused to state the facts or the Truth on the GULF OF AMERICA. FAKE NEWS!!!' The court ruled Friday that certain White House spaces aren't open to the public or large press pools – effectively giving officials the power to decide which journalists and outlets get access, CNN reported. The decision comes after a lower court judge blocked the administration from restricting the AP from privileged areas where the press is typically allowed. 'We are disappointed in the court's decision and are reviewing our options,' a spokesperson for the Associated Press told the outlet. The legal dispute erupted in February when the White House barred the outlet from the Oval Office in response to the agency's refusal to update its style guide to reflect Trump's executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. The AP, which manages the media's go-to style guide 'Associated Press Stylebook,' argued the large ocean basin has been called the Gulf of Mexico for 'more than 400 years' and other international groups have not acknowledged the change. 'VICTORY! As we've said all along, the Associated Press is not guaranteed special access to cover President Trump in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and in other sensitive locations,' White House press secretary Karoline Levitt posted to X following the ruling. 'Thousands of other journalists have never been afforded the opportunity to cover the President in these privileged spaces. Moving forward, we will continue to expand access to new media so that more people can cover the most transparent President in American history rather than just the failing legacy media. 'And by the way @AP, it's still the Gulf of America.' Hundreds of reporters have a so-called 'hard pass' which allows access to the White House briefing room and press working area. A second, more limited group of journalists — referred to as the pool — is granted access to more intimate or restricted events with greater opportunity to ask the president face-to-face questions. The pool used to be decided by the White House Correspondents Association, until the Trump administration took it over to hand-pick which journalists they could add to — or remove from — the pool. The AP previously had access to the president's limited events every day alongside fellow wires Reuters and Bloomberg. Now only one wire service is allowed in the pool each day.
