Category Archives: US Capitol attack

Biden overrules Trump effort to keep White House files from 6 January panel

Posted on by

The National Archives told to give documents to House committee despite ex-president’s attempt assert executive privilege

Joe Biden has blocked an attempt by former US president Donald Trump to withhold documents from Congress related to the 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said Biden authorized the National Archives, a government agency that holds records from Trump’s time in office, to turn over an initial batch of documents requested by a House of Representatives select committee investigating the riot.

Continue reading...

Facebook whistleblower to claim company contributed to Capitol attack

Posted on by

Former employee is set to air her claims and reveal her identity in an interview airing Sunday night on CBS 60 Minutes

A whistleblower at Facebook will say that thousands of pages of internal company research she turned over to federal regulators proves the social media giant is deceptively claiming effectiveness in its efforts to eradicate hate and misinformation and it contributed to the January 6 attack on the Capitol in Washington DC.

The former employee is set to air her claims and reveal her identity in an interview airing Sunday night on CBS 60 Minutes ahead of a scheduled appearance at a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

House committee on Capitol attack subpoenas Trump’s ex-chief of staff and other top aides

Posted on by

Mark Meadows, Steve Bannon and Dan Scavino among advisers called to testify over president’s connection to 6 January events

The House select committee scrutinizing the Capitol attack on Thursday sent subpoenas to Trump’s White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and a cadre of top Trump aides, demanding their testimony to shed light on the former president’s connection to the 6 January riot.

The subpoenas and demands for depositions marked the most aggressive investigative actions the select committee has taken since it made records demands and records preservation requests that formed the groundwork of the inquiry into potential White House involvement.

Continue reading...

Washington rally in support of 6 January rioters falls short of expectations

Posted on by

Police prepared for trouble at event near Capitol but only a few hundred attended as politicians and pro-Trump groups did not

Any passing American might have been forgiven for thinking they had stumbled on one of the great human rights struggles of our time.

Related: Peril review: Bob Woodward Trump trilogy ends on note of dire warning

Continue reading...

Nancy Pelosi says US Capitol attack like 9/11 but an assault from within – video

Posted on by

Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker of the US Congress, has likened the 6 January attack to 9/11, saying one had been an assault on US democracy from within and the other from the outside. Speaking at a Chatham House seminar in London on Friday, she also claimed the Republicans had been hijacked by a cult that believed neither in science nor government, making it hard for the US to be governed

Continue reading...

How 9/11 led the US to forever wars, eroded rights – and insurrection

Posted on by

The legal carte blanche signed days after the 2001 attacks is still used to authorise military action – just one way US society has been shaped, or corroded, by its backlash to terror

Over the past few weeks, the Biden administration has launched drone strikes against suspected terrorist targets in Somalia and Afghanistan, based on congressional authority dating to September 2001. This week, five terror suspects have been in court for pre-trial hearings now entering their ninth year in Guantánamo Bay, which opened its prison gates in January 2002.

The aftershocks of 9/11 are everywhere. The families of the nearly 3,000 victims are still struggling with the justice department to lift the secrecy over the FBI investigation into the attacks and the possible complicity of Saudi officials. Last week they asked the department’s inspector general to look into FBI claims to have lost critical evidence, including pictures and video footage.

Continue reading...

US Capitol rioter photographed wearing horns pleads guilty

Posted on by

Jacob Chansley, of Phoenix, Arizona, pleaded guilty to obstructing an official proceeding when he took part in insurrection

The man who was photographed inside the US Capitol during the 6 January insurrection shirtless, wearing a horned headdress and furs, and heavily tattooed, pleaded guilty on Friday to obstructing an official proceeding when he took part in the assault by extremist supporters of then president Donald Trump.

Related: Capitol riot inquiry to investigate whether Trump’s White House was involved in attack

Continue reading...

Trump phone records could be sought by Capitol attack panel, reports say

Posted on by
  • Telephone companies reportedly asked to preserve records
  • Records of Trump and family could be among those requested

Donald Trump’s phone records from the day of the 6 January Capitol insurrection could be among those requested by the congressional committee looking into the deadly attack, it was reported on Monday.

Related: Hurricane Ida: up to 2 million without power as New Orleans assesses damage

Continue reading...

Capitol police officers sue Trump and far-right groups over 6 January attack

Posted on by

• Roger Stone also named in suit by six officers in federal court

• Ex-president worked with others to ‘commit acts of … terrorism’

Capitol police officers who were attacked and beaten during the insurrection at the US Congress on 6 January by extremist supporters of Donald Trump filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the former Republican president, his ally Roger Stone and members of far-right extremist groups.

The officers accused them of intentionally sending a violent mob to disrupt the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the November 2020 election.

Continue reading...

US Capitol police didn’t properly respond to officers’ calls for help in attack – report

Posted on by

Inspector general’s report offers new details into shortcomings by law enforcement during 6 January insurrection

US Capitol police (USCP) didn’t adequately respond to frantic calls for help from officers when they pressed panic buttons on their radios seeking immediate backup as scores of pro-Trump rioters beat officers with bats, poles and other weapons, an inspector general’s report found.

Related: US Capitol police clear officer who shot dead 6 January rioter Ashli Babbitt

Continue reading...

US Capitol police clear officer who shot dead 6 January rioter Ashli Babbitt

Posted on by

Capitol police issue result of investigation into how and why Babbitt was shot as she and others tried to break through door

The police officer who shot dead Ashli Babbitt during the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January acted lawfully and will not face internal discipline, Capitol police said on Monday.

Related: Trump booed after telling supporters to get Covid vaccine

Continue reading...

Cybersleuths find men who allegedly attacked officer during US Capitol riot

Posted on by

David Walls-Kaufman and Taylor F Taranto appeared to target Jeffrey Smith because his eyes and face were vulnerable, suit says

A group of cybersleuths have tracked down two men who allegedly attacked police officer Jeffrey Smith at the US Capitol during the 6 January insurrection, leaving him with injuries that have been linked to his death days later.

In a new complaint, attorney David P Weber – who represents Smith’s widow, Erin – wrote that David Walls-Kaufman and and Taylor F Taranto appeared to specifically target Smith because his eyes and face were vulnerable.

Continue reading...

Top Republicans move to protect Trump from Capitol attack fallout

Posted on by

Some party leaders blamed the former president in the charged moments after the insurrection – but are now embarking on a campaign of revisionism

Top Republicans in Congress are embarking on a new campaign of revisionism seven months after the attack on the Capitol, absolving Donald Trump of responsibility and blaming the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, for the 6 January insurrection perpetrated by a mob of Trump supporters.

Related: A Trump bombshell quietly dropped last week. And it should shock us all | Robert Reich

Continue reading...

Fourth officer who responded to US Capitol attack dies by suicide

Posted on by

Kyle DeFreytag, who was deployed to protect Capitol after police cleared building of rioters, died earlier in July

A fourth police officer who defended the US Capitol during the 6 January insurrection by extremist supporters of Donald Trump is now confirmed to have taken his own life.

Washington DC’s Metropolitan police department (MPD) confirmed late Monday that another of their officers, Kyle DeFreytag, died by suicide earlier in July, just hours after declaring that MPD officer Gunther Hashida killed himself on 29 July.

Continue reading...

Officer who responded to US Capitol attack is third to die by suicide

Posted on by

Gunther Hashida, 44, was found dead at home on 29 July, the Metropolitan police department said

A third police officer who defended the US Capitol during the 6 January insurrection by extremist supporters of Donald Trump has taken his own life, Washington DC’s Metropolitan police department confirmed on Monday.

Officer Gunther Hashida, who was assigned to the emergency response team within the special operations department, was found dead at home on 29 July, the department said.

Continue reading...

‘This is how I’m going to die’: officers recount Capitol attack ordeal – live

Posted on by
  • Police officer Aquilino Gonell describes violence at Capitol
  • Select committee hears witness testimony from 6 January

Jamie Raskin of Maryland is next. A law professor, his descriptions of his experiences during the attack and management of the impeachment of Donald Trump that followed brought him to particular national attention:

Related: 'The moral centre': how Jamie Raskin dominated the stage at Trump's trial

Related: ‘I need a drink’ after Republican talks, says officer beaten in Capitol attack

Now we have Stephanie Murphy, a Florida Democrat, and more video, this time from Officer Hodges’ body camera.

There are clouds of smoke, police in riot gear, shouting, pushing. Hodges curls his lip as he looks up at the screen. One burly police officer is seen dousing his eyes with water, walking back through the police line. Now we have Officer Hodges stuck in a door, screaming. It is tough to watch.

Continue reading...

Capitol riot police officer: ‘I was at risk of being killed with my own firearm’ – video

Posted on by

Metropolitan police department officer Michael Fanone told the select committee investigating the 6 January insurrection at the Capitol how pro-Trump insurrectionists attacked him. 'I was grabbed, beaten, tased, all while being called a traitor to my country. I was at risk of being stripped of and killed with my own firearm, as I heard chants of "kill him with his own gun",' Fanone said.

He went on to say that a fellow officer later took him to a nearby hospital, where he was told he had suffered a mild heart attack.

Continue reading...

Pelosi will ask anti-Trump Republican Kinzinger to join 6 January panel

Posted on by

The speaker of the US House, Nancy Pelosi, intends to appoint a second anti-Trump Republican to the select committee which will investigate the deadly 6 January assault on the US Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump.

Related: Can Pelosi’s power play on Capitol attack panel thwart wrecking tactics?

Continue reading...

Trump supporter sentenced to eight months in prison for role in Capitol riot

Posted on by
  • Paul Hodgkins pleaded guilty to obstructing official proceeding
  • Sentence likely to set benchmark for later cases

A Florida man was sentenced on Monday to eight months in prison for his role in the 6 January insurrection in Washington, a punishment likely to set a benchmark for later cases.

Related: US justice department charges four Chinese nationals in Microsoft Exchange hack – live

Continue reading...

Capitol attack: what Pelosi’s select committee is likely to investigate

Posted on by

The body created by the speaker will have a broad mandate to examine the facts, circumstances and causes of the Capitol attack

Nancy Pelosi’s creation of a House select committee to investigate the 6 January insurrection reopens the possibility of a comprehensive inquiry into myriad security failures and the causes of the deadly attack on Congress by a pro-Trump mob.

Related: Nancy Pelosi signals hard line on formation of 6 January select committee

Continue reading...