Buildings boarded up in Oakland as authorities prepare for possible election protests

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Several buildings were boarded up in Downtown Oakland Monday night on the eve of Election Day as businesses geared up for possible protests.

While large-scale demonstrations weren't seen in Oakland in 2020 after former President Donald Trump lost, they were seen in the city in the days after Trump won in 2016.

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During the 2016 protests, garbage cans were set on fire, windows were broken and several businesses suffered damage.

The FBI has been active across the country closely watching all threats as we go into Election Day.

The San Francisco FBI office will also be setting up a command post to cover the region.

"We bring in our partners so that we can address information, intelligence and threats that come in and we can disseminate that information to the key partners, which is state and local officials around the United States," said a representative.

The Oakland Police Department, whose main building as of late Monday night was surrounded by barricades, said in a statement, "We are providing extra staffing to facilitate people's rights to peaceful gatherings and to address any crime-related incidents."

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At least 245 National Guard personnel across 18 states and Washington, D.C. have been activated or are on standby. Those include Washington, Oregon, and Nevada, but not California.

A massive fence surrounds a Downtown Oakland building that we came across. Those inside tell ABC7 News it was put up around lunchtime Monday. One employee told us her coworkers have concerns about going to work in Oakland on Tuesday.

All of these actions though, just precautions based on what played out in past years.