A man rides his bicycle in Carson City on Jan. 17, 2021. The city was heavily patrolled by law enforcement in anticipation of violent protests from supporters of President Donald Trump.
Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021 | 2 a.m.
A few customers are eating breakfast at Comma Coffee on this early morning. There’s light conversation, just not enough to drown out the cappuccino machine that can distinctly be heard sizzling away.
Another day in the Nevada capital is getting started.
It’s a scene Comma Coffee owner June Joplin hopes is duplicated without incident today, when Joe Biden is sworn in as the nation’s 46th president. Law enforcement in state capitals and other possible targets nationwide has been on high alert the past few days in anticipation of chaos at the hands of extremist supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump.
There’s yet to be any protests or violence in Carson City, which since Sunday has seen heavy police activity — officers stationed on the roof of the Legislature, metal barriers protecting the building and law enforcement visible in all corners of downtown. It will remain that way today.
On Sunday, when protests were planned for all 50 statehouses nationwide, not one Trump protester showed up here. Only one person in an otherwise empty street was a counterprotester holding a sign that read, “Trump lost! Be adults. Go home!”
“Since nothing happened on Sunday, I feel really good, like there’s nothing going to happen,” said Joplin, whose coffee house is a Carson City staple and feet away from the capitol complex.
Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong on Friday contacted business owners like Joplin to update them on what, if anything, to prepare for in case chaos erupted like it did on Jan. 6, when Trump supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol in a siege that killed five people.
The FBI announced last week that armed protests were being planned in all 50 states, but later in the week said there were no credible threats in Nevada. On social media, some Trump backers had urged other supporters to stand down.
A previous demonstration in Carson City on the same day rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol did not result in any violence, and the city had been quiet in the days leading up to today’s inauguration.
“As we do in the normal course of business, we are gathering information to identify any potential threats and are immediately sharing that information with our partners,” the FBI office in Las Vegas said in a release last week.
It was business as usual this week for businesses near the statehouse.
Customers ate, drank and strolled around. The only visible hint of precaution was the metal barriers that dotted the parking spots in front of the government complex. Teenagers rode their skateboards, cyclists pedaled and capitol police patrolled in normal numbers.
Since Sunday, The Fox Brewpub across the street from the capitol complex opened its patio daily, but only after management has become sure a protest hasn’t broken out, said general manager Melody Demuth, expressing caution about today.
“We don’t open until 11, so we usually know by then, just if there’s a crowd out there or not, so we’ll just play it by ear,” she said. “Customers and employees are our No.1 priority to keep safe, so we won’t do anything that puts that in jeopardy.”
The large visible police presence seen Sunday had diminished by Monday and Tuesday due to the absence of protesters.
“Sometimes they show up, sometimes they don’t,” Furlong said about protesters, who have been regulars in Carson City since April to show their displeasure with, among other things, Gov. Steve Sisolak’s statewide business shutdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, “the operation is continuing,” Furlong said about law enforcement being on standby and ready to respond to any disturbances.
Joplin said she had bought equipment with which to lock the coffee house down early in 2020 as businesses began to close due to the pandemic. It was still on hand.
“But you know, I’ve got brackets on my door, and I have a board to stick through there, and I’ve got plywood on the back to board up windows,” Joplin said.
She said she planned to open today as usual. “If it gets bad, we lock up and go home, because I’m not going to lose any lives over that.”
Joplin, who said she had $500 to her name and a dream when she embarked on opening Comma Coffee 20 years ago, says she’s become used to seeing protesters at the capitol complex.
Despite some protesters being agitated, the demonstrations have mostly been peaceful. Businesses haven’t been damaged, and some of protesters have even brought Joplin business, she said, noting that she’s apolitical.
A hectic 2020 prepared Joplin to be ready for the “next shoe to drop,” and although she is ready, she trusts Nevadans will behave.
“It’s good to see that the citizens of Carson City are behaving right,” she said.
