Tag: Trump incited his supporters to insurrection

QAnon reshaped Trump’s party and radicalized believers. The Capitol siege may just be the start.

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The online conspiracy theory, which depicts Trump as a messianic warrior battling ‘deep state’ Satanists, has helped fuel a real-world militant extremism that could haunt the Biden era

The siege on the U.S. Capitol played out as a QAnon fantasy made real: The faithful rose up in their thousands, summoned to Washington by their leader, President Trump. They seized the people’s house as politicians cowered under desks. Hordes wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the “Q” symbol and toting Trump flags closed in to deliver justice, armed with zip-tie handcuffs and rope and guns.

The “#Storm” envisioned on far-right message boards had arrived. And two women who had died in the rampage — both QAnon devotees — had become what some were calling the first martyrs of the cause.

The siege ended with police retaking the Capitol and Trump being rebuked and losing his Twitter account. But the failed insurrection illustrated how the paranoid conspiracy theory QAnon has radicalized Americans, reshaped the Republican Party and gained a forceful grip on right-wing belief. Continue reading.

Here are the House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump

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Ten GOP House members joined Democrats in voting to impeach President Trump on Wednesday for inciting a riot at the Capitol last week. 

It marks the first time in the country’s history that a president has been impeached twice in one term.

It’s also the most bipartisan impeachment vote in the nation’s history. Continue reading.

Airbnb to cancel all D.C. reservations during inauguration week as security in the city is tightened

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Airbnb said it will cancel and block all reservations in the Washington metro area in the coming days as efforts to secure the capital were ratcheted higher ahead of right-wing protests this weekend and the presidential swearing-in on Jan. 20.

The mass cancellation came as regional leaders announced that a number of Metro stations would be closed for a week to discourage visitors from going into downtown Washington. Airbnb also discovered and banned accounts for many people involved in hate groups and last week’s Capitol siege, the company said in its announcement Wednesday.

D.C. officials announced that the number of National Guard troops flooding the capital would be increased from as many as 15,000 to more than 20,000 as a special security zone went into effect around the White House, the Mall, the Capitol and other key parts of downtown. The security zone will be maintained through Inauguration Day. People entering the perimeter may be subject to security screening and may have to provide proof of their reason for visiting. Continue reading.

Prosecutors building sedition, conspiracy charges against some Capitol rioters

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The Department of Justice is working to build sedition and conspiracy charges against some of the rioters who stormed the Capitol last week, the top federal prosecutor for Washington, D.C., said Tuesday.

Michael Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney for D.C., said in a press conference that he has assembled a team of national security attorneys to explore some of the harshest charges his office could pursue in the wake of the riot that overran the Capitol and left five people dead Wednesday.

“Just yesterday, our office organized a strike force of very senior national security prosecutors and public corruption prosecutors,” Sherwin told reporters. “Their only marching orders from me are to build seditious and conspiracy charges related to the most heinous acts that occurred in the Capitol.” Continue reading.

After US Capitol assault, a different cybersecurity threat emerges

Among so many things that are horrific about last week’s deadly attack on the Capitol building was the fact that it was planned for weeks. In the open. With that in mind, we are left wondering about the cybersecurity questions raised in the aftermath.

When Engadget asked a physical cybersecurity penetration tester what he’d do if assigned to “pentest” the Capitol building during the riot, the response wasn’t comforting. His excitement was palpable. “Oooh, so many cool attacks you could do,” he said, and began listing equipment he’d bring.

But hold on a second: before getting to the attacks, we need to have some real talk about who would do such a thing. It’s a question we’re all asking about many aspects of this unbelievably painful moment. Continue reading.

Violent threats targeting Minnesota leaders on the rise

It’s a trend that started long before last week’s storming of the U.S. Capitol cheered on by a crowd in St. Paul. 

Violent threats against Minnesota’s political leaders are growing in frequency and intensity, a trend that started long before last week’s storming of the U.S. Capitol cheered on by a crowd in St. Paul.

The rise came as lawmakers grappled with responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer last summer. In the backdrop were a pandemic and officials administering an election shrouded by unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud.

“Those of us who have been doing nothing but trying to protect people from COVID’s spread and conduct fair elections, having to put up with this level of threat is just ridiculous to me,” said Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose role includes enforcing the state’s COVID-19 restrictions. Continue reading.

Rep. Dean Phillips (CD3): Choosing Truth, Not Sides

Hi,

My oath to the Constitution, and the resounding feedback I’ve received from Minnesotans like you, was on my mind today as I voted to impeach President Trump for his role in inciting violence against a co-equal branch of our government – a solemn but necessary end to a horrifying week.  

Before I headed to the floor to cast my vote, I connected with members of the Minnesota press about the attack against our democracy, the unifying power of truth and accountability, and the ongoing threats still facing Congress. I invite you to watch our discussion here:

Sedition is divisive, insurrection is divisive, accountability is unifying

Continue reading “Rep. Dean Phillips (CD3): Choosing Truth, Not Sides”

Here are the Republicans who will vote to impeach Trump

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Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) on Wednesday became the sixth Republican lawmaker to publicly announce their support for impeaching President Trump — a day after GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) became the highest-ranking House Republican to say they would do so.

Why it matters: House Democrats introduced an article of impeachment that accuses Trump of inciting insurrection against the U.S. government, after a mob of his supporters breached the U.S. Capitol. The House will vote Wednesday on impeachment. 

Here are the Republicans who have said they will vote for impeachment: Continue reading.

ICYMI: In Congress, MN Republicans Stand by Trump as Others in the GOP Turn on the President


At least 5 Republican Representatives to Vote for Impeachment, Over a Dozen Senators Open to Conviction

St. Paul, MN – While Representatives Hagedorn, Emmer, Fischbach, and Stauber refuse to hold Donald Trump accountable for attempting to overturn a free and fair presidential election by inciting a violent insurrection attempt against the United States of America, other Republicans in Congress are putting their country before their party.

At least five Republican Representatives plan to vote for impeachment, including Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives. In addition, more than a dozen Senate Republicans, including Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, are considering voting to convict President Trump following his impeachment. Here’s what they said, in part:

Continue reading “ICYMI: In Congress, MN Republicans Stand by Trump as Others in the GOP Turn on the President”

A ‘Stop the Steal’ organizer, now banned by Twitter, said three GOP lawmakers helped plan his D.C. rally

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Weeks before a mob of President Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, right-wing activist Ali Alexander told his followers he was planning something big for Jan. 6.

Alexander, who organized the “Stop the Steal” movement, said he hatched the plan — coinciding with Congress’s vote to certify the electoral college votes — alongside three GOP lawmakers: Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Mo Brooks (Ala.) and Paul A. Gosar (Ariz.), all hard-line Trump supporters.

“We four schemed up of putting maximum pressure on Congress while they were voting,” Alexander said in a since-deleted video on Periscope highlighted by the Project on Government Oversight, an investigative nonprofit. The plan, he said, was to “change the hearts and the minds of Republicans who were in that body, hearing our loud roar from outside.” Continue reading.