Capitol Police Deny Congresswoman’s Request To Open Capitol Hill For Sledding

Norton, who is Washington, D.C.’s, delegate to the House of Representatives despite not having voting power, said in a Saturday press release:

The west side of the Capitol is well known as perhaps the best place for sledding in D.C.’s high-density urban environment. Annually, I get a provision included in the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill directing the Capitol Police to allow sledding on Capitol grounds. While the Capitol complex has been closed since the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, sledding can be done safely by allowing only children and adults accompanied by children with sleds or other sled-like devices to use the Capitol grounds for sledding.

This could be the only snowstorm D.C. gets this winter, and may be one of the best for sledding in years. Children and their parents should be able to enjoy sledding on one of the best hills in the city.

Children across America have endured an extremely challenging year, and D.C. children in particular have not only endured the coronavirus pandemic but now the militarization of their city, with the hostile symbols of fences and barbed wire. Sledding is a simple, childhood thrill. It is the least we can allow for our resilient children this winter season.

Washington, D.C., and the Capitol complex especially, have been under lockdown since the Jan. 6 riot that led to the deaths of five people and multiple injuries. A large segment of the National Guard members who descended on the city in the days before Inauguration Day will reportedly remain at least until March.

As The Daily Wire reported:

The National Guard said that thousands of troops will remain in Washington, D.C., until mid-March.

Of the approximately 25,000 National Guard troops who were dispatched to the nation’s capital for President Joe Biden’s inauguration, around 7,000 remain and about 5,000 are going to stay, a spokesperson told local Fox 5 on Saturday.

The National Guard will reportedly continue to assist local law enforcement in the wake of the Capitol riot earlier this month that left five dead and multiple people wounded.

“We are providing assistance such as security, communications, medical evacuation, logistics, and safety support to state, district and federal agencies,” the National Guard spokesman told Fox 5 in a statement.

Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman said Thursday that the fencing erected around the Capitol will likely have to remain permanent.

Related: Thousands Of National Guard Troops To Remain In D.C. Through Mid-March

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