An unprecedented number of roadblocks, checkpoints, and deployment of security forces, stopping and searching everyone on the street. It would be a mistake to interpret this as a show of power by the regime; it reveals the power of the population and the weakness of the government.
The sheer expense and interference caused by today’s precautions is unsustainable, while the ability of the population to inflict this level of disruption is endless; if you decide to make it so.
Understood properly, Sisi did not deploy the security forces; you did. You decided where they would be; you decided which locations they would block; you decided which roads would be impassable. You brought the city to a standstill. That is power.