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Post by Admin on Jan 9, 2021 22:33:14 GMT
President Trump encourages those who attended a rally in Washington, D.C. to march to the Capitol and protest Congress counting the Electoral College ballots for the presidential election. In the days before a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday, President Donald Trump's political apparatus worked behind the scenes with pro-Trump groups to plan and promote events in Washington, D.C., that ultimately led to Wednesday's attack on Congress. Speaking at the "March to Save America" rally at the Ellipse in President's Park on Wednesday, President Trump urged a sea of supporters to march to the Capitol in protest of the Electoral College vote count -- telling the crowd he'd join them but ultimately not doing so -- after delivering a speech pushing baseless and unfounded claims that the election was rigged and telling the rowdy crowd that "you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength." Trump's order sent thousands of his supporters marching to the Capitol, where some would overpower law enforcement, topple barricades and riot inside the halls of Congress in an unprecedented attack that left five people dead. While the "March to Save America" rally was publicly promoted as being organized by groups not directly tied to the president's team, including "Women for America First" and "Stop the Steal," behind the scenes White House staff and close allies of the president, including former Trump campaign staff, worked with the organizers to plan and promote the events on Wednesday that would ultimately erupt into the deadly storming of the Capitol, sources said. A permit for the rally submitted by "Women for America First" Executive Director Kylie Jane Kremer -- the daughter of the group's founder, former Tea Party activist Amy Kremer -- was approved on January 4. The permit stated that the event would take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with 30,000 attendees, according to documents obtained by ABC News. "Women for America First" is a nonprofit 501(c)4 organization that was founded in 2019. Since the November election, the group has taken the lead in organizing events, bus tours, and protests challenging the results of the election, which often feature members of the president's campaign and family. Sources tell ABC News that many staffers who had worked on the president's 2020 campaign were involved in setting up and taking down the event space, including the stage on the National Mall. The Trump campaign denied that any active members of its team were involved in the planning of the rally, telling ABC News in a statement, "We did not organize, operate or finance this event. No campaign staff was involved in the organization or operation of this event. If any former employees or independent contractors for the campaign worked on this event, they did not do so at the direction of the Trump campaign." Following the attack on the Capitol, "Women for America First" posted a statement on its website from Kremer denouncing the violence and distancing itself from any responsibility. "We unequivocally denounce violence of any type and under any circumstances." the statement read. "We are saddened and disappointed at the violence that erupted on Capitol Hill, instigated by a handful of bad actors, that transpired after the rally."
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2021 6:23:12 GMT
It took a building to bring down Donald Trump. Unleashing the angriest of his supporters this week against the U.S. Capitol may have been only the culmination of Trump's 60-month campaign against the Washington establishment. When the crowd that Trump whipped up on the Ellipse marched up the National Mall with his blessing and encouragement, they became a mob assaulting and invading the Capitol. The Capitol is the closest thing to a national civic temple we have or would ever want in America. People who have been there once remember the awe they felt. People who go there nearly every day can still have that feeling. That was why we were sickened by the real-time video and endlessly repeated images of desecration and terror on Wednesday — images we will live with for the rest of our lives. In substance, the mob's aim was to stop the orderly, bipartisan process of electing a president. Serious as that was, what gave it the force to shock and change minds was the spectacle of it happening where it did. Americans were sickened, and they shared that feeling across a wider spectrum of the nation's political sentiment than at any time since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. There are no words to capture the spirit of the Capitol. And it is no accident that the occasions on which Trump has seemed most presidential — and was most praised for it — were his State of the Union addresses, delivered to joint sessions of Congress in the House chamber. He entered that chamber for those addresses through a door that on Wednesday was barricaded with furniture, plainclothes officers crouching behind with weapons drawn. Rioters could be seen through the shattered windows. Members of Congress, old and young, men and women, Republicans and Democrats, ducked and scrambled and hid. Forgotten for the moment was the business at hand. But to its eternal credit, the Congress returned to that same chamber later that night. It resumed the counting of votes from the Electoral College, votes cast on Dec. 14 in 50 state capitals and in the District of Columbia. Votes certified by every governor in America. Votes upheld in more than 60 cases in state and federal court. There had been talk of reconvening the session at a more secure location. There were obvious reasons to do so. But there was one overriding reason to come back to the Capitol. And that was the Capitol itself. No other venue could invoke the same history and convey the same legitimacy. The Capitol is the embodiment of constitutional authority – and also of our national spirit. A moving example for many was the sight of second-term Congressman Andy Kim of New Jersey, the son of Korean immigrants, down on his knees in the Rotunda after midnight, helping clean up of bottles and trash rioters had left behind. "Just ransacked, just garbage and debris everywhere, all of it all over the statues, all over the floor," he told a reporter. "It was really painful to see this room and this building that I love so much hurting."
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2021 19:32:43 GMT
Political chess in Washington continued on Sunday, as the White House belatedly lowered its US flag to half-staff, in honour of those who died on Wednesday. From the Senate, Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he had asked FBI director Christopher Wray “relentlessly pursue” the attackers. “The threat of violent extremist groups remains high,” Schumer said in a statement, pointing to Biden’s inauguration on 20 January. Security has been stepped up around the Capitol. Trump faced growing calls from within his own party to step down, with one prominent Republican senator accusing him of a “descent into madness” over his goading of the insurrection that left five dead. “The behaviour was outrageous, and there should be accountability,” Pat Toomey, of Pennsylvania, told CNN’s State of the Union. “The president’s behaviour after the election was wildly different than his behaviour before he descended into a level of madness and engaged in activity that was just absolutely unthinkable and unforgivable.” Trump’s resignation, Toomey said, becoming the second Republican senator to call for the president to go, “is the best path forward, the best way to get this person in the rearview mirror.” In a survey by ABC News and Ipsos published on Sunday, 56% of respondents said Trump should be removed before inauguration day, 20 January. A higher number, 67%, held Trump responsible for the Capitol violence. The president remained at the White House on Sunday, silent without his Twitter account and isolated even from Vice-President Mike Pence, according to reports, as senior Democrats plotted their next steps. James Clyburn, the House majority whip, told CNN a single article of impeachment, which accuses Trump of “inciting an insurrection” and having “gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions”, would be presented to the House of Representatives. “It may be Tuesday or Wednesday before action is taken but it will be taken this week,” Clyburn said.
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Post by Admin on Jan 11, 2021 1:21:44 GMT
On Jan. 6, rioters coming from a pro-Trump rally broke into the U.S. Capitol, resulting in deaths, injuries, arrests and vandalism.
For an expanded look into what happened at the Capitol riots watch the ABC News special, "24 Hours: Assault on the Capitol," exclusively on Hulu beginning in the evening on Jan. 11.
A vote to impeach Trump for a second time, a near certainty given the Democratic House majority, would send the case to the Senate for trial, where a two-thirds majority would see his removal.
But the timing is at the discretion of House speaker Nancy Pelosi, who would likely choose to wait until after Biden’s inauguration, Clyburn said. Biden has been lukewarm about an impeachment, and concerns are growing among Democrats that an early trial would distract from important Senate business, such as confirming cabinet members and passing Covid-19 relief.
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Post by Admin on Jan 11, 2021 6:22:29 GMT
The brother-in-law of one of the women who died during the riot at the Capitol on Wednesday is blaming Donald Trump for inciting the violence. Rosanne Boyland, 34, was killed as the mob rushed the Capitol building and one of four Trump supporters killed on Wednesday. A U.S. Capitol police officer later died from injuries sustained during the rioting as well. Justin Cave, who is married to Boyland's sister, shared a prepared statement with CBS 46 blaming he president for inciting the deadly pro-Trump riot and calling for him to leave office. "I’ve never tried to be a political person but it’s my own personal belief that the president’s words incited a riot that killed four of his biggest fans last night and I believe that we should invoke the 25th Amendment at this time," Cave said, adding that Boyland's family is "grieving on every level for our country, for all the families that have lost loved ones or suffered injuries, for our own loss." "We appreciate your prayers and ask for everyone to respect our family’s privacy as we mourn her death," he added. Justin Winchell, Boyland's friend who went with her from Georgia to Washington, D.C., described the moment that she was injured in the crowd as rioters breached the Capitol building. "They basically created a panic, and the police, in turn, push back on them, so people started falling," he said of the crowd. Winchell told CBS 46 that Boyland fell and got pinned to the ground.
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