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...
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...
Donald Trump acknowledges in a video released on Thursday night that a 'new administration' will be inaugurated on 20 January, one day after he repeated baseless claims at a Washington DC rally that the election had been stolen. The rally became a precursor for a violent attack on the US Capitol that appalled the nation. In his video, Trump went on to say the rioters 'do not represent our country' and that those who broke the law would pay.
Pelosi and Schumer say if president isn’t removed via 25th amendment he should be impeached for a second timeDemocratic leaders have called for Donald Trump to be forced from office before his term ends on 20 January for his role in inciting the mob attack on the US Congress, in what his successor, Joe Biden, described as “one of the darkest days” in US history.The president-elect said Wednesday’s insurrection was carried out by “domestic terrorists” and accused his predecessor of unleashing an “all-out attack” on the country’s democratic institutions Continue reading...
Amid calls for impeachment and cabinet resignations, president issues first straightforward condemnation of mob attackMore than 24 hours after he incited a mob to attack the US Capitol, Donald Trump has urged an end to the violence and finally acknowledged that Joe Biden will be the next president, saying in a video statement that “a new administration will be inaugurated on January 20” and promising a smooth transfer of power.The statement was posted on Twitter – one of the only social media platforms to which the president still has access – following a day of silence after his unprecedented encouragement of rioters bent on insurrection. Continue reading...
Pro-Trump rioters wrote ‘Murder the media’ on a Capitol door and attacked a group of reporters and their camera equipmentThe violent mob of Donald Trump supporters that stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday targeted journalists and the press during the rampage, incited by a president who has branded the news media an “enemy of the people”. Continue reading...
The speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, called for Donald Trump's immediate removal from office via the 25th amendment, a day after a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol.
President-elect says federal judge will restore ‘integrity and independence’ to roleJoe Biden formally selected Merrick Garland to be his attorney general on Thursday, tasking the long-serving jurist with the responsibility of restoring “the honor, the integrity, the independence” of a beleaguered justice department. Continue reading...
Congress has the power and precedent to do so. Otherwise what happened on Wednesday may be a dress rehearsal for future attacks on rule of lawAs protecting our democracy becomes an urgent national focus during the final two weeks of Donald Trump’s term, a growing number of officials and citizens have begun debating whether to remove Trump from power, either through the 25th Amendment or impeachment. Regardless of what happens in these coming days, it is imperative that Congress ensure that this president never takes power again. The clearest and most constitutionally appropriate way to do this is for the House to impeach President Trump, and then for the Senate to vote to disqualify him from holding any future federal public office.The power of Congress to disqualify an impeached president from holding office has received less attention through history than the power of Congress to remove a president from office. The Constitution is clear that after a House majority vote to impeach and a two-thirds Senate vote to convict, the president is removed from office. Continue reading...
Doug Ducey has declined to institute a statewide mask mandate even as the state reports the highest rate of new cases in the USArizona is reporting the highest rate of new coronavirus cases in the United States, as the state’s governor continues to resist calls to install strong restrictive measures. Continue reading...
Politicians call for Trump’s removal from office before Biden’s inauguration, amid fears president will incite more violenceDonald Trump’s final 13 days as US president pose a grave national security threat and warrant his immediate removal from office, politicians and activists said on Thursday.Trump incited a mob of supporters to stage an insurrection at the US Capitol building in Washington, leading to four deaths, 68 arrests and bipartisan outrage. Continue reading...
Members of the pro-Trump mob were pictured sitting on Nancy Pelosi’s desk and on the Senate floorThe FBI has appealed for people to help identify the Capitol rioters on Thursday, as some of the more prominent members of the pro-Trump mob began to be named online. Continue reading...
by Presented by Jonathan Freedland, with Kenya Evelyn on (#5CHEM)
Jonathan Freedland and Kenya Evelyn discuss the chaotic scenes that took place in Washington DC on Wednesday. Plus, Sam Levine on how the Democrats flipped the SenateThe outcome of the two Senate runoff elections in Georgia was meant to be the big news story of the week. Then, US democracy went into meltdown on Wednesday when a mob of rioters incited by President Trump stormed the Capitol building, leaving several people dead.This didn’t stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential election win, but it did ask many questions about what democracy looks like in the US. Jonathan Freedland and Kenya Evelyn dissect what happens to Trump and his supporters now. Plus, Sam Levine explains the surprising results from Georgia. Continue reading...
Police shot Babbitt, 35, a military veteran and Trump supporter, reportedly as she tried to break through doorA woman shot and killed by police during the storming of the US Capitol by a pro-Donald Trump mob has been named as a 14-year veteran of the US air force and of four foreign military tours, including to Iraq and Afghanistan.Ashli Babbitt, 35, had travelled to Washington DC from San Diego, her husband told the local news station KUSI, adding that she was a passionate Trump supporter. Continue reading...
List includes Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri and a majority of Republican House membersThe Senate and the House of Representatives convened on Wednesday to perform what is traditionally seen as a purely ceremonial vote: to certify each state’s presidential election results.At a rally before the vote, Donald Trump continued to baselessly insist that the election results – which he lost to Democrat challenger Joe Biden – were rigged and the US president helped instigate a mob to storm the US Capitol building and halt the process. Continue reading...
Readers react to the storming of the Capitol by Donald Trump supportersDonald Trump tells the rioters: “Remember this day forever!” (American carnage: how Trump’s footsoldiers ran riot in the Capitol, 7 January). That’s exactly the danger. America’s 6 January 2021 recalls France’s 6 February 1934. That day, rightwing crowds, fuelled by antisemitic fantasies and fascist myths, tried to storm the Assemblée Nationale and overthrow parliamentary democracy.They were beaten off (16 people died), but they remembered that day as a moment of patriotic sacrifice, and the boast that “I was there on 6 February” inspired the ultra-right collaborators in the murderous Milice, who hunted down resisters and Jews during the Nazi occupation a few years later. Now the “veterans” of 6 January in Washington will treasure their memories and wait for their hour to return. Trumpism goes underground, distilling its venom.
The president, his family and his allies made no shortage of disturbing remarks in the run-up t0 Wednesday’s siegeThe violent riot inside the US Capitol on Wednesday by a pro-Trump mob and far-right groups seeking to overturn the results of the presidential election have led to calls for those who incited the insurrection to be prosecuted.Related: Trump's former attorney general Bill Barr says president 'orchestrated' Capitol riot – live Continue reading...
Police chief says some arrests related to curfew violations while others arrested on charges of unlicensed or prohibited firearmsA first batch of rioters who stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday, at the encouragement of Donald Trump in his futile bid to overturn his election defeat were due in court in Washington DC, to face charges on Thursday.After a pro-Trump mob of many hundreds attacked the seat of US legislative government in a brazen breach of security that was barely resisted by the thin ranks of law enforcement in its initial stages, police on Thursday stepped up their search for perpetrators of violence. Continue reading...
A couple of Zoom tarot readings reveal that, unsurprisingly, the clairvoyants were as blindsided as the rest of usIn these uncertain times, tarot and astrology readings are experiencing a renaissance.But should they? If they are that great, surely they would have predicted the calamities of 2020. Right? Covid is the largest, most disruptive event in our lifetimes and, in spiritual parlance, the energy shift has been epic. Continue reading...
by Peter Beaumont, Matt Fidler, Nikhita Chulani, Paul on (#5CGYR)
A detailed recap of the six hours in Washington DC that shook US democracy11.50am Donald Trump addresses a crowd of thousands of supporters whom he has encouraged to come to Washington on the day of the planned congressional certification of Joe Biden’s victory in November’s presidential election. Continue reading...
by Shaun Walker, Helen Davidson in Taipei, Tom Philli on (#5CGYS)
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani says western democracy is brittle and weakIn much of the world, the scenes that played out in Washington on Wednesday prompted shock, horror and anguish.But in Moscow, Beijing and other capitals where autocratic governments have been subjected to frequent US criticism, there was a good dose of schadenfreude at the chaotic footage of protesters overrunning Congress. The events were also held up by many authoritarian governments as proof of a long-held insistence that the US is in no place to give other nations lectures on democracy. Continue reading...
The events in Washington DC reveal much about how power works in the United States – and for whomBy now, the world has witnessed white rioters seize the Capitol building in Washington DC. After hearing Donald Trump encourage them to reject the presidential election’s outcome, thousands reportedly pushed through cops to storm ongoing congressional debates and reign supreme over politicians who fearfully scurried out of the halls of power. Draped in American, Confederate, and Trump flags, the raiders invaded the House floor, occupied representative offices, and filled balconies and scaffolds that line the windows. Joe Biden took to a podium to respond, cautioning the country that “our democracy is under unprecedented assault”.On television, I saw paramedics rush a stretcher in the pandemonium. The woman bearing a bloodied face laying on top startled me, the anchor, and the cameraman. Please God, don’t let that woman be dead, I prayed, though her eyes lacked an animating essence. When I saw the video of the Proud Boys burn a Black Lives Matter banner a few weeks ago, I knew there would be more violent acts of desperation because they need a cause to feel empowered. Envying the resistance of the oppressed, Trump supporters want reasons to march and chant, so they create enemies and feign vulnerability as their cause grows lost. They sacrificed their lives to save white supremacy, even though it threatens them, too, materially and morally. And Black lives may never matter to people, like the woman, who will risk their own white lives during a pandemic to attack the nation’s capital to protect Donald Trump. Continue reading...
by Michael Sainato in Daytona Beach, Florida on (#5CGVW)
Nearly every state has failed to meet federal standards in getting benefits to 87% of recipients within three weeks amid Covid crisisEugene Williams of Daytona Beach, Florida, lost his job with a restaurant food distributor when the pandemic hit in March 2020, and had been receiving unemployment benefits without issue until June, when he accidentally entered “return to work” in verifying his weekly benefits claim.In doing so, Williams has been unable to restart his unemployment benefits for over 30 weeks, and repeated inquiries to the Florida department of employment opportunity have yet to resolve the issue. Continue reading...
Far-right attempts to storm parliaments and government offices have happened in Germany, Hungary and the Netherlands in recent yearsJust one day after black women, once again, protected US democracy in Georgia, white men were attacking the very symbol of that democracy in Washington DC. The first attack was actually mounted from inside, by a group of Republican congressmembers, who challenged President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory. The second attack started outside, as a pro-Trump and “Stop the Steal” rally, and ended inside, with a mob of far-right protesters breaking through the remarkably weak police cordon and illegally entering the US Capitol, where they proceeded to take selfies with police officers while shouting “Acab” (All Cops are Bastards”).I have been studying the international far right for almost 30 years now and have never seen them as emboldened as in the last years. To be clear, this is not just about Donald Trump or the US. Just last year mostly far-right anti-vaccine protesters tried to storm the Reichstag, the German parliament, also facing remarkably weak police resistance. And in the Netherlands, angry farmers, often led by the far-right Farmers Defence Force, have been destroying government offices and threatening politicians since 2019. Even further back, in 2006, far-right mobs stormed the Hungarian parliament and battled the police for weeks in the streets of Budapest – in many ways the start of the radicalization and return to power of current prime minister Viktor Orbán. Continue reading...
Huge turnout – fueled by in large part by Stacey Abrams and LaTosha Brown – was key for Raphael Warnock and Jon OssoffBlack voters showed up in record numbers for Georgia’s Senate runoff election on Tuesday, handing the Democratic Senate candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff decisive victories against the Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, respectively.According to the Associated Press, more than 4.4 million votes were cast, about 88% of the number who voted in November’s contest, when turnout was 68 percent overall. Continue reading...
UK home secretary urged to deny departing president entry to UK once he leaves officeThe UK home secretary, Priti Patel, said Donald Trump’s incendiary remarks directly provoked the violence witnessed in the US Capitol as she urged him to condemn it.“His comments directly led to the violence and so far he has failed to condemn that violence – and that is completely wrong,” she said. Continue reading...
There are plenty of teams in need of a quarterback, and some big names could be making a move in the coming monthsStick or twist? That is the question front offices across the NFL will be asking this offseason. Do we keep our good-not-great quarterback? Do we roll it back with the veteran for one more year? Or dive into the rookie pool?By a quick, back-of-the-envelope estimate, there are 16 quarterback-needy to quarterback-curious teams in the league. But there are only so many quarterbacks to go around, and there’s always the potential for some post-playoff retirements. Continue reading...
McConnell’s belated defense of democracy rings heroic compared with the tinny sounds emerging from Ted CruzThe Trump supporters who stormed the Congress were not the only insurrectionists in the Capitol building yesterday; a sizeable number were already gathered in the lawmakers’ chambers well before any barriers were breached. In contrast to the agitators in their MAGA hoodies and army fatigue coats, these insurrectionists were seated in their crisp suits when Nancy Pelosi gaveled the opening of the joint session. They are products of our elite schools: Stanford and Yale Law School, Princeton and Harvard Law. They are fully aware that Trump decisively lost a fair election. Yet they have opportunistically chosen to ally themselves with a potentially mortal attack on our democracy.Yet blaming Trump for the violence is pointless. Those who have followed this president knew he would never concede defeat. For the last two months, Trump has essentially become our subversive-in-chief, working overtime to overturn a democratic election. Yesterday, Mitch McConnell finally said, “back in your cage”— overlooking the fact that for years he had fed and nurtured the beast. Yet McConnell’s belated defense of democracy rings heroic compared to the tinny sounds emerging from Ted Cruz. Continue reading...
This week’s roundup also features Magnus Carlsen’s memory and some disc golf brilliance1) Colin Bell, who died this week at the age of 74, was almost certainly the best Manchester City player of the 20th century. Hard running and highly skilful, he danced across the heavy pitches of the 1960s and 1970s. Here, he scores a 1972 Manchester derby hat-trick. Bell won every domestic honour for City, including the 1969 FA Cup. He also played 48 times for England, scoring nine goals. His career was cruelly cut short by a knee injury sustained in this November 1975 derby, after a tackle by United’s Martin Buchan. Bell would return two years later but was never the same player despite his vigorous rehab. His nickname was Nijinsky, not after the Russian ballet dancer, but instead the last racehorse to win the English Triple Crown.Legends on a legend
Biden may find his best intentions tested early on as the Trump administration has been planting legal landmines in his pathWhen Bill Barr was invited to speak at the conservative-leaning Hillsdale College, Michigan, in September, he leapt at the chance to respond to criticism that he had politicized the justice department that he led in order to benefit his political master, Donald Trump.The then US attorney general, who stepped down from the post last month , began his speech by arguing that there had to be political input at the top of the Department of Justice (DoJ) in order for it to be publicly accountable. Then he turned to his own staff and, in response to recent complaints that he had improperly overruled the decisions of career prosecutors, gave them a good tongue-lashing. Continue reading...
Wednesday saw a thin deployment of officers as rioters stormed the Capitol. In June, a very different scene unfolded in the same cityThe contrast between the law enforcement reaction to the storming of the Capitol on Wednesday and the suppression of peaceful protests in the summer is not just stark – it is black and white.The Black Lives Matter demonstrators crowd outside the White House on 1 June was a block away from the building and made no attempt to breach its security. It was a mostly Black crowd, and it was charged by a force made up of Washington police, US Park police, over 5,000 national guard troops and federal agencies like the bureau of prisons. An army helicopter swooped low over the heads of the protesters. Teargas, batons and horses were used to clear a block so that Donald Trump could stage a photo op outside a church across the road. A national guard commander later admitted there had been “excessive use of force”. Continue reading...
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