Trump Mob Storms Capitol
The predictable, indeed inevitable, has happened.
After months setting up his supporters to view anything but a Trump win as a theft of the election, and weeks claiming the election was stolen and trying to stop the votes from being counted, mob violence has broken out in the nation’s capital. They have literally stormed the barricades and broken into the Capitol building, forcing the evacuation of the Vice President and Members of Congress.
There are credible reports of shots fired inside the capitol and an injured individual being carried out on a stretcher.
After giving yet another deranged speech, denouncing everyone from his own Vice President, his own partisans in Congress, and his own Supreme Court appointees, and tweeting out this sort of nonsense
He finally sent this out far, far too late (3:13pm Eastern):
WaPo (“U.S. Capitol on lockdown as protesters breach building; one person shot inside; D.C. mayor imposes curfew“):
A person was shot inside the U.S. Capitol after a mob breached the building, according to two people with knowledge of the incident.
The circumstances were not immediately clear. One of those people said the person shot was receiving emergency care.
Shortly before 3 p.m., an ambulance pulled up to the southeast corner of the Capitol on Independence Avenue. A team of paramedics with a gurney rushed to the south side of the building, where a Capitol Police officer stepped aside to let them pass.
“White female, shot in the shoulder,” the officer said as they hurried past.
Minutes later they emerged. On the gurney was a woman in jeans, gazing vacantly to one side, her torso and face covered in blood.
As the gurney was loaded into the back of the ambulance, pro-Trump protesters swarmed around it, screaming “Murderers!” Capitol Police officers with long guns and in riot gear pushed them back, and the ambulance drove off.
NYT (“Pence and Lawmakers Evacuate as Protesters Storm Capitol, Halting Count of Electoral Votes“):
Protesters loyal to President Trump stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, halting Congress’s counting of the electoral votes to confirm President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory as the police evacuated lawmakers from the building.
Around 2:15 p.m., as the House and Senate debated a move by a faction of Republicans to overturn the election results, the proceedings ground to a halt as security rushed Vice President Mike Pence out of the Senate chamber and the Capitol building was placed on lockdown, with senators and members of the House locked inside their respective chambers. Shortly afterward, the police escorted senators and members of House from the building to others nearby, as the protesters swarmed the hallways just steps from where lawmakers were meeting, carrying pro-Trump paraphernalia.
The extraordinary day in Washington laid bare deep divisions both between the two parties and within Republican ranks, when the ceremonial counting of electoral votes that unfolds every four years in Congress was transformed into an explosive spectacle, with Mr. Trump stoking the unrest.
“This is what you’ve gotten, guys,” Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, yelled as the mayhem unfolded in the Senate chamber, apparently addressing his colleagues who were leading the charge to press Mr. Trump’s false claims of a stolen election.
I am, sadly, not even particularly surprised by any of this.
President-elect Biden gave a terrific speech condemning the mob and calling it an insurrection and assault on democracy.
Trump followed up by doubling down on claims the election was stolen but calling on people to be nice.
Disgraceful.
I’m going to stop updating this post but will likely have further thoughts tomorrow.
Vladimir Putin is breaking out the champagne and caviar.
At capitol the spacing of the police was ~10′ and at Lafayette Park this summer the authorities were shoulder to shoulder. One group threatened violence and the other was peaceful. I wonder why the disparity in treatment? Oh Yeah.
Since this is going to be the main thread on this disaster, let me just repeat what I wrote on the other thread:
Since I wrote that, I am astonished that these people are not being cleared out with any vigor. That is disturbing.
I am also somewhat irritated that TV people keep going on about how unprepared the Capitol Police were as if it is their fault.
Well Republicans? Are you fucking happy now?!
You were warned and warned and warned. A malignant narcissist has been ruining this country for years and fostering madness in our populace. Now we have a coup to overthrow our democracy by the same people you coddled and fed their delusions. Now there’s blood on the streets and broken windows in our legislature because you let this whiny demented baby keep tantruming instead of *doing* something. This is on you for not having a spine and stopping this at any point.
We TOLD you it was a cult. We TOLD you the Loser was trying to run a coup to appease his ego. Well, now the Land of the Free is on every screen in the world with a banana-republic coup in the works. I hope it was worth it – this may have cost you national power for a generation. You are absolutely tainted by the blood this will spill. You sold everything for a loser who will cheerful toss you to the mob to make himself feel better.
Republican Mob Storms Capitol
Fixed it for you James
I just watched some CNN clips and they called it a coup attempt. I think this qualifies as a coup attempt, right?
Repost from the Electoral Count Open Thread, but since you created a thread for the Coup attempt in D.C. I thought this post belongs here:
I just realized…why is no one questioning why Twitter is still allowing Trump to use their platform to incite a coup? I know in the past folks said that Twitter is not really anti-Trump using their platform and that putting up the messages about potential Trump tweets being incorrect is as far as they would go to box Trump in on social media because they love the potential $$$ he makes the company, but after today Twitter may come rue the moment in time that they had to completely close Trump’s twitter accounts (his real Trump one, not the one assigned to whomever occupies the White House).
Twitter will act shocked when Biden’s admin comes crashing down on them like a ton of bricks but Trump’s words today on twitter are a bell that cannot be un-rung and they have to know they screwed up and hyper scrutiny of their company and others in Silicon Valley are going to come at them fast and furious. Twitter has no one to blame but themselves when the incoming admin crawls up their rear ends and makes life unhappy for them.
ETA: I bet some folks today had flashbacks to the scenes of American’s fleeing foreign embassies in a panic as violence swirled around the folks being evacuated, I know…not the same thing but still, something you might expect to see in the movies not on CNN/Fox News…today is redefining how insane some Americans have become over the past few years.
Trump’s been requested by his aides to ask/beg the rioters to cool it, but he can’t be disturbed because he’s watching television.
What an evil creature he is.
Also, this is the goddamn magnum opus of white privilege and conservative entitlement.
Where’s the tear gas protests got early this year? Where the riot-gear cops shooting people in the head with bean bags or worse? They’ve invaded the damn Capital but are aimless wandering around freely without a care that the Law’s going to hurt them. This is a coup and they’re on live camera just strolling around like it’s date night and taking selfies.
God knows how much national security has been compromised by these nut breaking into the building and getting access to info abandoning in a rush. Somebody just repelled down to take a selfie in the Senate Leader’s seat – what else was there because they were in session? But hey! White Real ‘Muricans decided to riot so nothing’s happening to them and they’ll likely never be held accountable for their actions.
There are dozens and dozens of photos of these armed insurrectionists inside Members’ offices, including Nancy Pelosi’s, sitting at desks and rifling through paperwork.
That they are not being more, um, firmly handled is a *national security threat.* Pelosi, as speaker, has access to all kinds of information that is not for public viewing.
This entire fiasco is breathtakingly bad. Frighteningly so.
@inhumans99: I think Twitter rightly deserves to catch a lot of flak for failing to administer their terms of service equally on all.
AND, I really hope this doesn’t result in a gutting of section 230, as some on the left have called for, since that would make the people with money and lawyers that much more powerful.
Were it not for the fact that it would inflame the situation and fuel conspiracy theories, once the police have secured the building and ensured everyone is safe, they should visit the offices of certain GOP lawmakers and arrest them for sedition.
@inhumans99:
Twitter should #BanTrumpNOW, right now.
@Jen: It’s bad enough for simple private citizens, but are we sure there isn’t anyone on a foreign payroll sitting in Nancy Pelosi’s office, making off with some choice documents, or pulling data off the computers? I mean, what an opportunity this would be for someone!
They’ll never face charges, trump will pardon them and call them heros.
This was not “inevitable”. That is a cop out for the kid gloves that right wing agitators have been handled with for…well…ever.
We saw this summer tear gas cannons, acoustic cannons, “non lethal” rounds, and simple batons used on much larger groups of people to clear them out for much less. This is disgusting and needs to be put down with extreme prejudice.
Nothing wrong with this mob that tear gas, rubber bullets, and police dogs can’t fix. They wanted violence, now they should get it.
@Jay L Gischer:
The event seems too spontaneous and unplanned for that.
Hindsight is 20/20 sometimes. Honestly, who expected this? I’d expected violence between Trump and anti-Trump protesters, perhaps, or between Trump cultists and police. I did not expect storming the Capitol.
Notice the difference in police behavior.
During BLM, it was rubber bullets, tear gas, and rooting out peaceful protests.
Here, yahoos have BROKEN into the Capitol Building, and not one rubber bullet has been fired. not one tear gas cannister has been fired. And no one arrested yet, from what I can tell.
Sick.
Biden sounded very presidential. And angry and disgusted in Trump. He’s the right man for the time.
What a shitty time of course.
@Kathy:
I actually did. The Trumpists have been telling us this for weeks. Louie Gohmert basically gave them permission.
Wow, this is shocking on so many levels. Clearly inadequate security, but more important are the effects of the bullshit spewed by Trump and his enablers which incited a mob into action.
When Congress reconvenes they ought to impeach and remove him.
The silver lining in this is the political blowback from this extreme action is going to damage Trumpism going forward.
@Kathy: if you looked at teve’s parler watch twitter links, this has been planned for weeks.
Right or wrong, I’m thinking that the police were not expecting this, and were not prepared or equipped for it. However, by tonight, they will be prepared and equipped. I’m guessing the push will come soon after the 6pm curfew.
BUT HER EMAILS!!!!
@Kathy: Did you think that armed mobs storming the Michigan state capitol was a one-off? Or were you just hoping/assuming that this would somehow be better and different?
I expected them to try to storm the Capitol. I wasn’t expecting them to succeed…
Wait, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and Kevin McCarthy didn’t wait around to greet their people? Why wouldn’t they want to stay in chambers to engage their constituents concerning their legitimate concerns with the irregularities in this election?
@SC_Birdflyte:
Nah, while I’ll admit I’d giggle hysterically if they were used on these insurrectionists, that’s not what’ll happen. Tear gas, rubber bullets, police dogs (& water cannons/lethal rounds, et al) are reserved for liberals, young people, people of color, and others who are not white/privileged. While I’m hoping to see police take them into custody, it won’t happen. Not today, not tomorrow, not after 1/20/20.
I’d make an argument that in 1968-9, they would have been met with lethal force, and survivors would have been detained in federal custody to await charges/trial for insurrection, and elected officials who had been stumping for this would have been detained for sedition in the same cells/camps. But again, ain’t gonna happen.
@Gustopher:
No, I didn’t. But this isn’t an armed mob that stormed the Capitol, rather a mob with some armed people in it. I’m guessing people who usually carry guns for some reason. We don’t see long guns in any of the photos or footage, not yet.
It seems a spontaneous reaction to Trump’s rant. And I don’t think Trump knew what exactly he’s say in his tantrum. They go tin because the Capitol police and other law enforcement agencies weren’t expecting it.
Whether they should have expected it is a different matter.
@EddieInCA:
and from what I’ve seen in the Twittiverse, Dumpster actually instructed protesters to march on the Capitol. Vile, contemptuous, and cowardly to the end (and those are his good points).
The death rattle is often violent. But that’s what this is.
The silver linings: this will knock the smug right out of Republicans in Congress. This is the end of the debate of whether we should investigate and prosecute Trump.
Unfortunately I don’t imagine that Ted Cruz can be prosecuted but he and Hawley and Lindsey Graham are also culpable.
And Trump has released a statement where he continues to claim the election was stolen bu evil people. And also says the angry mob should go home, but he loves them.
@Andy:
One would hope this would be the case, but it remains to be seen.
I expect members of the ‘Sedition Caucus’ to be given airtime on cable news channels yet today where they will be given the opportunity to whitewash this mob action and to distance themselves from any culpability for the insurrection they’ve incited.
@Jen:
Let them make complete asses of themselves for a day. Busting heads before that enables a victimhood complex and engenders sympathy…both of which can and have inspired terrorism. Most of these people truly believe what the POTUS says.
One thing seems clear from shortly before the breach: both Pence and McConnell have now openly broken with Trump.
There is now way back for them against the MAGA mob.
Pence may just try to fade away, but McConnell surely should be aware by now that to salvage anything of his project he needs to destroy Trump, and as swiftly as possible.
@Gustopher:
I can’t stand to look at him, even before today.
But, did he say “nudge,nudge. wink, wink,” or did he nudge and wink?
@Andy:
I hope so.
Not holding out hope for the tape deck though.
Or the Creedence.
@Gustopher:
I saw that. It’ll just inflame them more. And he knows it.
Joe Biden “It’s not a protest, it’s an insurrection,”
@Jay L Gischer:
Anectdote:
I have a friend in DC politics (pretty high up) who just told me that the DC Mayor has requested the National Guard, but that the DOD has refused to allow them to be deployed. The National Guard in DC is controlled by the Federal Government. I did not know this. Trump’s cronies are not allowing National Guard to be deployed. They mayor is asking Police from other jurisdictions to help out, since they don’t have DOD support for the National Guard. I sure to hell hope this isn’t true.
@Kathy:
He was laughing. He’s loving this.
@EddieInCA:
Can the mayor of DC request the assistance of National Guard of other states?
@Kathy: There was a smirk.
He is inciting an insurrection, and he knows it, and he knows we know it, and he should just be arrested.
@Gustopher:
He’s trying his old, weary “implausible deniability” act again.
Continual thing with him:
“That’s what I’m hearing…”
“A lot of people are saying…”
“I wouldn’t know…”
“Let’s see what happens…”
Gutless weaselly SOB.
@EddieInCA:
Law enforcement jurisdiction in DC is complicated. There’s at least the Secret Service, the Capitol Police, the US Park Police, the Federal Protective Service, the DC Police, and the National Guard. AIUI, there are cases where who can do what varies block by block, or from one side of the street to the other.
Only on the level of how easy it is to infiltrate and trash the Capitol building…it’s not shocking at all that these particular people are doing this and the particular reasons why they are doing this…it’s also not shocking who and what these people support nor is it shocking that the level of pushback from law enforcement dwarfs what was done to BLM protestors earlier this year…not shocking at all…
@Thomm: Parlerwatch is illuminating.
Lotta Trumpers right now saying today’s violence was carried out by ANTIFA pretending to be Trumpers.
@EddieInCA:
My brother was a Maryland Deputy Sheriff, he was always on standby for Inauguration Day and other major DC events. He actually served as security for Obama’s Inauguration and received a special version of his badge for that duty.
Something is beginning to prey on my mind.
Does anyone know exactly how the National Guard chain of command runs in DC?
Have there been recent changes in the operational side of that chain?
Are there any reports of DOJ &/or DHS formations as seen during the BLM protest being in or near DC?
Until Biden’s electoral votes are certified I’m going to be very concerned that inner circle of the Trump-bunker might be contemplating something off-the-scale insane.
@flat earth luddite:
@JohnSF:
You’re right, John. I left that off my earlier list of his good features. Don’t know how I could have forgotten. Thanks for catching that.
We should all be thankful and look on the bright side. At least the protesters didn’t take a knee during the national anthem.
(Seen on Twitter)
Hey…it looks like folks are finally calling the race for Jon Ossoff, some good news amongst the crazy news today. Tomorrow is not going to be a fun day for McConnell as people will finally start to ask how the hell did McConnell let the situation slip from his control. What happened today will not be forgotten when 2022 rolls around and the smarter members of the GOP know this.
If you were to make tater tots right now, they would be … Coup Day Tots.
Again, I say, for the folks in the back rows:
THE SILENCE OF THE REPUBLICAN-LEANING OTB READERS ON EVERY ASPECT OF THIS ONGOING MESS IS DEAFENING!
@Gustopher: Officially now on the menu, as I needed something to smile about, and that pun is pretty darn good.
Latest update on CNN c. 15 min ago indicates the worst may be over:
(Also looks like police are re-securing the exterior entry points)
Well, the local Stop the Steal rally I mentioned the other day where I predicted it would be 6 people and a dog turned out to be 7 people and no dog. So I was pretty close.
Also, if anyone else wants to argue that it’s bad leftist politics to impeach President Trump again, please go screw yourself.
This is going to be an ongoing discussion for several days but let’s pause for a moment and salute the Senate floor staff who kept their heads and grabbed the wooden chests containing the actual Electoral votes and took them along when they evacuated the chamber. No doubt the mob would have burned them if they’d got their filthy hands on them.
A picture that is shocking.
An insurrectionist parading the confederate battle flag through the halls of the United States Capitol.
What Jefferson Davis and Robert Lee failed to achieve, Donald Trump has.
Guess what?
I doubt anything will happen to these people. In the next few days, a contrary narrative will begin about how this is equivalent to BLM marches, Portland occupations, etc. How it is really the fault of the police for not being better prepared. That these were good people peaceably protesting, etc. It is inevitable pushback. Talking heads will talk and pontificate.
CNN is being somewhat over the top but give them the benefit of the doubt since it is an immediate reaction. But that over reaction will be used against them.
All this has happened before, and all this will happen again – Battlestar Galactica
@EddieInCA: I mean, who really knows in the moment, but the NY Times is reporting this:
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/washington-dc-protests It’s well down the page here.
They lost the Senate. They are blaming Trump for it. They had to shelter in place and evacuate in the middle of their august proceedings. The Republicans in Congress are out of patience for this stuff, I think. This is their breaking point.
Mike Pence: “Peaceful protest is the right of every American but this attack on our Capitol will not be tolerated and those involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Kevin McCarthy: “This is un-American what’s going on, and it has to stop.”
@Scott:
No, this will not be forgotten anytime soon. If anything, CNN is understating things, this was a straight up attempt by Trump’s supporters to use brute force to overturn an election. Seriously, this both sides are guilty of the same behavior as Trump’s protestor’s exhibited today bullshit is not going to fly.
Pro Trump folks crossed a line today, rang a bell, took their shot, and all it did was reveal to the entire world how insane some folks are in America. CNN reports that many protestors really think they can make Trump a 2 term President and as CNN says if they really believe that they are indeed living in their own alternate reality.
McConnell, and folks like Rand Paul have to realize they let pro-Trump folks get too far over their skis. This will have consequences that the GOP has yet to experience. When the President Elect goes on national television and demands that our current President put down an insurrection that he encouraged…yeah, this is not going to simply blow over in a day or two.
@Scott:
Over at Lucianne.com, they’ve been saying all afternoon that the government coddles BLM and Antifa, and that the D.C. rioters are peacefully protesting because they can’t make their voices heard any other way.
I feel we were saved only by the incompetence of leader and followers. If any of them had been smarter, we would already live in a post-democracy instead of a nearly-dead democracy.
Pictures from this summer show a law enforcement presence on those steps five deep in combat gear when there had not been weeks if planning any action on the capitol building itself. Today we saw a token line of officers in regular uniforms. “Inevitable” my numb ass. This is the result of DECADES of hate and disinformation spewed by right wing and republican media and politicians. Limbaugh and his ilk normalized such things (feminazis…so funny…so still..so worthy of a medal of freedom cuz he made me laugh in college amirite?). National security could very well have been breached in some of these offices and yet, we still see a weak response from different agencies. We are supposed to care about “court packing” and these chuds feelings about the filibuster? We are supposed to seat mo brooks after egging this on? The only outreach that should be made is to people like romney to maybe switch parties to solidify a block against the seditious piles of garbage. The GOP had an envious history leaders (lincoln, grant, roosevelt, eisenhower) and to see that legacy get tossed thanks to a propaganda machine and a carnival barker is nauseating.
There’s certainly plenty of video and photographic evidence of the perpetrators….even if the current DOJ refuses to charge them, surely in two weeks the new AG can charge them properly? It’s driving me insane that they’re just letting them walk out of there.
This “well, it might be ANTIFA doing this, not Trump supporters” is going to go right out the window. First, we’ve got many clear pictures of the faces of those who participated (good grief, some of the Getty Images are something else), and the Capitol has a fair amount of cameras in it. My guess is that the FBI won’t have to work too hard to facial ID through drivers’ license matches. They should know who 70-80% of these clowns are by midnight tonight.
They can’t afford to let this slide and I think that Pelosi has a say in this as her office was one that was breached. I’m not sure McConnell will let it go either.
Richard Haas:
Check out the Getty images website. Look at the photos of Representatives cowering on the floor, behind chairs and desks, during the afternoon. Look at the photo of the armed security guards holding rioters who’ve smashed through the Senate Chamber door at bay behind a bench. Politicians have been personally affected by this in a way they never were by BLM protests.
They’re going to want someone’s blood for this, and Cruz and Hawley better watch their backs. At the very least they can be expelled from the Senate. And Trump may finally be realizing he went too far; this kind of thing doesn’t impress the business world.
And of course they were able to rifle though not only physical documents in offices, but also emails and other electronic communications.
Link didn’t take. Here:
http://www.shorenewsnetwork.com/2021/01/06/d-c-protesters-storm-nancy-pelosis-congressional-offices-staffers-laptop-shows-email-of-pending-revolution/
@Not the IT Dept.:
Cruz and Hawley’s presidential ambitions, just circled the drain. Cotton is likely sitting someplace, swirling a tumbler of bourbon and smirking to himself.
WaPo is reporting the woman shot at the capital has died.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/01/06/dc-protests-trump-rally-live-updates/
@Jay L Gischer: Worse than that — some of them are probably in on it. There are videos of Capitol police opening the gates let the insurrectionists in, and taking selfies with them.
CNN just read a statement by George Bush that had the word insurrection in the title…a strong word used by a Republican ex-President. This is a huge deal, a BFD if you will. The knives are going to start coming out for certain members of the GOP in the coming days/weeks.
Screw setting a bad precedent, Trump needs to be show on tv being perp-walked to a cop car in cuffs and they need to force a mask on his sorry ass.
What happened today is so beyond the pale, so…ahistorical, that there need to be consequences for actions. Granted, this is some CNN talking heads bringing this up…but I heard the words 25th amendment mentioned again. McConnell needs to stop dicking around and kick Trump out of the White House, better late than never.
I’m embarrassed and angry.
I’m a veteran of the US Army, I spent 6 years on active duty defending this country from all enemies foreign and domestic, 9 months of that was spent in a war zone. If I would have been told that the confederate flag would be paraded though the capitol building, I would have responded over my dead body.
I’m angry.
@Monala: I did wonder about that.
If GOP senators and representatives decline to object to the votes now, the far right will settle on the idea that these weren’t Peaceful American Patriots, but rather false flag BLM/Antifa operatives conspiring to interrupt valid objections to Biden’s vote theft.
@Loviatar: I saw that parading of the Traitor Flag. I don’t support unnecessary gun violence. But if some LEO had emptied a magazine into that guy, that would have been wrong, and charges would be appropriate, but I’d Understand.
El Cheeto walked back the halfhearted, hypocritical walk back in record time, and is now adding fuel to the fire.
The world needs him to be locked up.
It’s hard to process what I’m looking at. Hard to imagine just how low we’ve sunk in only four years. In 2016, Obama warmly welcomed Trump to the White House after a contentious election and gave him every bit of support that was expected of him. But now? A president encouraging this insurrection by spreading lies in person and over social media. A Republican party completely unwilling to put country over party. Goons storming the capitol with DC cops posing for selfies with them.
I’m pretty upset about this. We had team meeting over Zoom today and one of my colleagues nearly broke down while explaining her late father used to work for the State Dept. and she’s glad he isn’t here to see this. Fuck DJT, the right-wing media, his brain-dead followers, and his apologists in the GOP for forcing this scumbag on the rest of us. If the people had the ultimate say back in 2016 this never would have come to pass. The dems need to spend now until forever reminding the American people that Trump was a product of the GOP. They should never, ever, be able remove that anchor from around their neck.
I just heard that my rep, McMorris-Rodgers, will be dropping her objection when the EC vote continues. Hopefully this will shame the rest…
@Monala: White and/or Christian Supremacist presence in the military and law enforcement is a fact.
Speaker Pelosi says certification of the EC votes will proceed tonight.
Good for her.
Back in the 2000 electoral kerfuffle, my brother was going on and on about how unseemly it all was, “like in a banana republic.” I told him at least it had all been settled peacefully, if not fairly, in the courts by lawyers, not in the streets by thugs.
I saw him today at work and he asked me whether I recalled that conversation. I sure did.
“Banana Republic? He asked. I nodded.
@Kathy: maybe cuz Twitter, after wringing their hands, actually deleted it.
Just came across very odd report on twitter :
Mike Hanna @mjahanna
? What the heck is going on?
@JohnSF: Pence read a biography of Alexander Haig and got frisky?
@CSK:
That defense would have made a lot more sense if well known Trump supporters were not live streaming the entire thing and giving thier names for the lulz.
@Not the IT Dept.:
Indeed. Kudos to the staff for saving the ballots and whatever they could. We’re already seeing images of national security violations being plastered everywhere (pictures of Pelosi’s emails and papers on Twitter, god knows what else) so for them to be able to preserve what matters deserves praise. Barbarians literally busting through the door and they got their own Dolley Madison moment.
Also, totally agree Congresscritters are going to demand recompense for this. These are folks who aren’t used to living in fear and are rather pampered in their reality. Even the Repubs that thought they had control of the mob learned differently today – the cult cares only for their Orange Lord. It might be behind the scenes or manifest in other ways but they *will* get revenge. Trump’s chances of not being prosecuted for anything just went waaaayyyy down today…..
@Paine: I am waiting to hear our (Colorado’s) new QAnon Representative Boebert say that this is why she should be allowed to carry her loaded Glock on the House floor. Not today, maybe, but soon.
Looks like Twitter deleted Trump’s most recent two tweets, one of them being the video message he made asking his followers to leave peacefully while once again telling them the election was stolen. They really need to shut down his account.
You can’t make this shit up…. Seriously.
https://www.rawstory.com/texas-ag-promotes-conspiracy-capitol/
The Texas AG is blaming Antifa for today’s violence.
Antifa will soon eclipse Soros as the boogeyman for every issue conservatives don’t like.
@Paine:
Maybe they can, when he’s no longer in office. He’ll just be Donald Trump, Private Citizen at that point, subject to the same terms of use as everyone.
He’s never actually used the official POTUS account, although someone on his staff tweets there on his behalf.
Statement by Mitt Romney:
@Michael Cain:
But she can’t use this insurrection today as an example. She sides with the insurrectionists. Why would she want to protect herself from them?
Jamie Dupree @jamiedupree – Further on reports of orders for deployment of National Guard not coming from Trump, quoting Acting SecDef:
@JohnSF: Looking more and more like 25th Amendment time.
More on the National Guard and also FBI deployments at the N Y Times
@JohnSF:
I agree with the Times that the reason Trump didn’t give the order is that he didn’t want to alienate his fans.
Law enforcement taking selfies with these “people”. Barriers withdrawn on live TV. This is what happens when we quibble over if what is happening is a coup or some other more esoteric, but possibly more fitting term rather than fighting with a full voice. This is what happens when we diminish violent and paranoid ravings (maybe I’m calling myself out here a bit) as “just partisanship”. This is the result of downplaying movements like q-anon. This is the result of downplaying years of reports that militia and right wing based violence is our greatest domestic threat and only acting when they get so outlandish (a plot to kidnap, and summarily execute a sitting governor) that it becomes impossible to ignore because it hurts real ‘murikan’s feelings.
We have been seriously weakened at home and abroad thanks to all the coddling and waffling over the years.
@Jay L Gischer: Yeah. Unfortunately, both Pence and McCarthy are people who have been known to distort the truth when it suited their needs. I’ll believe them when the court dates are announced.
Man, look at all these idiots willing to commit armed felonies for Trump and lose their guns AND voting rights….the no-fly list applies to fat white guys, too, right? Actions should have consequences.
@Thomm:
I haven’t seen reports of selfies of the traitors with the police. Can you provide a link?
Thanks.
As for terminology, this being trump and his cult, the proper term is Putsch.
Twitter has suspended Trump’s account for 12 hours for “severe violations.” Any further violations will result in permanent suspension.
@Kathy: no prob:
https://au.news.yahoo.com/police-selfies-protesters-amid-break-220300321.html
And yes…you are right on that
And I saw the barricades get pulled away on an nbc live news feed at about 11 mst. Six officers confront about 4 chuds and pull back with the barricades (if you can call them that. Looked like mobile bike racks) on the side steps.
I went to the University of Michigan. After the 2016 election, they set up some sort of grievance counseling for those distraught about the election. It was, of course, mocked by the nutty Ted Nugent and Kid Rock crowd around here. Those pussies couldn’t even handle losing an election, right?
Personally, I think crying is a more reasonable response than violent attacks attempting to subvert the election. But that’s just me.
@SC_Birdflyte:
I have to confess that this is yet further proof why you don’t want someone like me in charge. I’ve seen prison riots handled with a firmer hand. Live ammo, use the firehoses to clean the chamber after. Survivors charged with assault against officers, sentences stacked.
In this case, any survivors charged with sedition.
@Thomm:
Thank you.
Yes, that deserves an inquiry and harsh discipline.
BTW, one good reason to impeach Trump right now is to deprive him the chance to pardon himself. I said he wasn’t done committing crimes, and he shows no signs of stopping any time soon.
As I understand, impeachment can also proceed once he’s out of office, for the purpose of barring him from further political office. So this should get done even if he resigns (I don’t think he will, even if McConnell informs him all Republican Senators plan to vote for conviction).
And, right on schedule, Laura Ingraham is saying that Antifa are the real culprits who stormed the Capitol.
These people keep trying to rework old material.
@Jen:
Antifa should sue them all for libel.
@Jen:
That’s the new Trumpkin mantra: Antifa did it! Apparently they wore their MAGA caps backward and dressed in black so they could identify one another.
@Loviatar: By the time Saigon fell I had been back from Viet Nam and out of the service for quite a few years. But there was a media stand-up that showed the ARVN fleeing Da Nang and it happened to be a screen showing the barracks that I’d actually lived in. Suddenly my anti-war convictions wavered; that was the place I’d slept and taken shits and played tricks on my good buddies. Suddenly, I was ready to fight. (Or actually — there was a part of me that was ready….)
That’s how I felt watching that brigade of deplorable assholes parade their Trump and Treason flags while invading my damn gov’t.
Is it just me or was Mitt Romney wanting to rip Josh Hawley’s head off while he was weaseling about Pennsylvania?
According to my wife, the DC National Guard can be deployed on multiple authorities, one of which is the President, but the Vice President and the Senate Majority Leader (or maybe it’s the president pro tem of the Senate?) are others. That makes a fair bit of sense.
@owen: I’d like to be a fly on the wall listening to Ted Cruz get his ass chewed by his donors and “leadership”, as well.
There’s a reckoning coming.
@Sleeping Dog:
Not to lay all of the blame at her feet, but the mayor was apparently rather adamant that there would not be the same sort of police presence for this event, so as not to give too much of an oppressive vibe. The biggest problem, by far, was the utter lack of communication and planning between the Capitol police and everyone else. After all, if any building was going to have a problem, it was going to be that one.
By the time the CP had been overwhelmed and called for help, the insurrectionists were already in the building. It went downhill from there.
And it’s been made clear to many of us that Trump did not call for the entire DC Guard. Pence made the call. Pence authorized it.
@HarvardLaw92:
.
That is a lie.
.
DC mayor calls in National Guard ahead of pro-Trump protests
@flat earth luddite: Just so. I have been a volunteer in our state prisons for two decades, and I’ve seen how riots are put down. I was suggesting a minimum-force solution. My wife, who hates guns, wanted to see some of the mob shot.
@Loviatar:
Take caution in your tone. She activated a small contingent of the DC Guard, unarmed. What they were supposed to do – what sort of control value they’d offer in the event of a riot – is something you’ll have to ask her.
That she sent a letter to basically everybody making it explicitly clear that the city was not requesting and did not want federal law enforcement assistance is beyond dispute. Again, you’ll have to ask her about her reasons.
@HarvardLaw92:
What authority does the mayor of DC have over security of the Capitol, the ellipsis or the rest of the Mall?
@HarvardLaw92: disingenuous. Here is a quote direct from your article: “”To be clear, the District of Columbia is not requesting other federal law enforcement personnel and discourages any additional deployment without immediate notification to, and consultation with, MPD if such plans are underway,’ she said in the letter.”. My takeaway from that is she would prefer not to have the feds assist, but if they need to do so, then they need to notify and coordinate with MPD. I see no outright rejection in that statement. I dunno…I may not have one of them fancy JD’s and am only a lowly car salesman, but the wording is pretty plain there.
@Steve V:
That’s a split question. The Capitol Police have exclusive jurisdiction over the Capitol building and grounds themself, along with the Library of Congress building & grounds, and concurrent jurisdiction (by agreement) along with the Park Police and the MPD over around a 200 block or so area surrounding them. So the answer to your question becomes: it depends on where you happen to be standing.
@Thomm:
I am not saying that Bowser bears primary responsibility for this fiasco. That has to lie squarely with the primary enforcement body responsible for the building – i.e. the Capitol Police. That having been said, it became their problem when, and only when, these people left the street and stepped on to the Capitol grounds. Until that happened, these people were on her turf, where her officers have primary jurisdiction, so as I said above, it becomes a split problem.
The CP were clearly not prepared, clearly had no cogent plan in place with respect to how to react if/when the building and its occupants were placed under threat, and badly dropped the ball in executing what flawed response it did manage to pull off. They bear primary responsibility, and heads are already rolling as a result. Sund is resigning, the House Sergeant-At-Arms is already gone, and the Senate S-a-A has already been put on notice by Schumer that he’ll be tossed out of the building as soon as Schumer assumes the leadership chair if he hasn’t already resigned.
That having been said,responsibility for managing these people until such time as they stepped foot onto the Capitol grounds, and arguably preventing them from doing so in the first place, falls onto the MPD, and by association Bowser. Only a fool would say “nah, we got this, don’t need your help” in response to what they clearly already expected to be faced with. That makes her a fool, and one who needs to answer for her foolishness along with all the other heads that are on the chopping block. She doesn’t get a pass.
Update to the above: McConnell has already tossed the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms out of the door and saved Schumer the trouble.