SAN FRANCISCO—In preparation for President Biden’s inauguration on January 20, mailboxes were temporarily removed throughout the country by the United States Postal Service. Mailboxes were removed throughout major cities in at least 17 states including the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.
One of those cities included San Francisco, where the USPS removed 12 mailboxes around the Civic Center Plaza and the San Francisco Hall of Justice as a security protection. State capitals and larger cities like San Francisco were put on alert in lieu of the January 6 Capitol riots.
The FBI reported potential threats of violence at state capitals across the United States leading out to the Presidential Inauguration on January 20. It is customary that mailboxes are removed before big events such as parades, marathons, presidential visits, and inaugurations to prevent people from planting explosives in them to harm a large crowd of people.
United States Post Office Spokesman Augustine Ruiz says, “There’s been a lot of traffic regarding civil unrest, mostly in the capital, in Sacramento, for instance, but other cities like San Francisco have been put on the alert, as well.”
Ruiz indicated that he didn’t foresee any possible threat to San Francisco. This sentiment was also shared by the police department and the FBI. The mailbox removal lasted about a week.
