'Unscalable' metal fence erected around White House amid worries about potential protests

The anti-scaling fence around the White House is covered with signs on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

TORONTO — Federal officials erected a large temporary fence, designed to fend off climbing protesters, that stretched around the perimeter of the White House complex amid security concerns and unrest following the U.S. elections.

Erected on Monday night, the metal barricade is “non-scalable” and similar to the kind that was erected during the George Floyd protests over the summer, according to NBC and CNN.

There have been increasing concerns in the run-up to Tuesday’s vote that protests could erupt following one of the most divisive elections in U.S. history in what has already been a turbulent year.

Security is expected to be heightened particularly if no immediate winner is declared, with NBC reporting that 250 National Guardsmen have also been put on standby.

It was the latest worrying sign of what the coming days may be like in the United States. Retailers across many parts of the country had already taken pre-emptive measures including boarding up window shops, with social media users posting photographs of stores and businesses covering two-storey windows in some of the largest cities in America.

Last week, Walmart asked all its stores to remove guns and ammunition that were on display at its U.S. locations, before reversing the decision a day later, citing the localized nature of the unrest. The move came after several days of protests in Philadelphia after police killed a Black man with a history of mental health issues. Gun sales in general, however, have spiked this year following the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests, according to reports by Reuters and Buzzfeed News.

Some Twitter users were quick to make comparisons to the wall between the U.S. and Mexico border President Donald Trump had promised to build, while others recalled the “Bunker Boy” tag from the summer, after it was reported that Trump briefly spent some time inside the White House’s underground bunker in the summer.

One aerial image that was widely shared on Facebook depicting a “fortress-like” grey wall surrounding the White House grounds, however, was proven to be doctored according to a fact-check by the Associated Press, with the National Park Service confirming to the news agency that the actual fencing erected this week is much shorter and does not resemble the one in the altered photograph.

With additional files from The Associated Press