Category Archives: US Capitol attack

Tennessee man involved in Capitol riot convicted of planning to kill federal agents

Posted on by

Edward Kelley created ‘kill list’ of FBI agents and others who investigated his role on January 6, prosecutors say

A Tennessee man who was arrested for his involvement in the January 6 Capitol riot in 2021 was convicted on Wednesday of planning to kill federal investigators.

Edward Kelley, 35, was found guilty in Knoxville of conspiracy to murder federal employees, solicitation to commit a crime of violence, and influencing a federal official by threat, the US attorney’s office said in a news release.

Continue reading...

Experts sound alarm as Trump mulls pardons for January 6 attackers

Posted on by

Attorneys and lawmakers who oppose pardons for Capitol rioters would not be able to stop him, legal analysts warn

lf Donald Trump follows through on his promise to pardon people who participated in the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, attorneys and lawmakers who oppose such moves would not be able to stop him, according to legal experts.

If Trump does issue the pardons, it could indicate to many of his supporters that there was nothing illegal about the riot to prevent the peaceful transfer of power, and would undermine the US constitution, the experts said.

Continue reading...

Kamala Harris calls for a ‘new generation of leadership’ in Washington speech

Posted on by

Vice-president strikes hopeful tone in remarks delivered from site of Trump’s speech before deadly January 6 attack

With the White House illuminated behind her, Kamala Harris asked the vanishing slice of undecided Americans to elect a “new generation of leadership”, likening Donald Trump to a “petty tyrant” who had stood in the very same spot nearly four years ago and, in a last-gasp effort to cling to power, helped incite the mob that stormed the US Capitol.

The choice between her and Trump in the deadlocked presidential contest was “about whether we have a country rooted in freedom for every American or ruled by chaos and division”, Harris said, from the Ellipse near the White House’s South Lawn, where tens of thousands of supporters gathered one week before the final votes of the 2024 election are cast.

Continue reading...

Man accused of Nazi salute during US Capitol attack jailed for nearly five years

Posted on by

Tyler Dykes, 26, who said at sentencing he is supporting Trump to be president, pleaded guilty to assault charges

A Marine who stormed the US Capitol and apparently flashed a Nazi salute in front of the building was sentenced on Friday to nearly five years in prison.

Tyler Bradley Dykes, of South Carolina, was an active-duty US marine when he grabbed a police riot shield from the hands of two police officers and used it to push his way through police lines during the attack by a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters on 6 January 2021.

Continue reading...

Bob’s Burgers actor Jay Johnston pleads guilty over role in Capitol attack

Posted on by

Johnston, 54, faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to felony count of civil disorder from January 6 riot

Jay Johnston, an actor best known for his role on the animated comedy show Bob’s Burgers, has pleaded guilty to charges related to his role in the storming of the US Capitol in January 2021.

Johnston, 54, faces a maximum of five years in prison and pleaded guilty to a felony count of civil disorder. He was released on a $25,000 bond in June 2023 after an initial court appearance in California.

Continue reading...

Trump serenaded by Republicans on first visit to Capitol since January 6

Posted on by

Lawmakers sing Happy Birthday to ex-president, 78 on Friday, who reportedly called convention host Milwaukee ‘horrible’

Donald Trump went to the US Capitol to rally congressional Republicans in his first visit since 6 January 2021, when his supporters descended on the building in an effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in Trump’s favour.

A packed room full of House Republicans sang Happy Birthday to Trump, who turns 78 on Friday.

Continue reading...

Upside-down US flag reportedly hung outside Samuel Alito’s home days after Capitol attack

Posted on by

Incident casts doubt on supreme court justice’s impartiality in upcoming cases as inverted flag is associated with Trump’s stolen election claims

An upside-down American flag was reportedly spotted flying outside the home of the conservative US supreme court justice Samuel Alito during the closing days of the 2020 election.

The inverted flag is a symbol that has become associated with the former president Donald Trump’s false claims that Joe Biden stole the election.

Continue reading...

Robert F Kennedy Jr vows to investigate January 6 prosecutions for political bias

Posted on by

Independent presidential candidate makes promise one day after claiming reference to prisoners as ‘activists’ was unfortunate error

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the lawyer, conspiracy theorist and independent candidate for US president, vowed to investigate “whether prosecutorial discretion was abused for political ends” in convictions of January 6 rioters – just one day after his campaign said a fundraising reference to such prisoners as “activists” was an unfortunate error.

In a statement on Friday, Kennedy said that as president, he would “appoint a special counsel – an individual respected by all sides – to investigate whether prosecutorial discretion was abused for political ends in this case, and I will right any wrongs that we discover”.

Continue reading...

Robert F Kennedy campaign calls January 6 rioters ‘activists’ in email

Posted on by

Independent US presidential candidate’s team later said statement in its fundraising email ‘was an error’ not reflective of his views

A spokesperson for the independent US presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr said a passage in a fundraising email that called January 6 prisoners “activists … stripped of their constitutional liberties” was the result of an error by an outside contractor.

“That statement was an error that does not reflect Mr Kennedy’s views,” the spokesperson, Stefanie Spear, told NBC News, which first reported the fundraising email. “It was inserted by a new marketing contractor and slipped through the normal approval process.”

Continue reading...

Supreme court rules insurrection clause bars local official despite sparing Trump

Posted on by

Decision on New Mexico election official’s 14th amendment appeal comes two weeks after court said ex-president could stay on ballot

The US supreme court declined an appeal on Monday from a former New Mexico county commissioner who was removed from office for his role in the January 6 attack, leaving intact a significant decision that enforced a constitutional ban on insurrectionists holding office.

The commissioner, Couy Griffin, is the only US public official thus far who has been removed from office for his role in the January 6 attack. Citing language in the 14th amendment that bars insurrectionists from holding office, a New Mexico judge removed him in 2022 after he was convicted of trespassing on the Capitol grounds. The New Mexico supreme court dismissed an initial appeal in the state.

Continue reading...

Ex-Trump adviser Peter Navarro to be sentenced for contempt of Congress

Posted on by

Navarro, trade adviser during Trump presidency, convicted over refusal to comply with subpoena from January 6 committee

The former Trump adviser Peter Navarro faces sentencing on Thursday on two counts of contempt of Congress, arising from his refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the January 6 attack on Congress.

The mandatory minimum sentence is two months in prison, one for each count. Prosecutors in the case, which saw Navarro convicted in federal court in Washington DC in September, asked for 12 months prison time and a $200,000 fine.

Continue reading...

Trump avoids mention of US Capitol attack on 6 January anniversary

Posted on by

Three years after insurrection, Trump was in Newton, Iowa, currying support before the 15 January Republican caucus

Donald Trump largely ducked speaking about the January 6 attack on the US Capitol during a campaign speech Saturday, which he delivered on the third anniversary of the insurrection, reflecting the degree to which Republican voters have absolved the former president of responsibility for that day’s deadly consequences.

Trump’s remarks came a day after Joe Biden appeared in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and spoke about how his presidential predecessor had urged his supporters to “fight like hell” shortly before they staged the Capitol attack.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed reporting

Continue reading...

Harvard Corporation condemns ‘racist vitriol’ directed at Claudine Gay and says she ‘acknowledged missteps’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This live blog is now closed. For more on this story, you can read our latest:

The Democrats are, unsurprisingly, laying into Republican House majority leader Steve Scalise for his endorsement of Donald Trump today.

Even before his endorsement, Scalise was among the many House Republicans who have cast doubt on the validity of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, and supported the Trump campaign’s failed effort to get the supreme court to interfere in the vote result four years ago.

MAGA House Republicans keep showing America they’ve turned the House into little more than an arm of Donald Trump’s campaign – so it’s no surprise Steve Scalise, who called himself ‘David Duke without the baggage,’ is joining the parade of House extremists backing Trump’s bid. Scalise’s top priority has always been pushing Trump’s unpopular agenda: He voted against certifying the 2020 election, is hellbent on banning abortion nationwide, and worked with Trump to try to rip away Americans’ health care. Scalise’s endorsement is the latest proof that while the House GOP is unable to accomplish anything on behalf of the American people, they are laser-focused on advancing Trump’s MAGA agenda and ripping away freedoms.

Continue reading...

Former aides warn of ‘running out of time’ to prevent Trump re-election

Posted on by

Sarah Matthews, Cassidy Hutchinson and Alyssa Farah Griffin insist Trump’s behavior would be worse if he wins second term

The re-election of Donald Trump in 2024 could “end American democracy as we know it”, according to three women who worked for him in the White House during his chaotic term in office.

All three gave testimony to the US House committee investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat as well as the 6 January 6 Capitol attack staged by his supporters. And they warned in an unprecedented television interview on Sunday that time was short to prevent a second Trump administration in which they insist his behavior would be much worse.

Continue reading...

Pence’s son reportedly convinced him to stand up to Trump over January 6

Posted on by

Former vice-president had planned to skip process to certify Joe Biden’s election victory but changed mind after son’s plea

Mike Pence reportedly decided to skip the congressional certification process for Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, because to preside over it as required by the constitution would be “too hurtful” to his “friend”, Donald Trump. He was then shamed into standing up to Trump by his son, a US marine.

“Dad, you took the same oath I took,” the then vice-president’s son Michael Pence said, according to ABC News, adding that it was “an oath to support and defend the constitution”.

Continue reading...

January 6 rioter found guilty after judge calls defence argument ‘gobbledegook’

Posted on by

Taylor James Johnatakis was found guilty of seven charges for his role in 2021 attack to stop Biden from being certified as president

A January 6 rioter who represented himself using “sovereign citizen” arguments – which a judge called “bullshit” and “gobbledegook” – was found guilty on Tuesday.

Taylor James Johnatakis, 39 and from Kingston, Washington, will be sentenced later.

Continue reading...

Marjorie Taylor Greene claims Democrats failed to defend House from Capitol rioters

Posted on by

Extremist Republican says in book ‘not one Democrat was willing to stay to defend the chamber’ but claim rejected as ‘patently false’

In a new book, the extremist Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene claims no Democrats stayed in the House chamber on January 6 to help defend it against rioters sent by Donald Trump to block the certification of Joe Biden’s election win – a claim one Democrat who did stay labeled “patently false”.

Greene’s book, MTG, will be published next week. The Guardian obtained a copy.

Continue reading...

Man who stormed US Capitol in face paint files paperwork for congressional run

Posted on by

Jacob Chansley, who became one of the most recognizable symbols of the insurrection, hopes to run in Arizona as a libertarian

The man who donned face paint and a horned headdress to storm the US Capitol at the 6 January insurrection has filed paperwork for a potential congressional run in Arizona as a libertarian.

Jacob Chansley, known as the “QAnon Shaman”, became one of the most recognizable symbols of the insurrection, as media showed him walking the halls of the Capitol and standing at the dais in the US Senate.

Continue reading...

Revealed: far-right Oath Keepers kept up dues payments after Capitol attack

Posted on by

Venmo records show members of rightwing militia paid vice-president for months after group’s January 6 role was exposed

Oath Keepers members paid dues to the rightwing militia’s then vice-president for up to almost a year after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol and months after the organization and its founder, Stewart Rhodes, were named in court filings as participants in the assault, according to publicly accessible transaction records on the payment platform Venmo.

Those who made payments to an Oath Keepers leader on Venmo include an engineer whose employer provides satellite technology to US government agencies including the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Homeland Security, a former Department of Homeland Security employee whose tenure at the agency overlapped with his membership in the group, and a 2022 candidate for the Wyoming state senate.

Continue reading...

US Capitol rioter who attacked photographer sentenced to five years

Posted on by

Rodney Milstreed ‘prepared himself for battle’ with steroids and a wooden club disguised as flagpole, prosecutors say

A man who attacked an Associated Press photographer and threw a flagpole and smoke grenade at police officers guarding the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, was sentenced in a federal court on Friday to five years in prison.

Rodney Milstreed, 56, of Finksburg, Maryland, “prepared himself for battle” on January 6 by injecting steroids and arming himself with a four-foot wooden club disguised as a flagpole, prosecutors said.

Continue reading...