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The warped history the Trump mob thought it was conjuring was actually just a costume drama of militant ignorance“Big protest in DC on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” Donald Trump tweeted on December 19, a week after his would-be Brown Shirt followers rioted in the streets of Washington to protest the “stolen” election. When Der Tag – the climactic day of battle arrived – Trump assembled his true believers on the South Ellipse at the White House for a “Save America” rally, waving them up Pennsylvania Avenue as his army to nullify the congressional certification of electoral college votes in the presidential election.Related: Trump says he won’t attend Biden’s inauguration Continue reading...

Britain refused a request to extradite Julian Assange because US prison conditions might make him suicidal. That’s damning

Babbitt, shot by police on Wednesday, saw storming of Capitol as a pivotal moment for the countryIn late December, the incoming vice-president, Kamala Harris, tweeted about her plans for the first hundred days of the Biden administration. She promised “to ensure Americans mask up, distribute 100M shots, and get students safely back to school”.Among the thousands of responses was an angry tweet from a 35-year-old air force veteran in San Diego. Continue reading...

The city remains the nation’s priciest for renters, and the pandemic has dealt a new economic blow to residentsApartment rental prices in San Francisco – a city mocked for being so unaffordable that residents pay more than a grand each month to sleep in a bunk bed and share space with strangers – have plummeted during the coronavirus crisis, falling roughly 24% over the last year, according to new data.It might seem like good news for a city long known for its dizzying rents. But the drop wasn’t enough to topple San Francisco from the top spot of the list of costliest cities compiled by the rental company Zumper. One-bedroom apartments on average still rent for a staggering $2,660 a month. Median single-family home prices in the city, meanwhile, have continued to rise, reaching an exorbitant $1.625m. Continue reading...

With Covid-19 still raging across the US, job safety experts say the president-elect must issue nationwide regulations directing businesses to protect their workersSoon after Joe Biden is inaugurated as the next US president, he is expected to take several strong steps on the labor front aimed at reversing or remedying the policies of Donald Trump – who promised workers a lot and delivered little.But Biden’s number one priority will be to tackle the issues left in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading...

For months, satirist Patrick Gathara has painted the US as a ‘third world’ country. Then came the storming of the CapitolFor more than two months now, I have been regularly posting quasi-satirical tweets on the US elections and their aftermath from my home in Kenya, in the style of foreign correspondents reporting on events in the “third world”.My aim has been to puncture that widely accepted idea that the globe is divided between those who have achieved democratic nirvana and those of us still seeking enlightenment at the feet of western gurus, chanting their mantras of electoral reform and accountability. This week – for a moment – I worried whether the truth was now beyond satire. Continue reading...

My answer to a happy winter is The Golden Girls, an 80s sitcom about a bunch of pensionersSome people are good with cold weather. Their cheeks pink prettily. They have a wardrobe of clothes that are somehow warm but also, as if by magic, flattering, and they are really, really good at skiing.And some of us are not. We – my people – develop a pallor in the winter that veers between what Farrow & Ball would call Laura Palmer Grey and Jaundiced Victorian Child. From September to May we have a constant cold, and what our winter wardrobe lacks in aesthetic appeal, it makes up for in having Kleenex stuffed in every pocket. Why some of us choose – willingly, apparently – to live in northern Europe, where it is, to paraphrase Niles in Sleepless In Seattle, cold nine months of the year, is a question we have never answered satisfactorily to ourselves. Continue reading...

The events in Spain marked the definitive end of Francoism. Will the assault on the Capitol do the same for Trumpism?Tension was high, security was weak and a bitter handover of power was under way when violent intruders forced the people’s representatives to stop their debate and cower on the floor.Future generations of Americans will identify this as a description of events at the Capitol in Washington DC on 6 January 2021. For Spaniards, however, it fits an earlier moment in history – an assault on Madrid’s parliament, the Congreso de los Diputados, on 23 February 1981. Continue reading...

Security levels being ramped up significantly for Biden’s swearing-in as some warn of ‘persistent challenge over the next months’Among the most shocking images to emerge from Wednesday’s attack on the US Capitol were members of the pro-Trump mob wielding baseball bats and bearing “Keep America Great” banners rampaging over the inaugural platform on the West Front of the building where four years ago Donald Trump took his oath of office.The sight of rioters running amok amid clouds of teargas on the very spot where their cherished leader swore to “preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States” was not just symbolically chilling. It underlined the massive security challenge now facing the US government as it hurtles towards the next inauguration – that of Joe Biden – just days away. Continue reading...

Apple follows by warning the platform popular with supporters of Donald Trump that it must have a better moderation systemGoogle has suspended the Parler social networking app from its Play Store until the platform popular with many supporters of Donald Trump adds “robust” content moderation.As Twitter suspended the US president’s account permanently over the risk of further incitement to violence”, the search engine said it was blocking Parler and Apple gave the service 24 hours to submit a detailed moderation plan. Continue reading...

Trump’s banishment is likely to further enrage an already volatile president, but many hailed the move as a long overdue milestoneFrom his first executive tweet on the morning of inauguration day 2017 to his final tweet on Friday, announcing that he would not attend his successor’s inauguration, Donald Trump’s personal Twitter account has served as the president’s official platform.For four years, the @realDonaldTrump Twitter feed was both public square and personal dialogue, a place where he made policy announcements and taunted political enemies; threatened military reprisal and boasted about his TV ratings. But perhaps most dangerous of all, it was a place where he unleashed a combustible stream of misinformation, lies and outrage to his more than 88 million followers. Continue reading...

Company determines two Friday tweets were ‘highly likely’ to encourage behavior like the storming of the CapitolTwitter has permanently suspended the account of Donald Trump, citing his repeated violations of the company’s rules and risks including the “further incitement of violence”.Twitter assessed two tweets sent by Trump on Friday morning as “highly likely to encourage and inspire people to replicate the criminal acts that took place at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021”, the company said in a statement. Plans for “future armed protests” are spreading on Twitter and elsewhere, the company warned, “including a proposed secondary attack on the US Capitol and state capitol buildings on January 17, 2021”. Continue reading...

Trump opponents greet suspension with plaudits and jokes while allies claim censorshipThe permanent suspension of Donald Trump’s personal Twitter account sent shockwaves through the internet on Friday, promoting reactions both outraged and gleeful. The drama played out, of course, on Twitter.Critics of Trump, including his colleagues on Capitol Hill, have long called for his account to be disabled, while his allies have attempted to defend or excuse the president’s online mayhem. Continue reading...

Nancy Pelosi’s office confirms laptop was stolen when Trump supporters, incited by the president, invaded the buildingAt least two computers were stolen from the Capitol when a violent mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the building on Wednesday – including one from the office of the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi – raising grave information security concerns. Continue reading...

Richard Barnett will face federal charges, as will the West Virginia lawmaker Derrick EvansA man photographed lounging with his foot on the desk in House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office in Washington as part of a pro-Trump mob that breached security and rampaged through the US Capitol was arrested on Friday.Richard Barnett, 60, of Gravette, Arkansas, was taken into custody in that state and, along with the West Virginia state representative Derrick Evans, who was also arrested, faces federal charges stemming from the siege of the Capitol on Wednesday, federal prosecutors said. Continue reading...

Joe Biden said Donald Trump’s decision not to attend his inauguration was 'one of the few things he and I have ever agreed on' and that it would be a 'good thing'.

Officer Brian Sicknick, 42, was reportedly struck in head during Wednesday’s riot, while four Trump supporters also diedFamily members and law enforcement have confirmed more details on the now five people who died in an attempted insurrection against the United States on Wednesday, including a Capitol police officer who died from his injuries.The remaining four were among the supporters of Donald Trump who stormed the US Capitol, attempting to halt counts of electoral college ballots that would formally seal Joe Biden’s victory over the incumbent president. Continue reading...

House speaker called Gen Mark Milley, chairman of joint chiefs of staff, ‘to discuss available precautions’

It remains uncertain if Pence will attend event, which will take place on Capitol steps under heightened security after breach

Derrick Evans, a newly-elected lawmaker in West Virginia house of delegates, filmed himself during the pro-Trump riot on the US Capitol on Wednesday that left five people dead.On Friday, the justice department announced he had been charged with entering a restricted area.Evans, a Republican and Trump supporter, was seen on a Facebook Live video in which he was heard shouting "We're in! We're in baby!" while moving among a crowd of rioters as he walked through a doorway of the Capitol Rotunda.The video has since been deleted. John H Bryan, a civil rights lawyer who is representing Evans, said the delegate traveled to Washington DC to “engage in peaceful protest, activism and amateur journalism" and that he engaged in "no illegal behavior". In a statement released Thursday, Bryan added: "Given the sheer size of the group walking in, Mr Evans had no choice but to enter ...". The lawyer added that Evans has no plans to resign.

The officials and aides fleeing the president face an uncertain fate in a dividing partyIn the 16th century, mice and rats were credited with knowing when a rotten house was on the verge of collapse.This evolved into the idiom about fleeing a sinking ship, but the original version suggested more prescience, an ability to anticipate oblivion and get out ahead of time. Continue reading...

The fate of the United States now rests on the stark choice the divided party faces: Trump’s way or democracySurely this would be the moment. Surely the sight of a horde storming the US Capitol, smashing windows and breaking down doors, determined to use brute, mob strength to overturn a free and fair election, surely that would mark the red line. After five years dismissing those who warned that Donald Trump posed a clear and present danger to US democracy, branding them hysterics suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, surely this moment – when they saw the citadel of that democracy overrun by men clothed in the slogans of neo-Nazism (Six Million Wasn’t Enough, read one), waving the Confederate flag of slavery, racism and treason and carrying zip ties, apparently to bind the wrists and ankles of any hostages – would, at long last, make Republicans recoil from the man who had led them to this horror.After all, the link between Trump and the sacking of the halls of Congress was direct and unhidden. Short of carrying the battering ram himself, he could hardly have done more to lead the mob. “Let’s walk down Pennsylvania Avenue,” he told the “Save America” rally that preceded the attack, guiding them towards the House and Senate as lawmakers prepared to certify Joe Biden’s election victory. No need to bother with the “strong ones”, he said, referring to those Republicans who were already on side. The crowd was directed to focus instead on “the weak ones”: “We’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.” The thousands who had gathered, who revere Trump and call him Daddy, did not need to be told twice. Continue reading...

The storming of the Capitol shows that the groundwork is in place for a far-right movement that outlasts TrumpWhat was this desperado putsch supposed to achieve? The mob of face-painted LARPers, QAnon conspiracists, militiamen, neo-Nazis, Christian supremacists and endtimes preppers who invaded the Capitol building in Washington DC were never going to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.And yet they are far from a few isolated cranks. This crowd, whose actions are supported by 45% of Republican voters, had been called to the capital by Donald Trump. Their “protest” had been incited from the podium by both Trump and Rudi Giuliani, ramming home their betrayal myth that the election was stolen. Trump’s campaign to reverse the election results and subvert constitutional law, backed by several elected Republican officials, has repeatedly inspired violence. Trump has repeatedly backed the militias, from his bellowing approval of their anti-lockdown stunts to his support for vigilante violence against Black Lives Matter protesters, to his call for militia action on election day. Continue reading...

The mayhem showed the party is splitting up but also lifted the curse of Trump from the careers of rightwing young lionsWednesday’s invasion of our “temple of democracy” constituted an “insurrection” only in the sense of dark comedy. What was essentially a flag-wrapped biker gang wielding staves stormed America’s ultimate country club, chased senators into the Capitol’s catacombs, squatted on Mike Pence’s throne, trashed Nancy Pelosi’s office, and shot endless selfies to send to the dudes back home in white people’s country. Otherwise, they were clueless and when the serious cops finally arrived, filed out clutching souvenirs to show to Daddy Trump. Monty Python with four dead bodies.Meanwhile, several hundred evacuated solons sweated together in their hiding place. Some of the Republicans, steadfastly loyal to their death cult, refused the face masks offered by police. One outraged Democrat described it as a “super-spreader event”. Hours later, Representative Jake La Turner, a Trump diehard from Kansas, punctually tested positive for the virus. Continue reading...

Steven Sund and House and Senate sergeants-at-arms quit after criticism of bungled policing effortsThe head of the US Capitol police and two other senior security officials are resigning amid mounting criticism of the bungled police response to the assault on Capitol Hill by a violent mob of Donald Trump supporters.Steven Sund’s resignation will be effective from 16 January, and follows calls by the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and other senior figures for heads to roll. Continue reading...

Helen Viola Jackson was just 17 when she married James Bolin, a 93-year-old veteran, in Missouri in 1936Helen Viola Jackson’s 1936 marriage to James Bolin was unusual to say the least: he was 93 and in declining health, and she was a 17-year-old schoolgirl.Bolin was also a civil war veteran who fought for the Union in the border state of Missouri. Jackson was almost certainly the last remaining widow of a civil war soldier when she died on 16 December at a nursing home in Marshfield, Missouri. She was 101. Continue reading...

Vaccine optimism, central bank action and Bidenomics keep prices above pre-Covid peakThe global economy has just had its worst year of the modern age and 2021 has not got off to the best of starts either. Yet stock markets appear impervious to bad news, with the MSCI World Index of developed market shares 10% above its pre-crisis peak. There are a number of reasons why equity markets are so hot.Central bank action. Led by the US Federal Reserve, central banks were quick to respond to the market turmoil that accompanied the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in February and March last year. Interest rates were cut and money was pumped into the global economy through asset-purchase schemes known as quantitative easing. Just as importantly, the Fed gave the impression that it would not allow share prices on Wall Street to fall too far. Continue reading...

US lost 140,000 jobs in December, down from a gain of 245,000 in November, ending seven months of jobs growthThe recovery in the US jobs market collapsed in December, the last full month of Donald Trump’s presidency, as coronavirus infections soared across the country.The US lost 140,000 jobs in December, down from a gain of 245,000 in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The loss ended seven months of jobs growth with the leisure and hospitality sector once again bearing the biggest losses. Continue reading...

Activists who helped Democrats win in Georgia watched in horror as a pro-Trump mob and lawmakers tried to overturn the people’s willWednesday was supposed to be a day of jubilation for organizers in Georgia. Continue reading...

Even after four years of dire predictions, our imaginations had failed to prepare us for Wednesday’s scenes“Are you watching this?” I was crossing the road, five minutes late to pick up the kids, and after reading the text, paused to scroll. Whoa. Instantly, I texted someone else. “Is your TV on?” “No.” “Turn it on.” After pick-up, we ran to a doctor’s appointment, where the receptionist had the TV on behind the desk. “This is insane,” he murmured, as someone in the waiting room read a news report aloud to his teenage daughter. When we got home, a few neighbours had come out of their apartments to mill, masked, in the hallway. “The numbers of people who support this look low, but it doesn’t have to be a majority,” said one, darkly.The absorption into daily life of disastrous events is one the world has grown used to over the last 12 months, which isn’t to say each new disaster isn’t shocking. This is particularly true in America, where no matter how many times one is reminded that millions of Americans hold opinions that seem, to millions of others, actively insane, their public expression never gets less astounding. When the Trump-supporting mob stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, the most flabbergasting thing was less that it was happening, than that after four years of dire predictions, our imaginations had still failed to prepare us. Continue reading...

On Parler and 4chan Trumpists write of feeling ‘like puking’ as president says those who ‘broke law will pay’Donald Trump’s belated “concession” to a peaceful and orderly transition of power after the storming of the US Capitol has provoked anger and conspiracy theories among some of his most ardent followers.On social media channels and chatrooms like Parler and 4chan, where far-right Trumpists have gravitated as other social media sites have increasingly shut out the president, there were complaints of betrayal. Continue reading...

Celebrating healthcare workers as ‘heroes’ obscures the systemic failures that forced us to fill the gap

I will always regret that I did not do more to stop war with Vietnam. Now, I am calling on whistleblowers to step up and expose Trump’s plansPresident Trump’s incitement of criminal mob violence and occupation of the Capitol makes clear there is no limitation whatever on the abuse of power he may commit in the next two weeks he remains in office. Outrageous as his incendiary performance was on Wednesday, I fear he may incite something far more dangerous in the next few days: his long-desired war with Iran.Related: Fears mount that Trump’s final 13 days in office pose a security threat Continue reading...

There’s nothing wrong with exerting pressure on elected officials in the halls of power, but Trump’s supporters crossed a lineOn Wednesday, Trumpist demonstrators crossed the line into insurrection. Line is not just a metaphor: one of the great democratic features of Washington is that it offers a vast physical space for people to voice protest, but also clear boundaries of where pressure on representatives must stop. The “March on Washington” is nowhere mentioned in the constitution, and yet it’s a great American political institution. But it is about citizens converging on their capital to contest what their representatives are doing, not to put themselves in their place and usurp power.Related: Democratic leaders call for Trump's removal from office Continue reading...

I had gone to take pictures of the joint session of Congress – I had no idea what was coming our wayRelated: Anger and incredulity at police failure to defend the Capitol from Trump mobOn the morning that the US Capitol was stormed by Trump supporters, I knew it was going to be a pretty big day. Agence France-Presse (AFP) had photographers all over the city and my job was to be inside the Capitol, photographing the joint session where the vote counting would occur. But I had no idea what was coming our way. Continue reading...

Donald Trump promises peaceful transition of presidential power to Joe Biden after violence rocked the Capitol building this week. Plus, 2020 was joint hottest year on recordGood morning.Two months after the election, Donald Trump has finally acknowledged that Joe Biden will be the next president of the US and promised a smooth transfer of power – although he still defended making his numerous failed legal challenges to the election. On Wednesday Trump incited his supporters to march on the Capitol and prevent Biden’s confirmation as president, leading to a mob attack which left a police officer and four citizens dead. Alongside smashing windows and looting artefacts, the pro-Trump mob also attacked a group of reporters, smashing up their equipment and writing “murder the media” on one of the Capitol’s door. Continue reading...

The road to the Super Bowl starts on Saturday as the red hot Bills face the Colts, while the Browns return to the postseason after 18 years on SundayWhat the Colts need to do to win: Any team whose main strength is their offensive line is hardly a must-see, but the Colts are a well-balanced unit – ranking in the top 10 in both offense and defense this season. If that offensive line helps rookie running back Jonathan Taylor play to his best on Saturday, the Bills will be in trouble. After a so-so start to his NFL career, Taylor has been ripping into opponents since December, when he averaged 5.9 yards per attempt. In his last game (admittedly against the risible Jaguars) he ran for 253 yards. Continue reading...

Each senator will wield an inordinate amount of power and is likely to prove a tricky challenge for the incoming presidentDemocrats may have reclaimed control of the Senate with two victories in Georgia but their majority is slim and will herald an era where every senator wields an inordinate amount of power over the vital upper chamber.In other words, every senator will be the deciding vote in a situation that has happened only a few other times in the chamber’s history and is likely to prove a tricky challenge for the incoming president, Joe Biden – albeit one preferable to dealing with continued Republican control. Continue reading...

Large parts of America were shocked at the invasion of the US Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. But Black athletes see such outrages all the timeThe silence has been deafening on the right. From the right-wing evangelicals who had prayed for Donald Trump to be reelected, to the All Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter crowds, to the Kaepernick haters and those who denigrated Black Lives Matter as violent thugs. In the wake of a mob of Trump supporters invading the US Capitol in an attempted coup on Wednesday, the same people who rushed to condemn peaceful protests against racism are either silent or ludicrously blame the scenes on antifa. Continue reading...

The playbook for the 6 January insurrection had been tested across the country for yearsAs Susan Bro watched the footage of a mob of white Trump supporters breaking into the US Capitol and halting the official count of the 2020 election results, she was “mad as hell”, but she was not surprised.Bro’s daughter, Heather Heyer, was murdered in 2017 while protesting against neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia. Donald Trump had responded to Heyer’s death by saying there were “very fine people on both sides”. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed. You can read our main story on the day’s events below:

Brian Sicknick died of injuries suffered while ‘physically engaging’ with group who stormed the building

Simon & Schuster says it ‘cannot support senator after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom’Publishers have cancelled a planned book by Senator Josh Hawley, who objected to Joe Biden’s presidential election win and backed baseless claims that the vote was stolen.Thousands of Trump supporters gathered in Washington on Wednesday and many ended up storming into the Capitol building and occupying it for hours, resulting in four deaths and delaying the certification of Biden’s win. A widely seen photo, taken before the occupation, shows Hawley raising a fist in solidarity to the crowd. Continue reading...