A brief roundup of news from today’s unprecedented and grimly historic day in this nation’s capital city.
• Trump began the day by threatening Vice President Mike Pence and Congress with demands that the election be overturned based on false claims of supposed “fraud.” Pence released a statement confirming that he had no unilateral ability to do so.
Impeachment, removal, indictment, prosecution, imprisonment: that should be the order of Donald Trump’s future. The problem is that at the moment Trump has his hand on the nearly unlimited power of the White House, which includes a military he might use to strike at anyone—with or without justification.
It was supposed to be a joint session of Congress for what was supposed to be the fairly perfunctory task of counting the electoral votes as certified by the states. The complication was supposed to be that some House and Senate Republicans were objecting to counting electoral votes from states Donald Trump wishes he hadn’t lost, which was supposed to take two hours of debate per state.
That was bad enough.
WILMINGTON, Del.—What, exactly, is Joe Biden supposed to do with this? What is he supposed to say?Today in Washington, D.C., a mob urged on by President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol. Trump’s decisions led to police tear-gassing protesters in front of the White House in June. His decisions led to the same outcome in the Capitol Rotunda today, and Vice President Mike Pence and Vice President–elect Kamala Harris were rushed away.
Nearly 30 Democratic members of the House have expressed a desire to impeach Donald Trump a second time following his incitement Wednesday of an armed insurrection at the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers attempted to certify the results of the November presidential election.
They are absolutely right. Trump is a direct threat to the sovereign.
The internet is real life.This was the lesson of Pizzagate in 2016, which made clear that conspiracy theorizing on message boards can lead to a man carrying a rifle into a restaurant. This was the lesson of the deadly Charlottesville rally in 2017, which made clear that online hate is a precursor to offline violence.This was the lesson of the Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019, which were carried out by a terrorist who was radicalized on YouTube and live-streamed the attack on Facebook.
She wished her brother Eric Trump a happy birthday as their father’s supporters were rioting inside the U.S. Capitol.
Insurrection Day, 12:40 p.m.: A group of about 80 lumpen Trumpists were gathered outside the Commerce Department, near the White House. They organized themselves in a large circle, and stared at a boombox rigged to a megaphone.
The Ellipse was a deep sea of delusion. Thousands of President Donald Trump’s supporters drove or bused or flew from all corners of the United States to meet here, in the treeless space beside the White House, in their quest to overturn the results of the 2020 election with the help of congressional Republicans. “As I live and die, we will never give up until we have a fair-and-square election!” a small child in a rainbow hat yelled into a megaphone.
This afternoon, a mob of pro-Trump extremists stormed the Capitol, where Congress had convened to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. The insurrectionists clashed with police, scaled walls, broke windows, and carried Confederate and Trump flags throughout the Capitol’s halls. Members of Congress and their staffers sheltered in place before being evacuated from the building.
“We’re in! We’re in! We’re in! We’re in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!” the Republican state legislator screams.
Trump supporters invaded legislative offices in the U.S. Capitol, including the ones belonging to the top Democrat in Congress.
The president eventually ordered the National Guard to the scene, and D.C. was put under curfew for Wednesday night.
Moncef Slaoui will take on a reduced role advising the incoming administration.
In Kenosha, Wisconsin, District Attorney Michael Graveley has announced that no charges will be filed against the white police officer who fired seven shots at Jacob Blake, paralyzing the 29-year-old Black man in August. Officer Rusten Sheskey fired the shots at point-blank range into Blake’s back as he leaned into his car, with his three children, aged 3, 5 and 8, inside the vehicle. Prosecutors maintain the shooting was in self-defense because Blake had a small knife in the car.
Thousands who refuse to accept President Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden are protesting in Washington, D.C., as Congress meets to count the Electoral College votes and certify the results. Mayor Muriel Bowser has called in the National Guard ahead of the protests, after anti-democracy protesters clashed with police near Black Lives Matter Plaza. Police arrested six people on charges that include bringing illegal guns to the city.
Democrats appear on the brink of taking control of the U.S. Senate after Reverend Raphael Warnock won a special election over Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, while Democrat Jon Ossoff has a slim lead in his runoff against Republican Senator David Perdue. If Ossoff wins his race, the Senate will be split 50-50, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote, giving Democrats more power to pass President-elect Joe Biden’s legislative agenda.
Parenting advice on nag prevention, autism abuse, and sibling sadness.
Cities splintered in the pandemic, but only some Americans got to enjoy a hyperlocal utopia.
If he’s willing to do a coup, he’s probably willing to do this.
Boosted unemployment insurance? Check. A continued eviction moratorium? Check. Checks? Check. But there’s still much more that we need.
Federal officials have said the U.S. will need to vaccinate roughly 80 percent of the population to achieve herd immunity against the coronavirus.
Jerome Adams was responding to a presidential tweet saying the numbers are phony.
The 20 millionth case comes less than two months after the country tallied its 10 millionth.
A government shutdown was averted after the president approved the Covid relief package and annual spending bill.
The president has thrown the fate of the bill into jeopardy.
Congress curbed the central bank’s emergency lending despite the economy’s continuing struggles.
Biden added that the appointees have “broad viewpoints on how to build a stronger and more inclusive middle class.
