Fortress DC

Just bullshit, like so much security, and the most generous explanation is that it was bullshit because it was focusd on harassing the shit out of left wing protesters who, despite the constant media fulminations, aren't actually violent. They never really expected anyone to push back (this is the most generous explanation, as I said).

It turns out that Fortress D.C.—the capital city’s permanent, ever-expanding post-9/11 security-scape—is a myth. It’s a myth that residents have put up with because, in some ways, we want it to be true. It made us feel safer and it made us feel important, if only by proxy. (We also put up with it because we couldn’t say no.) And it gave some higher purpose to getting yelled at for unknowingly walking too close to a building or leaving your Swiss Army knife on your keychain when you walk through a metal detector. The scrutiny was frequently more intense for people of color.