Just before the sky burst into rain over Lincoln Park the afternoon of Thursday, June 25, the National Park Service (NPS) finished fencing in the Emancipation Monument and Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial in Lincoln Park.
Fencing began at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 25 and was concluded by about 6 p.m.. The fencing will be in place until Friday, July 31, at 5 p.m. and could be extended if necessary, NPS said in the notice.
US Park Police and Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers were present throughout the park as fencing was erected, with mounted officers riding throughout.
The move to enclose the monuments is part of a wider move to protect NPS monuments. On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that the Army had activated around 400 unarmed members of the DC National Guard to “prevent any defacing or destruction” of monuments.
Still, in a notice to the public announcing that fences would be erected, NPS directly referenced a June 23 demonstration held by The Freedom Neighborhood which indicated plans to tear down the monument today. A second rally is scheduled for Friday June 26 at 6 p.m., the first of three simultaneous events.
