Remaining fencing at Olympia Capitol coming down on Tuesday
May 4, 2021, 6:00 AM
Pedestrians now have access to the West Campus of the Capitol in Olympia. (Washington State Patrol)
(Washington State Patrol)
Temporary fencing at the capitol campus in Olympia is coming down.
The State Department of Enterprise Services says the work is scheduled for Tuesday morning on the west campus.
Added security was first installed in Olympia in the wake of the siege on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. All 50 states fielded warnings from the FBI of threats to capitol buildings in the wake of that attack.
State patrol, National Guard set up extra security in Olympia
In late January, Gov. Jay Inslee announced that while the National Guard would be scaling back its presence at the state Capitol, WSP troopers and other security measures would remain for the foreseeable future. Up until mid-March the west campus of Olympia’s Capitol was a restricted area.
Then, security was scaled back, with the area reopened to pedestrian access in mid-March. At the time, it still remained closed to vehicles with some fencing staying in place. As of Tuesday, that fencing will be coming down, fully opening the area back up for the first time since January 6.
“We are hopeful that political temperatures will continue to cool and that threat levels or illegal activity will not necessitate such security measures again,” Department of Enterprise Services (DES) Director Chris Liu said in a written release. “However, there are still many unknowns as to how our security environment will continue evolve into the future.”
Washington State Patrol and DES say they will still be “constantly” monitoring the situation in the event added security is required again, and are “prepared and ready for a wide range of scenarios.”
