As if the events on Wednesday were not bad enough, there are reports that Trump supporters are planning a nationwide wave of actions on Sunday, January 17th. This was one of reasons that Twitter gave for banning Trump’s personal account.
Twitter said it feared Trump’s most recent tweets were being interpreted as supporting the rioters and that plans for future armed protests had already been proliferating both on and off the platform, including a proposed attack on the U.S. Capitol and state capitol buildings on Jan. 17.
There are also reports of planned protests for Joe Biden’s inauguration day on January 20th. The fact that Mike Pence announced that he will be attending though Trump had said he won’t will not endear the vice president to the mob, since this will further add to their conviction that he has become a traitor to their Dear Leader.
New graphic videos have emerged showing the level of violence during the riot.
Here is one that showed when the security barricades around the Capitol building were first breached.
Here is another where the rioters trapped a security office in a door.
This is what the pro-Trump mob did to American law enforcement officers after the President incited a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol
(warning, graphic video) pic.twitter.com/4RNsZQAYbh
— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) January 9, 2021
A riot participant and self-described activist, John Sullivan, posted lengthy video on YouTube that provides one of the clearest views of the siege. The rioters cheer each other on as they break windows at the front of the Capitol and move excitedly through it, chanting, “Whose house? Our house!” Sullivan can be heard talking about wanting to burn the entire building down.
Sullivan’s footage ends with the graphic death of Ashli Babbitt, the 35-year-old woman shot in the neck as she tried to climb through a barricade leading to the House floor. At the time, some lawmakers were still inside, according to a detailed Bellingcat investigation. The group Babbitt became a part of was angry. Sullivan’s video shows one man repeatedly punching the window until it cracks. A few people appear alarmed by a handgun that appears from around a corner beyond the barricade, but Babbitt begins climbing through a window anyway ― at which point the gun fires at her.
Police officers in riot gear appear almost immediately after Babbitt falls to the floor and attempt to administer first aid while also trying to clear the hallway of people.
These new protests may fizzle out since one expects that security will be heavily beefed up for these events given the security breakdown that took place on Wednesday that has led to some resignations in the heads of the Capitol security forces. The rioters will not that the advantage of surprise and numbers that they had on Wednesday. The hardcore dead enders might still be tempted, like Custer, to make a last stand but some who may have been planning to attend may now have second thoughts. I suspect that the prospect of being met by a large security force and being promptly arrested and jailed if any trouble ensues might deter them from attending.
By the way, Pence had planned an overseas trip to the Middle East on the evening of January 6th, right after the certification vote. It was thought that he had wanted to avoid the wrath of Trump and his cult members for his ceremonial role. But since the riots caused the process to extend until 4:00am the following morning, it is. not clear what happened to his trip. As far as I am aware, he is still in the US. Given how things have turned out, he may have realized that he could run but he could not hide from Trump and his mob.
I heard a few days before the 6th that Pence had canceled his trip.
I hope the mayor shuts down the city, and stations armed national guard in place starting on the fifteenth. Preferably, all of them Black soldiers.
Just as importantly, turn the area into a no-fly zone. Block any aircraft from coming near the inauguration. Surprise only works once, so they may try other means. If the Tennessee bomber was a suicide bomber, and these fanatics believe they’re “doing it for cheezus”, you might find some willing to die.
The inauguration has been held indoors many times in the past, and they should do that again. And for safety’s sake, they should swear in Harris at a different location.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_inauguration
Can we stop calling them ‘rioters’? I used the term myself recently, for the last time. They’re terrorists.
Intransitive @2: From my (ancient) flight training, Washington DC is among the most heavily restricted airspace in the US. And that was before 9/11. My reading of aviation chars is rusty, but a look at https://www.iflightplanner.com/AviationCharts/ leads me to believe that you can’t even enter the airspace without ATC clearance. And you better follow the flight path. Rumor was that the Secret Service has stinger missiles.
@2, Presidential Inaugurations have been considered a National Special Security Event (NSSE) since their invention in c.2000. Whilst each NSSE is different, available powers do include transport limitations (not just airspace, but also waters, roads, and railways), along with numerous other powers & precautions. A known flaw, however, is there is no money specifically set aside for NSSEs; and there are concerns about civil liberties during the pre-event planning and surveillance.
@4, There was a rather amusing case in Southern California some years ago, when a private aircraft ignored repeated warnings and entered the secured bubble around Air Force One. Interceptors were dispatched, and the intruder was escorted to an airfield — whereupon it was discovered they were a drug-running operation.
@6 …and invited back to AF-1 to pitch their wares…
The strongest evidence that Trump was complicit in this and any future insurrectionist acts is what he has NOT done. He did NOT tell his followers to stand down as soon as they began assaulting police — that came hours later. He has NOT yet told them to stay away from statehouses and the inauguration.
It’s quite possible at this point that they would ignore him if he told them that, but it would at least be evidence he could use in his defense. But noooo…
Sadly, the homemade launching of projectiles from a distance is not out of the picture.
What surprise? Hotel chains (and single ones as well) were closing down because they didn’t want to house the rioters that they were informed were coming. Any cursory reading of the Parler from the involved groups would have resulted in the same.
The only ones surprised were the ones who had to set up security. And based on some of the details that have been coming out it was a case of I don’t want to know instead of we couldn’t have known. Then combine that with only Trump being able to do things like move the national guard into Washington and you got a mess.
And that last bit indicates that there was a successful coup since someone (Pence) usurped the powers reserved for the president.