Tag: Trump insurrectionists raided the Capitol

‘We got to hold this door’

Washington Post logo

How battered D.C. police made a stand against the Capitol mob

Blinded by smoke and choking on gas and bear spray, stripped of his radio and badge, D.C. police officer Michael Fanone and his battered colleagues fought to push back rioters trying to force their way into an entrance to the U.S. Capitol.

The officers had been at it for hours, unaware that others in the mob had already breached the building through different entrances. For them, the West Terrace doors — which open into a tunnel-like hallway allowing access to an area under the Rotunda — represented the last stand before the Capitol fell.

“Dig in!” Fanone yelled, his voice cracking, as he and others were being struck with their own clubs and shields, ripped from their hands by rioters. “We got to get these doors shut.” Continue reading.

Veterans, ex-spies in Congress prominent in fraught week on Capitol Hill

Veterans, ex-spies in Congress prominent in fraught week on Capitol Hill

A bipartisan group of young lawmakers with military or intelligence backgrounds has been in the forefront of the congressional response to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and the cadre played a central role since then in the second impeachment of President Donald Trump. 

The group, which draws mostly from the Armed Services Committee, protected their fellow lawmakers during the attack. They also used military expertise to detect what they said were unnamed lawmakers who had possibly helped rioters plan their attack the day before.

They spoke of their oath to protect and defend the Constitution, in the military and in Congress alike, as they implored their colleagues to impeach Trump for his role in instigating the mob. Continue reading.

‘I saw my life flash before my eyes’: An oral history of the Capitol attack

The Hill logo

A week after an unruly mob incited by President Trump laid siege to the U.S. Capitol, broken glass panes are under repair, the debris has been swept away and new security fences intended to thwart another insurrection have been erected.

Inside the Capitol, nerves are shot, tensions are high and questions are swirling over systemic failures that allowed thousands of rioters, some of whom were armed, to get into what was supposed to be one of the most well-guarded buildings in America.

Investigations are ongoing. A nationwide hunt for the rioters and looters who stormed the building has resulted in dozens of arrests. The top security officials on Capitol Hill have resigned in the wake of their performance, just days before a presidential inauguration will once again put the seat of democracy in the spotlight. And members, their staff and the Capitol community are only beginning to come to grips with the ordeals they endured. Continue reading.

Manhunt Intensifies as Authorities Warn Some Rioters May Face Sedition Charges

New York Times logo

Evidence emerged that top officials, including at the F.B.I., had warnings about violence before the riot at the Capitol.

WASHINGTON — Federal law enforcement officials vowed on Tuesday to accelerate a nationwide manhunt for hundreds of people who committed serious crimes during last week’s assault on the Capitol, even as new evidence surfaced that the F.B.I., police and White House were warned of potential violence that day.

Michael R. Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney in Washington, called the investigation into the attack on the Capitol “unmatched” in scope and said it had already resulted in more than 170 cases involving 100,000 digital tips. He pledged that prosecutors could file charges of seditious conspiracy, murder and other serious felonies in the weeks ahead.

“The Capitol grounds outside and inside are essentially a crime scene,” Mr. Sherwin said during a news conference in Washington, adding that “we have literally thousands of potential witnesses” around the country. Continue reading.

Trump was ‘pleased’ by Capitol siege — until aides warned he has ‘legal exposure’: NYT reporter

AlterNet logo

The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman has been reporting extensively on the January 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol Building and President Donald Trump’s response to it. Haberman discussed her reporting during a January 12 appearance on CNN’s “New Day,” telling hosts Alisyn Camerota and John Berman that Trump was initially “pleased” with what we he saw on television.

The Times reporter told Camerota and Berman that Trump “was engaging with aides while this was all going on. They were interrupting, telling him that he had to do something. And they were interrupting, telling him the Capitol was being overrun by his supporters. He was well aware of it, he was watching it. He was pleased because it was people fighting on his behalf. He was pleased because he liked the scene, he was pleased because it was delaying the certification of the electoral college vote….. He just didn’t want to do anything.”

View the post here.

House Minority Leader McCarthy exploded at Trump for claiming ‘antifa’ was to blame for Capitol riot: report

AlterNet logo

While Americans all over the United States watched in horror as angry Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, President Donald Trump reportedly continues to place blame elsewhere. And when the president claimed antifa was to blame for the deadly rioted he, himself, incited, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) pushed back on Trump’s claim, Axios report. Now, details are emerging about the Republican lawmaker’s heated call with the president.

According to Axios, McCarthy spoke with Trump on Monday, Jan. 12, where he reportedly stood his ground and reminded the president that the 2020 election is “over.”

During the 30-minute call, Trump allegedly deflected and peddled conspiracy theories about the election and what transpired at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. As Trump continued his claims of widespread voter fraud, McCarthy is said to have grown “exasperated” with the president. Continue reading.

Third House Democrat tests positive for COVID-19 after Capitol riots

The Hill logo

Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) said Tuesday he tested positive for COVID-19 after a pro-Trump mob forced a lockdown at the Capitol last week, making him the third Democrat to contract the virus since the deadly riots.

Schneider said he was in close contact with several Republican lawmakers who refused to wear masks during the siege.

“After narrowly escaping a violent mob incited by the president of the United States to attack the Capitol and its occupants, I was forced to spend several hours in a secure but confined location with dozens of other members of Congress,” Schneider said in a statement. Continue reading.

House impeaches Trump for second time — with some GOP support

The Hill logo

House lawmakers on Wednesday impeached President Trump for his role in last week’s deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, capping an extraordinary week of violence, apprehension and partisan brawling in Congress just as Washington cranks up security in preparation for Joe Biden’s inauguration, just a week away.

The vote was historic: It made Trump the first president in the country’s history to be impeached twice.

And unlike the first debate, this time the president’s Democratic critics had support across the aisle. At least 10 Republicans joined every voting Democrat to approve the single impeachment article, which accuses Trump of inciting violence against the same federal government he leads. Continue reading.

After hiding with maskless Republicans, Rep. Jayapal feared she would catch the coronavirus. Now she’s tested positive.

Washington Post logo

After a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol last week, forcing Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) to take shelter in a crowded committee room, she began preparing for the worst.

Many of the GOP members of Congress hiding out with her were not wearing masks, she said, and had refused to accept them from a colleague. So, soon after Congress affirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory later that night, she began to quarantine, fearing she could have contracted the coronavirus.

Her prediction turned to be right. Late Monday night, Jayapal announced that she had tested positive, making her the second Democratic representative to do so this week, after New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman. Continue reading.

Susan Collins accidentally makes a revealing admission about her first thought during the Capitol siege

AlterNet logo

In a new piece for the local paper Bangor Daily News detailing her experience in the Jan. 6 attack on Congress, Republican Sen. Susan Collins made a revealing admission on Monday about her first thoughts during the siege.

The lawmaker from Maine, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said:

My first thought was that the Iranians had followed through on their threat to strike the Capitol, but a police officer took over the podium and explained that violent demonstrators had breached the entire perimeter of the Capitol and were inside. Several of us pointed out that the doors to the press gallery were unlocked right above us. That tells you how overwhelmed and unprepared the Capitol Police were, although many, many of them were very courageous. [emphasis added]

Continue reading.