Airbnb Cancels DC Area Reservations For Inauguration Week

WASHINGTON, DC — Airbnb has canceled reservations in the DC metropolitan area during inauguration week and activists called on area hotels to do the same amid potential violence around the Jan. 20 inauguration.

Airbnb said in a statement the cancellation decision resulted from local, state and federal officials urging people not to travel to Washington, DC during inauguration week. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan released a joint statement urging residents not to travel to the event in person on Jan. 20. The leaders cited the Jan. 6 mob at the Capitol and the coronavirus in making their request. Airbnb said in the statement it was also aware of "reports emerging yesterday afternoon regarding armed militias and known hate groups that are attempting to travel and disrupt the Inauguration."

In addition, the FBI issued an internal bulletin warning armed protests are being planned at all 50 state capitols, as well as courthouses and administration buildings, between Jan. 16 and 20, and at the nation's capitol from Jan. 17 through Inauguration Day, the Associated Press reported. A gun rights protest is planned in Richmond on Jan. 18, according to VPM.

Airbnb said guests with canceled reservations will receive a full refund. It will also reimburse hosts at the company's expense for earnings they would have received through the reservations. HotelTonight reservations are also canceled.

Activist groups that urged DC area hotels to cancel reservations for white supremacist groups around the Jan. 6 pro-Trump rally made the same call for inauguration week reservations. ShutDownDC and Black Lives Matter DC called on DC hotels to close completely from Jan. 15 to 21 and provide full pay for hotel workers during the closures.

"COVID-19 is one imminent threat to the safety of DC in the next 10 days but white nationalist violence is even more immediate," the groups said in a statement. "White nationalists are planning to rally in DC on January 17 and we need to take urgent action to prevent a repeat of the violence we saw on January 6."

The activists are focusing their efforts on seven DC hotels that hosted Trump supporters last week: Hyatt Place K Street, Grand Hyatt, Hilton Garden Inn 14th St NW, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Capital Hilton, The Line Hotel, Marriott Metro Center and The Hay Adams. Supporters were urged to call additional hotels in DC and Arlington. Before Airbnb's decision, ShutDownDC had 500 activists contact 3,480 Airbnb hosts in the DC region, and hundreds of hosts agreed to take down their listings for inauguration week.

Airbnb said it received names of individuals involved in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and investigated whether they had Airbnb accounts. The company identified several individuals involved with hate groups or the Jan. 6 riot and banned them from the Airbnb platform.