A police officer and his K9 patrol the capital grounds before the planned protests in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020. After the scheduled start time at noon, only a few others came here to protest.

With the exception of dozens of members of law enforcement and the media present, the state Capitol was a virtual ghost of the city at the forefront of planned protests in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020. Still, only a handful of protesters out here.

Duncan Lemp of Norwich attends a schedule at the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

An anti-Trump protester attends what is purported to be a gigantic pro-Trump demonstration in the capital of Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020. Of the dozens of police officers at the scene, only a handful of other people showed up.

State police have been at the Capitol since an election rally planned for Trump in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2021.

State police patrol outside the Capitol for an election rally planned for Trump in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2021.

Duncan Lemp of Norwich, one of the few protesters for and against Trump who appeared to leave the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2021.

Police closed the streets near the Capitol at an election rally planned for Trump in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2021.

Hundreds of law enforcement workers from a multitude of agencies were available to avoid any mess at a planned rally by President Trump, which did not materialize in the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

Hundreds of law enforcement workers from a multitude of agencies were available to avoid any mess at a planned rally by President Trump, which did not materialize in the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

Hundreds of law enforcement workers from a multitude of agencies were present at any mess at a planned demonstration in favor of President Trump, which did not materialize in the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

Hundreds of law enforcement workers from a multitude of agencies were available to avoid any mess at a planned rally by President Trump, which did not materialize in the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

The I84 front and exit ramp are closed before a planned rally by President Trump at the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020. Hundreds of police forces of workers from a multitude of agencies were present to avoid any problems. In the end, the expected protesters’ charges did not materialize.

Hundreds of law enforcement workers from a multitude of agencies were available to avoid any mess at a planned rally by President Trump, which did not materialize in the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

Hundreds of law enforcement workers from a multitude of agencies were available to avoid any mess at a planned rally by President Trump, which did not materialize in the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

Hundreds of law enforcement workers from a multitude of agencies were on hand to prevent any disorder at a planned rally by President Trump, which did not materialize at the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

Hundreds of law enforcement workers from a multitude of agencies were available to avoid any mess at a planned rally by President Trump, which did not materialize in the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

Hundreds of law enforcement workers from a multitude of agencies were available to avoid any mess at a planned rally by President Trump, which did not materialize in the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

Hundreds of law enforcement workers from a multitude of agencies were available to avoid any mess at a planned rally by President Trump, which did not materialize in the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

Hundreds of law enforcement workers from a multitude of agencies were available to avoid any mess at a planned rally by President Trump, which did not materialize in the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

Hundreds of law enforcement workers from a multitude of agencies were present at any mess at a planned demonstration in favor of President Trump, which did not materialize in the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

Hundreds of law enforcement workers from a multitude of agencies were available to avoid any mess at a planned rally by President Trump, which did not materialize in the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

Hundreds of law enforcement workers from a multitude of agencies were available to avoid any mess at a planned rally by President Trump, which did not materialize in the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

Hundreds of law enforcement workers from a multitude of agencies were available to avoid any mess at a planned rally by President Trump, which did not materialize in the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

Hundreds of law enforcement workers from a multitude of agencies were available to avoid any mess at a planned rally by President Trump, which did not materialize in the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020.

Anti-Trump protesters stop outside in the construction of the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday, January 17, 2020. Hundreds of police officers from a multitude of agencies were available to solve any problem. In the end, the piles of protesters expected did not materialize.

HARTFORD – Hundreds of law enforcement officials armed with tactical weapons and armored cars closed the city streets on Sunday, discouraging more than a handful of protesters in the state Capitol on a day when the country was at the forefront of a imaginable backlash. defeat of President Donald Trump’s re-election.

Journalists and photographers outnumbered members of the public, some of whom well resisted the steel barriers surrounding the Capitol in what was first feared as a day of confrontation before Wednesday’s inauguration, even when more and more troublemakers invaded the country’s Capitol on January 6. were arrested across the country.

By contrast, at noon, when #StoptheSteal intended to catch fire, Joanne Iovino, a Hartford anti-phasist and a teenage Norwich firearms rights defender who is not old enough to vote, shared the lawn tilted east of the Capitol. , because the expected protest did not materialize.

Waving a copy of an Independence War flag, a 17-year-old high school student who said his call Duncan Lemp, traveled with his grandfather Don, a long-distance retired trucker, to the Capitol to publicize his voice about weapons, COVID Restrictions and police brutality.

“I’m here to protest 3 important points, but the total system, from the most sensible to the bottom,” said Lemp, who subsidized Trump in 2016 but replaced his brain after the president opposed so-called humpback actions, an undeniable mechanism for making pistols Fire faster.

“I think we want to open this economy,” Iovino said near the steel fence installed around the perimeter of the 143-year-old Capitol, which he was patrolling through the Capitol State Police. Local Hartford Police settled around each of the surrounding area. intersection and in adjacent Bushnell Park, diverting traffic from the Capitol.

Tactical cars with desert camouflage equipment were parked a few blocks away between the Legislative Palace and Governor William A’s armor. O’Neill. Hundreds of state police officers who showed up to paint between 8 a. m. and 9 a. m. remained in reserve in the Legislative Office building, which is separated from the Capitol via a ramp toward Interstate 84. members were sent to Washington before Wednesday’s inauguration.

“Joe Biden has definitely won,” Lemp said near the east front of the circular corridor of the capitol, which has been closed in recent days through other steel barriers. “I think there was fraud. A lot of fraud, but I think he still won. “Trump’s legal team has failed in dozens of electoral lawsuit situations across the country, yet little or no real fraud has been discovered in Biden’s victory.

Iovino, 47 and disabled, said she and several friends were also at the Capitol on Saturday, when they spent some cars in a Make America Great Again procession waving Trump’s flag.

“I suppose you might have known he was coming,” Iovino joked when asked about the lack of reaction to a social media call to protest Biden’s victory. “We’re here because we actually thought there was something that said there too. “Just be 2,000 Trump supporters here, and we’re here to make a very transparent opposition to fascism.

With a home-made anti-MAGA poster, Iovino said that, without opposition, a Trump rally can simply change the nation’s political discourse to the right, “which is not favorable to anyone unless it’s for the richest 1%. So we’re here as anti-phasists. ” If someone had opposed Hitler at first, things wouldn’t have turned out the way they did. We don’t need this country to go further and further to the right, otherwise we will end up with some other confederation and some other Nazi Germany. “

The State Capitol itself is a monument of the Civil War. On a large stone pedestal on Capitol Avenue, opposite the 1878 building, is an artillery piece that used to bomb the city of Petersburg, Virginia, in 1864 and 1865. The war was the site of the action of Connecticut’s black troops in the past due in June 1864.

Around 12:30 p. m. , when it became clear that the crowd would not come, Brian Foley, assistant commissioner of public coverage and emergencies at the State Department, told reporters that high-level security procedures had helped.

“Part of the plan-making was definitely transparency,” Foley said at an impromptu press convention on the garage of the legislative workplace building. “I don’t think you can prepare too much for this kind of situation. I’d be here next Friday, tell you that we’ve been too prepared, to say we haven’t been prepared properly. “

Trump and his social media fans’ bans have also helped, he said. “Certainly, the police have lost some of their intelligence,” Foley said. “Only one arm, one big arm, but they have other tactics to do so. There is a totally different aspect of the Internet to look at and many more things are happening ».

Connecticut police won a lot of advice, he said.

“We didn’t need to oppose it and we didn’t need to fight and we didn’t need to fight anyone,” Foley said. “And we don’t need to arrest anyone. So, if the day ends and the week ends peacefully, congratulations back to the state of Connecticut on the way they’ve treated everything. Hopefully, Connecticut will be a leader in peace. “

Twitter kdixon@ctpost. com: @KenDixonCT