Trump vs. Harris: Cities across US board up ahead of election

Business owners across the United States are boarding up their windows in preparation for potential post-election fallout. 

Before voters head to the polls Tuesday with Donald Trump and Kamala Harris vying for the presidency, several businesses in Washington, D.C., were boarded up last week near the intersection of 17th Street NW and H Street NW, Fox 5 D.C. reported – a short walk from the White House. 

On the other side of the country, business owners in Portland, Oregon, who were hit hard by violence following the 2016 election and protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in 2020, are also preparing for potential riots. 

"It is completely ridiculous that we have to do this," downtown Portland employee Ebony Boger told ABC 7 News. "It's very precautionary, and I see why because I was here four years ago, and it was crazy down here. It's not shocking. I'm kind of used to it. I think they should do it."

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Boards are pictured before they are erected outside a Washington, D.C., establishment as business owners prepare for potential unrest after the results of the election. (Fox 5 D.C. )

"Hopefully no riots. Nobody wants to see anyone get hurt or any damage. After what happened last time, I guess, you have to be prepared for anything so, like I said, better safe than sorry," Stacy Snyder told the outlet.

Protests after former President Trump won the 2016 election lasted about a week in the Oregon city, and even led to the shutdown of Interstate 5. 

U.S. Capitol Police will switch to what they call "enhanced posture," which will include additional officers and "bike rack" fencing around the White House. 

The U.S. Secret Service said it "is working closely with our federal, state and local partners in Washington, D.C. and Palm Beach County, Florida to ensure the heightened levels of safety and security this Election Day."

"In the coming days, fencing and other physical public safety measures will be installed around the Naval Observatory, White House, and the Palm Beach County Convention Center," the agency said Monday. "These enhancements are not in response to any specific issue but are part of wide-ranging public safety preparations for Tuesday's election."

Portland Police Chief Bob Day told KATU 2 that he is "really hopeful that [police intervention is] not going to be necessary."

"We never can eliminate risk, but the confidence that I have in our community, the confidence I have in our law enforcement response, I'm really hopeful that that's not going to be necessary," Day said.

Some Portland business owners told KOIN 6 News that they were adding extra security in preparation, while others said that they were carrying on business as usual.

Retail store owners told the outlet that they may pull expensive items off the shelves, and that they were hiring overnight security on Nov. 5 for election night. Some of them said they were not worried about the prospect of unrest until they heard about ballot box fires set this year.

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Windows are boarded up at businesses a short walk from the White House near the intersection of 17th Street NW and H Street NW on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (Fox 5 D.C.)

"We had already installed, a few months back, security glass over our regular windows. That’s extra thick. Harder to break. We’re hoping that that is repellent," Hunny Beez owner Andrew Wegman told KOIN 6. Although they started their business after 2020, he said that surrounding business owners suggested additional measures.

Grand Gesture Books owner Katherine Morgan told KATU 2 that she did not intend to fortify her building, saying she hopes any potential rioters will leave her business alone. 

"I’m someone who believes in protesting, I’m someone who believes in doing whatever you can for your voice to be heard," she said.

"When I got the business, the windows were boarded up because of the protest, and they just never came down. For me, if people choose to riot, I feel like we need to listen to the people," she continued. "People won’t listen sometimes unless you resort to causing a commotion, and if causing a commotion is how the word gets out and people express themselves, who am I to be like, ‘Oh, no! This isn’t the right way!’"

Asked about boarded up businesses, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said last week that "people have certain risk tolerances, and I don't think they should be boarding up their buildings, but we're not going to give them that advice," Fox 5 D.C. reported.

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Desiree Medina told Fox 5 D.C. that she was concerned about the prospect of violence, "given what happened last time." (Fox 5 D.C.)

But people who spoke to Fox 5 D.C. outside some of the boarded-up businesses last week did not share her collected attitude. 

"Probably think it's a good idea, in case things go bad," Christian Bevans told the outlet.

Desiree Medina said she was concerned about the prospect of violence, "given what happened last time," Fox 5 D.C. reported.

"Who thought that would happen on January 6th? It was like something out of a movie! Who thought that would happen?" she said.

Former D.C. homicide detective and Fox News contributor Ted Williams, who has lived in the capital on and off for the past four decades, told Fox News Digital that he has "never seen it as bad as it is now when it comes to whether there is going to be some attack of dissension during the inaugural [period] or presidential elections."

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Former D.C. homicide detective said business owners should be proactive and board up their stores. (Fox 5 D.C. )

"It is very concerning and alarming. Businesses should board up [and] take proactive positions to protect their business," he said. "We're in a very volatile time in this country… I think you could clearly find someone acting out under the circumstances here. I think it's good for them to be proactive… irrespective of what the mayor [of the District of Columbia] says.

"When you look at all of these buildings that have been boarded up or you see the fences put around the Capitol, you ask yourself, ‘Is this America? Is this the America that we knew as children? Is this the America that we want our children to know? Is this America, or are we in some Third World country?’"

Fox News' Lillian LeCroy contributed to this report.