A series of online posts are using a years-old photo to raise questions about the purpose of a temporary structure outside of the White House.
“NO ONE IN THE MEDIA HAS EXPLAIN WHY THIS WAS BUILT AT THE WHITE HOUSE,” reads one post with more than 1.9 million views on X (formerly Twitter). “Gallows in front of the White House?” asks another with more than 320,000 views.
The posts are the latest in a pattern of conspiracy theories that claim that gallows were constructed at the White House in late 2020 and early 2021. Some followers of the QAnon movement believed that gallows were constructed prior to Biden’s 2021 inauguration so that tribunals could be carried out by the Trump administration. Some of this week’s posts appear to be referencing this earlier conspiracy theory, but others incorrectly imply that the structure is new and currently at the White House.
The photos actually depict a temporary structure used during presidential inaugurations. The structure doesn’t currently stand at the White House, but it likely will return in January 2025.
In recent decades, several temporary viewing stands have been built close to the White House every four years for use during inaugural parades. One stand, designed for the president, is located in front of the White House on the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue. A second stand, used by the media, is constructed on the opposite side of Pennsylvania Avenue in Lafayette Square. The back side of this three-story media stand is what is pictured in most of the conspiratorial posts. A third structure hosts the mayor of D.C. and is positioned one block east of the White House in front of the John Wilson Building. The architecture firm McKissack & McKissack has designed the stands for the past three inaugurations.
Many of the posts use a photograph of the media stand from the 2021 inauguration, but another frequently shared image depicts structures built more than three decades ago. In the aerial image of the White House grounds, vehicles can be seen driving along Pennsylvania Avenue in between Lafayette Square and the White House, a stretch of road that has been closed to public traffic since May 1995.
Photographer Carl Hansen captured the image in 1993 during preparations for Bill Clinton’s first inauguration.
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