Airbnb Says It Will Block, Cancel Reservations in DC for Inauguration Week

One week after a rally in support of President Donald Trump turned into a violent siege of the United States Capitol building that left six people dead, rental company Airbnb announced that it will block or cancel any reservations made on its platform during the week of the presidential inauguration.

“Today, in response to various local, state and federal officials asking people not to travel to Washington, D.C., we are announcing that Airbnb will cancel reservations in the Washington, D.C. metro area during the Inauguration week,” the company said in a statement on its website Wednesday. “Additionally, we will prevent any new reservations in the Washington, D.C. area from being booked during that time by blocking such reservations.”

The company said it will fully refund guests for canceled reservations, and will reimburse hosts any money they would have earned at the company’s expense.

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The cancellations would also affect anyone looking to come to D.C. for a reason outside of the Inauguration.

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“We are continuing our work to ensure hate group members are not part of the Airbnb community,” Airbnb wrote Wednesday. “As we’ve learned through media or law enforcement sources the names of individuals confirmed to have been responsible for the violent criminal activity at the United States Capitol on January 6, we’ve investigated whether the named individuals have an account on Airbnb. Through this work, we have identified numerous individuals who are either associated with known hate groups or otherwise involved in the criminal activity at the Capitol Building, and they have been banned from Airbnb’s platform.”

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