Post by the Scribe on Jan 6, 2021 23:33:55 GMT
Yahoo News
Trump supporters storm Congress, halting electoral vote certification debate
www.yahoo.com/news/trump-supporters-storm-congress-halting-electoral-vote-certification-debate-200312508.html
David Knowles and Hunter Walker
Wed, January 6, 2021, 1:03 PM MST
WASHINGTON — A violent, armed mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol Building Wednesday, entering the House and Senate chambers and forcing legislators and staff to take shelter. The astonishing turn of events came an hour after President Trump exhorted a Washington rally to protest the congressional certification of the Electoral College vote, a process that would seal President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
www.yahoo.com/news/live-congress-counts-electoral-votes-georgia-senate-runoffs-trump-pence-134705945.html
The unprecedented violent protest brought a halt to the debate on the futile attempt by some Republican lawmakers to decertify the results from a number of states.
After attending a “Stop the Steal” rally, thousands of people surrounded the Capitol building, bounded up the steps and set up barricades using a ladder. Standing on top of an entrance, one man looked down and said, “This is epic. We’re taking the Capitol back.”
Protesters overpowered Capitol Police and stormed the building.
"The president invited us here and we're not leaving,” another protester shouted.
Multiple shots were fired and CNN reported that a female protester was killed after being shot in the chest. Capitol Police also reported that several officers had been injured in the clashes. Washington chief of police Peter Newsham said that protesters deployed “chemical irritants on police” as they stormed the U.S. Capitol, the Associated Press reported.
Protesters supporting Trump break into the U.S. Capitol. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Vice President Mike Pence, who was presiding over the proceedings in the Senate, was taken to a secure location by the U.S. Secret Service out of fear for his safety.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris were also placed in secure locations. With the Capitol complex in lockdown, Trump issued a belated plea for calm.
Notably, Trump did not instruct his supporters to disperse, and his tweet was met with angry responses from Democrats and some Republicans who said the president’s words had led to the day’s developments.
Minutes later, Pelosi and Schumer issued a joint statement.
“We are calling on President Trump to demand that all protesters leave the U.S. Capitol and Capitol grounds immediately,” the statement read.
With Trump steering clear of television cameras since attending his rally earlier in the day, Biden delivered a stern message.
“I call on this mob to pull back and allow democracy to go forward,” Biden said, adding, “I call on President Trump to go on national television now to fulfill his oath and defend the Constitution and demand an end to this siege.”
Trump supporters take over the steps of the Capitol on Wednesday. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)
By the time the president strengthened his calls for cooperation with the police, his protesters, many of whom were armed and had not passed through a metal detector, had already broken through a police barricade and entered the Capitol’s Statuary Hall. An improvised explosive device was found on the Capitol grounds, NBC News reported, and at least two IED’s were discovered on the 300 and 400 block of Canal St., according to a law enforcement document obtained by Yahoo News.
An improvised explosive device recovered discovered in Washington, DC, on Jan. 6, 2021.
Approximately 1,100 members of the National Guard were activated to help put down what Democrats said was a coup attempt. In a statement to the press, Acting Secretary Miller said he had spoken with Pence, Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Schumer about the plan.
“We have fully activated the D.C. National Guard to assist federal and local law enforcement as they work to peacefully address the situation. We are prepared to provide additional support as necessary and appropriate as requested by local authorities,” Miller said in his statement.
The Department of Homeland Security stood up a virtual situation room to facilitate interagency communication and coordination, a DHS spokesperson told Yahoo News.
With the siege continuing, Trump finally relented, issuing a video from the White House that, while it urged his supporters to leave the Capitol, also seemed to justify their behavior.
twitter.com/i/events/1308626736066617344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1346928882595885058%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.yahoo.com%2Ffinance%2Fnews%2Ftwitter-donald-trump-tweets-warnings-violence-214418443.html
“I know your pain, I know your hurt,” Trump told his supporters. “We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side.
Trump’s remarks were littered with false and unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, and social media companies quickly flagged the video on their platforms as containing disputed information. In fact, it was those same claims that inspired a mob of his supporters to travel to Washington to protest in the first place.
“This was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people,” Trump added.
Ultimately, Facebook decided to remove the video.
Pence, who had been criticized by Trump and his followers for not agreeing to simply overturn the results of the Electoral College vote, issued his own statement as the violence continued.
“The violence and destruction taking place at the US Capitol Must Stop and it Must Stop Now. Anyone involved must respect Law Enforcement officers and immediately leave the building,” Pence tweeted. “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.”
Trump had urged his followers to travel to Washington to attend the rally, and he addressed them at the Washington Ellipse shortly before Congress began the electoral vote count.
A protester inside the Senate chamber after the Capitol was breached. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“We’re going to walk down and I’ll be there with you,” Trump said, adding, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much some of them.”
Instead, Trump returned to the White House while many in the crowd did just as he asked and began laying siege to the Capitol. Several buildings were evacuated as protesters clashed with police.
As the chaos unfolded, instead of issuing a call for calm and urging his supporters to cooperate with Capitol Police, Trump incited protests against Vice President Mike Pence.
twitter.com/i/events/1308626736066617344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1346900434540240897%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.yahoo.com%2Ffinance%2Fnews%2Ftwitter-donald-trump-tweets-warnings-violence-214418443.html
Minutes later, the president issued a second tweet urging the same supporters who he’d whipped up into a frenzy over bogus claims of election fraud to “Stay peaceful!”
As members of Congress took shelter in the basement of the Capitol Building, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a 6 p.m. ET curfew.
Armed protesters stormed the Senate chamber and the offices of several lawmakers, with one climbing the dais and proclaiming, “Trump won that election!”
While some of the Trump supporters inside the Capitol said their intention was to stay there overnight, others began dispersing as darkness fell. One man with a megaphone called out to the mob that the National Guard was coming and that the group "needed to go to CNN and MSNBC instead, because that's where it all started."
At the “Stop the Steal” rally, Trump had gone after the news media with particular vigor, and soon his supporters had attacked a news crew.
Predictably, some of Trump’s backers in Congress blamed the violence on left-wing provocateurs from antifa.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., meanwhile, announced that she was introducing an new set of articles of impeachment against Trump.
Democrats weren’t the only ones lashing out at the president, however.
“Today, the United States Capitol — the world’s greatest symbol of self-government — was ransacked while the leader of the free world cowered behind his keyboard — tweeting against his Vice President for fulfilling the duties of his oath to the Constitution,” Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said in a written statement “Lies have consequences. This violence was the inevitable and ugly outcome of the President’s addiction to constantly stoking division.”
As Sen. Mitt Romey gathered other lawmakers at a secure location, he was equally pointed in who was to blame.
“This is what the president has caused today, this insurrection,” Romney said, according to the New York Times.
At 5:56 p.m., nearly four and a half hours after the insurrection had begun, the Sergeant at Arms announced that the Capitol had been cleared of mob, eliciting cheers from the lawmakers who had remained inside the building.
But the incident itself would have lasting repercussions. For starters, many of the Republicans who said they would protest the certification of the Electoral College vote announced that they had reconsidered in light of the attack on the Capitol.
—Jana Winter and Caitlin Dickson contributed reporting.
Trump supporters storm Congress, halting electoral vote certification debate
www.yahoo.com/news/trump-supporters-storm-congress-halting-electoral-vote-certification-debate-200312508.html
David Knowles and Hunter Walker
Wed, January 6, 2021, 1:03 PM MST
WASHINGTON — A violent, armed mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol Building Wednesday, entering the House and Senate chambers and forcing legislators and staff to take shelter. The astonishing turn of events came an hour after President Trump exhorted a Washington rally to protest the congressional certification of the Electoral College vote, a process that would seal President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
www.yahoo.com/news/live-congress-counts-electoral-votes-georgia-senate-runoffs-trump-pence-134705945.html
The unprecedented violent protest brought a halt to the debate on the futile attempt by some Republican lawmakers to decertify the results from a number of states.
After attending a “Stop the Steal” rally, thousands of people surrounded the Capitol building, bounded up the steps and set up barricades using a ladder. Standing on top of an entrance, one man looked down and said, “This is epic. We’re taking the Capitol back.”
Protesters overpowered Capitol Police and stormed the building.
"The president invited us here and we're not leaving,” another protester shouted.
Multiple shots were fired and CNN reported that a female protester was killed after being shot in the chest. Capitol Police also reported that several officers had been injured in the clashes. Washington chief of police Peter Newsham said that protesters deployed “chemical irritants on police” as they stormed the U.S. Capitol, the Associated Press reported.
Protesters supporting Trump break into the U.S. Capitol. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Vice President Mike Pence, who was presiding over the proceedings in the Senate, was taken to a secure location by the U.S. Secret Service out of fear for his safety.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris were also placed in secure locations. With the Capitol complex in lockdown, Trump issued a belated plea for calm.
Notably, Trump did not instruct his supporters to disperse, and his tweet was met with angry responses from Democrats and some Republicans who said the president’s words had led to the day’s developments.
Minutes later, Pelosi and Schumer issued a joint statement.
“We are calling on President Trump to demand that all protesters leave the U.S. Capitol and Capitol grounds immediately,” the statement read.
With Trump steering clear of television cameras since attending his rally earlier in the day, Biden delivered a stern message.
“I call on this mob to pull back and allow democracy to go forward,” Biden said, adding, “I call on President Trump to go on national television now to fulfill his oath and defend the Constitution and demand an end to this siege.”
Trump supporters take over the steps of the Capitol on Wednesday. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)
By the time the president strengthened his calls for cooperation with the police, his protesters, many of whom were armed and had not passed through a metal detector, had already broken through a police barricade and entered the Capitol’s Statuary Hall. An improvised explosive device was found on the Capitol grounds, NBC News reported, and at least two IED’s were discovered on the 300 and 400 block of Canal St., according to a law enforcement document obtained by Yahoo News.
An improvised explosive device recovered discovered in Washington, DC, on Jan. 6, 2021.
Approximately 1,100 members of the National Guard were activated to help put down what Democrats said was a coup attempt. In a statement to the press, Acting Secretary Miller said he had spoken with Pence, Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Schumer about the plan.
“We have fully activated the D.C. National Guard to assist federal and local law enforcement as they work to peacefully address the situation. We are prepared to provide additional support as necessary and appropriate as requested by local authorities,” Miller said in his statement.
The Department of Homeland Security stood up a virtual situation room to facilitate interagency communication and coordination, a DHS spokesperson told Yahoo News.
With the siege continuing, Trump finally relented, issuing a video from the White House that, while it urged his supporters to leave the Capitol, also seemed to justify their behavior.
twitter.com/i/events/1308626736066617344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1346928882595885058%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.yahoo.com%2Ffinance%2Fnews%2Ftwitter-donald-trump-tweets-warnings-violence-214418443.html
“I know your pain, I know your hurt,” Trump told his supporters. “We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side.
Trump’s remarks were littered with false and unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, and social media companies quickly flagged the video on their platforms as containing disputed information. In fact, it was those same claims that inspired a mob of his supporters to travel to Washington to protest in the first place.
“This was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people,” Trump added.
Ultimately, Facebook decided to remove the video.
Pence, who had been criticized by Trump and his followers for not agreeing to simply overturn the results of the Electoral College vote, issued his own statement as the violence continued.
“The violence and destruction taking place at the US Capitol Must Stop and it Must Stop Now. Anyone involved must respect Law Enforcement officers and immediately leave the building,” Pence tweeted. “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.”
Trump had urged his followers to travel to Washington to attend the rally, and he addressed them at the Washington Ellipse shortly before Congress began the electoral vote count.
A protester inside the Senate chamber after the Capitol was breached. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“We’re going to walk down and I’ll be there with you,” Trump said, adding, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much some of them.”
Instead, Trump returned to the White House while many in the crowd did just as he asked and began laying siege to the Capitol. Several buildings were evacuated as protesters clashed with police.
As the chaos unfolded, instead of issuing a call for calm and urging his supporters to cooperate with Capitol Police, Trump incited protests against Vice President Mike Pence.
twitter.com/i/events/1308626736066617344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1346900434540240897%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.yahoo.com%2Ffinance%2Fnews%2Ftwitter-donald-trump-tweets-warnings-violence-214418443.html
Minutes later, the president issued a second tweet urging the same supporters who he’d whipped up into a frenzy over bogus claims of election fraud to “Stay peaceful!”
As members of Congress took shelter in the basement of the Capitol Building, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a 6 p.m. ET curfew.
Armed protesters stormed the Senate chamber and the offices of several lawmakers, with one climbing the dais and proclaiming, “Trump won that election!”
While some of the Trump supporters inside the Capitol said their intention was to stay there overnight, others began dispersing as darkness fell. One man with a megaphone called out to the mob that the National Guard was coming and that the group "needed to go to CNN and MSNBC instead, because that's where it all started."
At the “Stop the Steal” rally, Trump had gone after the news media with particular vigor, and soon his supporters had attacked a news crew.
Predictably, some of Trump’s backers in Congress blamed the violence on left-wing provocateurs from antifa.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., meanwhile, announced that she was introducing an new set of articles of impeachment against Trump.
Democrats weren’t the only ones lashing out at the president, however.
“Today, the United States Capitol — the world’s greatest symbol of self-government — was ransacked while the leader of the free world cowered behind his keyboard — tweeting against his Vice President for fulfilling the duties of his oath to the Constitution,” Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said in a written statement “Lies have consequences. This violence was the inevitable and ugly outcome of the President’s addiction to constantly stoking division.”
As Sen. Mitt Romey gathered other lawmakers at a secure location, he was equally pointed in who was to blame.
“This is what the president has caused today, this insurrection,” Romney said, according to the New York Times.
At 5:56 p.m., nearly four and a half hours after the insurrection had begun, the Sergeant at Arms announced that the Capitol had been cleared of mob, eliciting cheers from the lawmakers who had remained inside the building.
But the incident itself would have lasting repercussions. For starters, many of the Republicans who said they would protest the certification of the Electoral College vote announced that they had reconsidered in light of the attack on the Capitol.
—Jana Winter and Caitlin Dickson contributed reporting.