Los Angeles merchants board up storefronts as authorities prepare for possible unrest on Election Day

LOS ANGELES (AP / KTLA) – Boarded-up storefronts. Private security guards. Canceled vacation days. Twelve-hour shifts. Across California, merchants are covering their doors and windows with plywood as police agencies promise a beefed-up presence on the street amid worries about the potential for demonstrations and violent responses to the general election. Both are preparing for the long haul, anticipating that it might be days or weeks of anxiety before a victor is declared in the presidential race.

The famed Rodeo Drive of Beverly Hills will be closed to cars and pedestrians beginning Monday night. Businesses like the Mikimoto jewelry store, Nordstrom, Tiffany and Saks Fifth Avenue have been boarded up — some painted over so the wood isn’t so conspicuous — and the city has contracted with 80 armed security guards. Similar scenes are playing out nationwide . In downtown Washington, the sounds of hammers and power tools echoed through the streets Monday as workers boarded up dozens of businesses.

In New York City, businesses from Macy’s flagship store in Herald Square to high-end shops in Manhattan’s chic SoHo neighborhood had already covered their windows. In cities like Los Angeles, it could be another round of unrest. Celebrations after […]

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