In the runup to President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration next week, the U.S. Post Office will temporarily remove several mailboxes from around San Francisco as a security precaution.
The Post Office is removing 12 boxes around Civic Center Plaza and the San Francisco Hall of Justice in anticipation of possible civic unrest in the days surrounding the inauguration event in Washington, D.C.
Since the violent insurrectionist pro-Trump riot that overtook the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, there has been a lot of Internet chatter about possible right-wing violence in state capitols around the country and the Post Office is removing the boxes as part of its standard security measures for large gatherings.
"There's been a lot of traffic regarding civil unrest, mostly in the capitol, in Sacramento, for instance, but other cities like San Francisco have been put on the alert, as well," said Post Office spokesman Augustine Ruiz.
Ruiz said he didn't know of any specific event or threat to public safety in San Francisco, a sentiment echoed by the San Francisco Sheriff's Office and the city's FBI Field Office.
Mailboxes are routinely removed along the routes of marathons, presidential visits and Super Bowl parties, for example, as a precaution against people possibly placing explosives inside to harm large gatherings of people.
In addition to the mailbox removal, which will last about a week, the Post Office in Fox Plaza Station at 1390 Market St. will operate with reduced hours on Jan. 16.
