Reports circulated on social media claiming that Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser had ordered all hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations and convenience stores to close from January 4-6, 2021, to discourage pro-Trump protesters. This assertion is mostly untrue: one hotel and one bar close during the protest period, but there is no evidence that the mayor ordered it; there was no instruction to close the other facilities mentioned in the social media posts; Mayor Bowser has placed restrictions on the dining room indoors, but this is due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in the city.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. She (sic) ordered that all hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, petrol stations and convenience stores close on 4, 5 and 6 January to discourage TRUMP supporters from coming together, ”read the reports (here, here, here). Captions include: “Yet she had no problem allowing the left mob to destroy and loot!” and “WE COME UNKNOWN.”
Protests in support of President Trump and against the outcome of the 2020 presidential election are scheduled for January 6 in Washington DC, the day on which the Electoral College’s results will be discussed in Congress around the election of President Joe Biden (here, here) to confirm.
Several pro-Trump rallies where supporters recognize the president’s unfounded allegations of voter fraud have taken place in Washington DC since the election. Some became violent with at least one person being shot, stabbed five and several people arrested (here, here, here).
Black Lives Matter DC Demands Hotels to Close (here) and local businesses to refuse to do business with Trump supporters before the January 6 rally (here), this may be where this incorrect information comes from.
The Hotel Harrington closed from 4-6 January and said in a post on their website: ‘While we cannot control what happens outside the hotel, we are taking additional steps to protect the safety of our visitors, guests and employees. Hotel Harrington closed on 4, 5 and 6 January. ”
(here)
According to the Washington Post, the hotel and restaurant closed after large numbers of members of the far-right group Proud Boys visited the restaurant and stayed at the hotel for the December 12 rally (here) Hotel Harrington and Harry’s Bar did not immediately respond to Reuters not. questions whether the decision to close was made independently.
Some businesses and buildings with street-level windows started before the protests (here, here).
On January 3, Mayor Bowser’s office published details of the preparations for the protests, advising people to avoid the city center and announcing the closure of the street (here). There is no mention of the closure of hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, filling stations and convenience stores in this document, nor on the website of the mayor’s office (mayor.dc.gov/) nor on the Twitter page of Bowser not (here).
Mayor Bowser’s office did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Reuters has contacted several hotels in central Washington DC to confirm that they will not close from January 4-6 due to the mayor’s orders, and will update this article accordingly if they respond.
The mayor has introduced new COVID-19 restrictions, with restaurants restricted to outdoor meals, and museums and libraries closed from December 23 to January 15 (here; coronavirus.dc.gov/phasetwo). This is due to the fact that COVID-19 cases rose in the national capital by the end of the year (here), so as not to deter protesters.
VERDICT
Partly false. One hotel and restaurant said they would close because of the protests, but there is no evidence that the DC mayor’s office ordered other businesses to close to deter pro-Trump protesters.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.