In 2009 we visited Washington DC and stopped by the Capitol building. I set up my tripod and took this shot, and then was approached by a Capitol Police Officer, like the one you can see on the right side of this photo. The officer told me that tripods were not allowed on the Capitol grounds without a special permit.
I asked if I could take one more shot since I had it setup already. He slightly lifted his gun and said "you'll take it down and leave the area NOW".
This was just a regular day in DC with nothing in particular going on and I was behind a barrier a good way away from the building. And yet it seems like the Capitol Police were taking their job more seriously that day than they did on January 6, 2021.
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