Biden fans celebrate in an eerie, locked-down Washington: ‘We’re not going to be intimidated’

WASHINGTON — It wasn’t the celebration they’d envisioned, their bodies pressed up against a concrete barrier three blocks from a fenced-in Capitol, standing face-to-face with riot police. But at noon on Jan. 20, as people turned to their phones to watch an inauguration so close yet still out of sight, there were cheers and smiles.

“I’ll remember this moment for the rest of my life,” said Victoria Schmitz, 19, who cast her first vote for Joe Biden and drove from Michigan to see him inaugurated as president of the United States on Wednesday. “It’s just so exciting. Things are going to go back to at least a sphere of normal.”

“This is a beautiful day in America,” said Carlos Soto, who stood nearby after flying in from San Antonio.

Mary Russell, who traveled from California to stand outside the Capitol with her brother, said that outgoing President Donald Trump “was just promoting so much hate in this country. We have a big family, and our family is divided. I feel a need to be a part of something like this.”

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Biden’s inauguration team had asked people to stay away from Washington even before an attack on the Capitol sent the city into lockdown. Most supporters heeded those warnings and celebrated at home, but a few revelers came out in person.

Downtown Washington was unrecognizable, both to residents and those who attended previous inaugurations — an eerie, desolated version of the city that every four years hosts one of the country’s most cherished democratic traditions. Roadways were blocked, and armored vehicles and national guardsmen choked intersections. The National Mall was off-limits, so small groups gathered around sections of barriers where they could catch a view of the Capitol dome.

Enterprising vendors sold “I WAS THERE: Inauguration 2021″ T-shirts to the few who milled outside the extensive security perimeter.

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Some said the unprecedented security measures made them feel safe. Others lamented the scene exactly two weeks after Trump supporters mounted a violent insurrection at the Capitol.

“I’m angry the people who came down [on Jan. 6] made this even more difficult,” said Albert Elliot, who carried a Black Lives Matter flag. “It shouldn’t have been like this.”

Ian Carr, a research scientist at the Food and Drug Administration who lives in Washington, came to see the bizarre circumstances a few hours before Biden took the oath of office. Carr said he was “very much excited” for the Biden administration — partly because he disagreed with Trump’s politics but also because he longed for a return to normalcy in his city.

“It is weird to pass through parks that you hang out in and now they’re being occupied by the National Guard,” said Carr, 29, who lives in the city’s Columbia Heights neighborhood. “The crescendo of [the insurrection] … just felt like the culmination of the whole thing.”

Rick Zeak, from Millville, N.J., drove to Washington early Wednesday morning. He was undeterred by the Capitol attack, he said, determined “to show that we’re not going to be intimidated by thugs and we’re going to support our president.”

Zeak watched President Biden address the nation on his phone, near a crowd gathered to listen on a speaker. “He’s all about unity and trying to bring the country together, which is really what we need right now,” Zeak said.

Snow fell briefly around noon as Biden was sworn in, but quickly gave way to sun and blue skies. A woman hopped up on a concrete barrier draped in a Biden flag, and the crowd cheered until a police officer told her to get down.

Shruti Agarwal, a medical researcher who came to the United States from India in 2011, was proud to witness the inauguration of Vice President Kamala Harris, who is of Indian descent.

“I can relate to the pains of people who came here to do something better, and not just in their life. … When they excel, they make the community better, and that strengthens America,” she said. “That’s the best way to promote that dream.”

The meager turnout wasn’t great news for W.J. Drew, who sells merchandise at large events like inaugurations and had unloaded only about a dozen of the Biden-Harris T-shirts he was hawking for $20 by the time Biden became president. But Drew, 68, said it was still a good day because Trump was leaving office.

“I don’t want to mention his name,” Drew said of the former president.

The back of his T-shirts proclaimed, “Happy days are here again.”

Despite warnings of extremist violence two weeks after the attack by Trump supporters ended with five people dead, only a handful of his backers were seen in the area.

A man named Billy, who declined to give his last name, stood outside the security perimeter with a sign that said, “Investigate ballot malarkey.” A woman next to him held a sign reading, “Impeach 46,” referring to Biden, now the 46th president.

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Billy said he considers Biden’s presidency illegitimate because of what he called “irregularities” in the 2020 election, repeating many of the debunked false claims of fraud and election rigging that Trump and his supporters have spread for months to undermine the results.

He took a train to the inauguration from New York.

“Trump had so much protest at his inauguration. I think Biden should have some protest at his inauguration, too,” he said.

Roy Larry, 67, from Sacramento, Calif., said the shared grief of the pandemic could be a unifying force for the country in time.

“Four hundred thousand people died. Do we understand the magnitude of that?” he said. “We’re gonna bring the 74 million people who voted for Trump back in this historical moment in time.”

Charles Russell, 35, who lives in Washington, paused during the revelry to reflect on the pandemic and all Biden will now inherit. But at least for a moment, on Wednesday at 12:05 p.m., Russell felt a weight had been lifted.

“I work in mental health, and the past four years have been unbelievably stressful for so many people,” he said. “I think we’ve shared a traumatic experience for four years. It’s been a lot to carry.”

Staff videographers Astrid Rodrigues and Lauren Schneiderman and staff photographer Tim Tai contributed to this article.