The National Park Service on Wednesday told The Hill that it has not yet made a final decision on closing the National Mall on Inauguration Day following reports from news outlets that the area would be restricted to select people on Jan. 20.
Mike Litterst, chief of communications for the Park Service’s National Mall and Memorial Parks unit, told The Hill in an email that “no final decision has been made regarding closures on the National Mall for the inaugural events.”
“When a decision is reached, an announcement will be made by the United States Secret Service and/or National Park Service,” he added.
This comes after The Washington Post and NBC News reported Wednesday that the Mall would close the day of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
The Post cited two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security measures, while NBC attributed the information to two federal officials in different agencies.
The sources who spoke to the Post added that the only people allowed on the Mall on Jan. 20 will be members of the media and security personnel.
James Harnett, the former commissioner for D.C.’s Foggy Bottom neighborhood, tweeted Wednesday evening that the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) confirmed at a community meeting that the Mall would be closed for inaugural events.
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Entire National Mall to be closed on Inauguration Day: report https://t.co/gvVpTQhNJu pic.twitter.com/iq4Bbu3RWJ
— The Hill (@thehill) January 14, 2021
The Interior Department said today that it will close the National Mall to some demonstrations until after the inauguration https://t.co/DAKuoraO9O
— POLITICO (@politico) January 15, 2021
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