Some businesses in downtown Austin boarding up ahead of election
AUSTIN, Texas - Several businesses near the capitol boarded up their windows to prepare for potential civil unrest after the election.
Workers could be seen boarding up large windows outside a building on Congress Avenue. Businesses housed inside tell FOX 7 Austin the owners want the building to be safe from any damage or looting should election results take a turn.
Some Austinites believe reactions to the presidential election will be tame.
“I don’t expect that anything unusual will happen tomorrow,” said Kevin Brown, an Austinite dropping off mail as the post office windows were being boarded up. “I believe that everybody is going to have their opportunity to vote.”
Meanwhile, the City of Austin is preparing for demonstrations.
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Ahead of the election, Assistant Chief Joe Chacon said the department will be put on tactical alert for the week in uniform, ready to respond to any unlawful incident.
"We certainly respect people's right to peacefully assemble and to voice their opinions and they have the right to do, within the law,” said Chacon in a press conference on October 13th. "We're just here to balance that right against public safety and that's what we're trying to do"
The Austin Police Department communications team said they will be releasing a response to the council members' questions before election day.