Capitol Police officers are stationed on the grounds outside the building but there is no fence. Dan Nichols joined Livingood in the videoconference. X-ray or other screening only takes place inside the doors, which, Abrecht pointed out, means a weapon or other evidence of a threat ordinarily cannot be detected until it is already in the building. Spurred by the 1998 shooting and the bombings of the Murrah Building, the World Trade Center, and U.S. embassies in East Africa, security at the Capitol was upgraded. Not all symbols are planned by great men or carved in stone or serve as emblems of government power.
People make their own symbols, too, in response to triumphant or tragic moments.
Anthropologist Wilton S. Dillon, emeritus senior scholar at the Smithsonian Institution, reminded CIAG's participants that the creation of symbols is an ancient human need. For decades at the Smithsonian I have been organizing commemorations. These are ways in which we have developed in our country and around the world for transmitting our civilization to new generations. What we remember and what should we remember as we sort through and select out the lessons for our time. Makeshift shrines of flowers, candles and placards emerge spontaneously.