SCRANTON, Pa. — The inauguration of Joe Biden is just five days away.
Under normal circumstances, busloads of supporters from Biden's childhood hometown of Scranton would be heading to Washington D.C. to witness history.
However, these are far from normal circumstances.
With coronavirus and civil unrest, people have been specifically told not to come to the Capitol on Inauguration Day.
That's even affecting business back in the Electric City.
Samantha Maloney of Scranton wishes she could be at the National Mall to watch it all in person. Instead, she organized a virtual inaugural celebration on Facebook.
"We just wanted to celebrate in a responsible fashion, so we tried to do a lot of things virtually, and pull people together," Maloney said.
In light of news that violent protests may pop up in cities across the country, Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti chose to shut down City Hall on Inauguration Day and the day before.
"We saw that the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. We decided it would be best to just follow their lead and do the same here in Scranton," Mayor Cognetti said.
City Hall employees will work remotely during that time. Mayor Cognetti stresses the closure is a precautionary move but one she feels is necessary.
"To see 20,000 national guard troops in Washington D.C. occupying the capitol, it's unnerving. It is frightening and we just need to do everything we can to think about each other," Mayor Cognetti said.
Scranton police said they have not heard of any threat or violent protests yet but they will continue to monitor the situation.
If you have any information officers should know, you can contact them by phone or online.
Scranton Emergent number: 911
Scranton Dispatch Non-Emergent number: 570-348-4141
Leave a tip on their tipline: https://new.tipsubmit.com/en/create-report/anonymous/scrantonpa.gov or notify any uniformed Police Officer.