Category Archives: US Capitol breach

US Capitol on security lockdown ahead of Biden inauguration – video

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The tightest security measures in recent memory are in place in Washington, two days ahead of the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the US.

25,000 National Guard soldiers from across the east coast are stationed in the city. The streets around the Capitol remain eerily empty as all but the most determined protesters have stayed away after the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol on 6 January. 

The FBI has vetted all troops who are guarding the event because of fears of an insider attack at the inauguration. 

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I feel like a martyr: Capitol rioter says she was following orders of Trump – video

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A Texas real estate agent who was part of the pro-Trump mob that attacked the US Capitol has said she was just following the orders of Donald Trump, even as she faced federal charges for her part in the insurrection.

Jenna Ryan, who flew to Washington on a private jet, hosted a Facebook live stream showing herself entering the Capitol, promoting her business and saying: 'We’re going to fucking go in here. Life or death.'

Ryan claimed on NBC News she had not been advocating aggression. She faces charges of disorderly conduct and knowingly entering a restricted area. Like other members of the mob, Ryan has asked Trump for a pardon, but said she would not hold it against Trump if no pardon were forthcoming

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Biden will appeal for unity as US braces for violence by Trump supporters

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Joe Biden will deliver a message of national unity when he assumes the presidency on Wednesday, seeking to begin healing a country fractured by the acrimony of Donald Trump’s administration and ongoing threats of violence by his supporters.

Related: America is broken – can Biden and Harris put it back together?

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‘I never imagined this’: Washington prepares for an inauguration under siege

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Presence of military garrison in city on a scale not seen since the civil war a reminder that endemic racism remains a greater menace to national security than any external threat

In easier times, the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal church would be crowded, especially on the Sunday morning before a presidential inauguration a few blocks away.

Related: Biden will appeal for unity as US braces for violence by Trump supporters

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‘I feel wronged’: US Capitol rioter asks Donald Trump for pardon after arrest – video

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Jenna Ryan, a Texas real estate broker who took a private jet to Washington to join the attack on the US Capitol, pleaded with Donald Trump to pardon her after she was arrested by federal authorities. Ryan said she thought she was following what her president ‘asked us to do’ and that she had been 'displaying my patriotism' in travelling to Washington DC, where she filmed herself entering the Capitol building. 'I'm facing a prison sentence,' she told CBS 11 News at her home in Dallas. 'I do not deserve that'

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‘I’m facing a prison sentence’: US Capitol rioters plead with Trump for pardons

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Jenna Ryan, a Texas real estate broker who took a private jet to Washington to join the attack on the US Capitol, has pleaded with Donald Trump to pardon her after she was arrested by federal authorities.

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‘I yelled out that I have kids’: police officer describes attack by Capitol rioters – video

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A Washington DC police officer who tried to stop rioting Trump supporters from entering the Capitol building on 6 January has revealed that some shouted 'kill him with his own gun' as he lay injured on the ground. Michael Fanone told CNN he considered using his weapon as he was overwhelmed by the mob, but decided against it out of fear for his own life. 'I tried to appeal to their humanity,' Fanone said. 'I just remember yelling out that I have kids, and it seemed to work.'

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James Murdoch says US media ‘lies’ unleashed ‘insidious forces’

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Son of Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch issues excoriating rebuke following storming of the Capitol

James Murdoch has condemned the US media for “propagating lies” which have unleashed “insidious and uncontrollable forces” that will endure for years.

Questioned about whether Fox News – founded by his father Rupert Murdoch and run by his brother Lachlan – had played a role in the riot at the Capitol last week, he said media groups had amplified election disinformation, which successfully sowed falsehoods.

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US health secretary Alex Azar tells Trump Capitol attack threatens legacy

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Azar calls attack ‘assault on our democracy’ and urges peaceful transfer of power in formal resignation letter

The US health secretary, Alex Azar, warned Donald Trump in a letter that last week’s attack on the Capitol threatened the administration’s legacy, and he urged the president to support a peaceful transfer of power.

In the two-page, formal resignation letter, dated 12 January, Azar recited what he saw as the administration’s key accomplishments but voiced concern that last week’s siege in Washington and Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud “threaten to tarnish these and other historic legacies of this administration”.

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Nancy Pelosi: lawmakers could face prosecution for aiding Capitol attack – video

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The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has said it is possible that members of Congress could face prosecution if found to have ‘aided and abetted’ the violent attack on the Capitol earlier this month that left five people dead

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Nancy Pelosi says lawmakers who aided in Capitol attack may be prosecuted

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House speaker’s comments come after a congresswoman said she saw colleagues leading ‘reconnaissance’ tours before the riot

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has said it is possible that members of Congress could face prosecution if found to have “aided and abetted” the violent attack on the Capitol earlier this month that left five people dead.

“Justice is called for as we address insurrection perpetrated against the Capitol last week,” the Democratic speaker told reporters on Friday.

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Washington and state capitols brace for violence from armed Trump supporters

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Washington DC and capitols across the US are bracing for violence this weekend after law enforcement officials warned that armed pro-Trump insurrectionists are planning to swarm the cities in the days before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration

Related: Donald Trump will fly to Florida hours before Biden inauguration, reports say

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How Trump reacted to two very different impeachments – video report

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Donald Trump has become the first president in US history to be impeached twice after the bipartisan vote in the House of Representative accusing him of inciting violence at the Capitol on 6 January.

Trump has faced impeachment before, but for very different reasons. On 18 December 2019 the House charged him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for pressuring Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and withholding military aid

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Moment Donald Trump becomes first US president to be impeached twice – video

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The US House of Representatives voted by a margin of 232 to 197 to impeach Donald Trump on the charge of incitement of insurrection, making him the first president in history to have been impeached twice. Ten House Republicans voted in favour of the motion

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Hundreds of troops guarding US Capitol filmed resting during break in shifts – video

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Footage shows hundreds of troops resting inside the US Capitol building, one week after it was stormed by a mob of Trump supporters. Over 10,000 members of the national guard have been deployed to Washington DC as the FBI warned far-right groups were continuing to threaten plots before Joe Biden’s inauguration as president on 21 January.

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Are Republicans really ready to unhitch their wagon from Donald Trump?

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Analysis: The attack on the Capitol – and perhaps the Senate losses in Georgia – have prompted some GOP leaders to signal a split even as others back his election lie

Has the spell really been broken? After years of joining Donald Trump in demonizing political opponents, and holding their silence as Trump furiously shredded public trust in elections, public service, the rule of law and the truth itself, have mainstream Republicans really decided to give him up?

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Nancy Pelosi: Trump is a clear and present danger to the nation – video

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The Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives has opened the debate on the article of impeachment against Donald Trump, arguing the president must be removed from office. Describing the storming of the Capitol as a 'day of fire', Nancy Pelosi said Trump had incited insurrection

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Stage set for impeachment after Pence dismisses House call to invoke 25th amendment

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Vice-president’s refusal paves the way for the House to move forward with impeachment

The US House of Representatives has voted to formally call on the vice-president, Mike Pence, to invoke the 25th amendment and strip Donald Trump of his presidential authority after Trump incited a mob that led a deadly assault on the US Capitol last week.

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Capitol invader’s organic food request should be the least of our worries | Poppy Noor

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Jacob Chansley, who wore furs and a horned hat, highlights America’s alarming double standard

Since the attack on Capitol Hill on Wednesday night, we can safely assume two things: in the US, white supremacy is treated with nowhere near the same force as peaceful protest. And as a result, white supremacists behave with complete entitlement.

How else can we describe how teargas, batons and horses were used on peaceful protesters demanding justice for Black Lives this summer; and yet, when an angry white mob stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overturn a legitimate election, some managed to make it all the way to Nancy Pelosi’s office unharmed and undeterred?

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‘Sedition and conspiracy’: prosecutors cite wide-ranging crimes in Capitol attack – video

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The acting US attorney for the District of Columbia, Michael Sherwin, has indicated that many amid the hundreds of pro-Trump rioters who violently invaded the US Capitol last Wednesday are suspected of a range of crimes including felony murder, sedition and conspiracy.

At a press conference in Washington, prosecutors said there are at least 160 federal criminal cases open and they are ready to track down individuals across the country and apprehend them wherever possible – potentially arresting hundreds if not thousands of people.

'The range of criminal conduct was unmatched,' Sherwin said. He warned rioters: 'You will be charged and you will be found'

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