A rehearsal for US President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration scheduled for Sunday has been postponed because of security concerns, say insiders late on Thursday.
Due to fears of more violence, security officials have locked down the Capitol complex. The rehearsal will now be held on Monday, they said.
The president-elect’s team has also canceled his train trip from Wilmington to Washington, scheduled for Monday, because of security concerns.
The FBI, the Secret Service and national security officials briefed Biden on the threats.
“In the week since the attack on Congress by a mob that included domestic terrorists and violent extremists,” Biden’s transition team said in a statement.
“The nation has continued to learn more about the threat to our democracy and about the potential for additional violence in the coming days, both in the National Capital Region and in cities across the country. This is a challenge that the President-elect and his team take incredibly seriously,” the team added.
Meanwhile, the National Guard is expected to beef up security by deploying more than 20,000 troops. FBI has already warned of the rising threats around the inauguration and violent protests all over the country at the weekend.
