Republican Donald J. Trump will be sworn in Friday as the 45th president of the United States. One expert says the Inauguration ceremony is a tradition steeped in political history and serves as an important symbol of democracy-in-action.

According to assistant professor of political science at Kansas State University, Nathaniel Birkhead, the inauguration is a period of peaceful transition of power between an outgoing administration and an incoming administration.

“The idea is that there is a consistency there and we still believe in the system, and the system is upheld,” Birkhead said. “Even when one person loses, they don’t use the system to downplay the other side, and that’s a really important part.”

The Inauguration ceremony also provides an opportunity for the incoming President to set the tone for how they’ll lead the country. Another tradition that’s less associated with Inauguration Day is the act of protesting. Presidents Franklin Pierce, Woodrow Wilson, George W. Bush and Barack Obama faced protests on Inauguration Day. Birkhead says that protesting is an important part of American politics.

“Tea party protesters were influential and had a huge impact on American electoral politics going forward, and they were not suppressed,” he said.

“And so it will be interesting to see, as long as the protesters are doing so peacefully, to see that they are allowed their space to have their say.”

Trump will recite the oath of office at noon Eastern – 11 a.m. Central time – Friday. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath using president Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration Bible, as well as the Bible Trump’s mother gave him at his Sunday school graduation in 1955. Afterward, Trump will deliver his inaugural address.

For a complete listing of inaugural events, and the official inaugural program, click here.

The Kansas Department of Corrections will have a hand, in the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump Friday. Or more accurately, a hoof.

Wild mustangs trained at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility that are now used by military and border patrol groups will march in the ceremonial inauguration parade in Washington D.C. Friday.

Two or three of a group of Fort Riley soldiers who will participate in the parade will be riding mustangs trained at HCF. The fort’s 1st Infantry Division Commanding General’s Mounted Color Guard is taking 13 horses in total for the parade. The commander leading the color guard will be riding one of the mustangs trained in the KDOC program.

In the same parade, eight mustangs trained at HCF will be ridden by U.S. Border Patrol agents of the Rio Grand Valley Sector. These horses are used in patrolling the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

The horses trained at the Hutchinson facility are wild mustangs captured on government land by the Bureau of Land Management. The KDOC wild horse and burro program, which operates under the auspices of Kansas Correctional Industries (KCI), employs offenders at HCF to provide initial training to the animals. The offenders at HCF help to make the wild horses useful for organizations and individuals who adopt them.

“It’s a great honor and very exciting to see horses that were trained here in our program participating in such a historic and important event, said Dexter Hedrick, KCI Horse Program Manager. “The offenders who work with the horses are taking great pride in knowing that they contributed to something so meaningful.”

Nearly all the horses used in the Rio Grand Valley Sector come from the HCF program. A representative of HCF said that over the years more than 60 horses patrolling the border from Brownsville, Texas. to San Diego, Calif. were trained at Hutchinson.

The Presidential Inauguration Parade, which follows the swearing in of each new president, is a procession of ceremonial military regiments, citizens’ groups, marching bands, and floats. The parade up Washington D.C.’s Pennsylvania Avenue will be televised. The new president leads the parade as it travels from the U.S. Capitol to the White House, where he then reviews the rest of the parade as it passes. The parade lasts about two hours.

Three men from Mexico appeared in federal court in Topeka Thursday on charges of smuggling liquid methamphetamine into Kansas City, Kan., in the gas tank of a semi-trailer truck.

U.S. Attorney for Tom Beall said the defendants are alleged to have smuggled more than 1,000 pounds of liquid methamphetamine.

Heraclio Estrella-Montero, 30, Yoan Alejandro Castillo-Zamora, 30, and Fernando Chavez-Rodriquez, 40, all of Mexico, are charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

According to court papers, the men were arrested in Kansas City, Kan., about 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13, after pumping the liquid methamphetamine from the truck into five-gallon buckets.

If convicted they face a penalty of not less than 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $10 million.

Investigators include the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Kansas City DEA Special Response Team, and the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Hough is prosecuting.