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Multiple Storefronts Are Boarding Up Windows And Entrances Ahead Of Possible Election Day Protests And Violence In DC

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Several businesses in Washington, D.C. have begun to board up windows and other possible entrances ahead of potential violence surrounding election day, video shows.

Kim, the owner of Press Liquor on 14th Street NW, said that he hopes everything is okay but that he isn’t sure what is going to happen,  according to a video NBC Washington reporter Adam Truss tweeted. Kim added that he was worried and noted that most other nearby store owners were also boarding up.

A man boarding up the National Press Building said, “they’re concerned that ya know we’re gonna have riots again, this is just in prep for election day,” in another video.

“You never know what’s gonna happen.”

Happening now – store fronts being boarded up in downtown DC ahead of the election. This is the National Press Building near the White House. @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/FWd8mK8ZkL

— Adam Tuss (@AdamTuss) October 28, 2020

Storefronts in Mount Vernon Triangle were also boarded up on Wednesday afternoon, WUSA9 reported.

Boarding up windows in Mount Vernon Triangle ahead of Election Day @wusa9 @GetUpDC pic.twitter.com/wj0FzL142i

— Nicole DiAntonio (@NicoleDiAntonio) October 28, 2020

Demonstrations leading to heated incidents between protesters, rioters and police outside the Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD) Fourth District headquarters occurred Monday and Tuesday night over the death of Karon Hylton, videos show.

Rioters reportedly broke multiple windows at a precinct on Tuesday, to which police responded in riot gear, deploying flashbangs and other chemical irritants, WUSA9 reported.

Hylton was reportedly riding a moped on a sidewalk when police attempted to pull him over on Friday, WUSA9 reported. Police say Hylton crashed into a car, though family and friends say that police hit him. Hylton reportedly died Monday evening.

Hylton’s mother criticized law enforcement officers at the headquarters Tuesday evening for “protecting a building,” video shows. “I protected my son,” she said.

Wow. Emotional moment as mother of #KaronHylton confronts DC Police over death of her son.

“You know it was wrong” she says to police at Protest @ 4D station tonight. Karon (20),died on rideshare scooter Sat.,as Police chased him for not wearing helmet..
pic.twitter.com/KSvsPmjGnP

— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) October 28, 2020

MPD has so far refused to say how they are preparing for potential violence surrounding election day. The department spent $130,000 on less-lethal munitions on June 1, WUSA9 reported.

MPD Chief Peter Newsham previously said the department purchased the munitions in preparation for possible protests and riots surrounding election day, though the department would not comment on plans to respond to demonstration activity.