- The storming of the US Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump has prompted calls by some legislators to remove him from office before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on January 20.
- The chaotic scenes unfolded after Republican Trump, who has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, addressed thousands of protesters and repeated unfounded claims that the election was stolen from him.
- Four people died and 64 were arrested as protesters entered the building.
Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the Capitol chaos fallout. This is Creede Newton taking over from Elizabeth Melimopoulos.
One day after Trump praise, White House condemns Capitol mob
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany gave a brief press conference on Thursday evening, where she condemned violence at the Capitol.
“We grieve for the loss of life and those injured, and we hold them in our prayers and close to our hearts at this time”, McEnany said, a day after the Capitol was besieged by pro-Trump demonstrators.
“What we saw yesterday was a group of violent rioters undermining the first amendment rights of thousands,” she said.
“Those who besieged the Capitol are the opposite of everything this administration stands for”.
Trump campaign lawyer in Philadelphia withdraws, claims services used ‘to perpetuate a crime’
A court document filed in Pennsylvania shows a Trump campaign lawyer, Jerome Marcus, has withdrawn because “the client has used the lawyer’s services to perpetuate a crime”.
Marcus went on to say in the filling that “the client insists upon taking action that the lawyer considers repugnant and with which the lawyer has a fundamental disagreement.”
Marcus filed a suit in federal court against the Philadelphia County Board of Elections, which alleged Republican poll watchers and representatives were not allowed to observe ballot tallying.
The case has been dormant since November, when Marcus told a judge that Republican observers were present during the tally.
Sedition charges on the table in Capitol rioting: US Justice official
Seditious conspiracy charges, as well as rioting and insurrection, will be considered in arrests related to the breach of the US Capitol, Justice Department officials said.
“All options around the table,” including charges of seditious conspiracy, rioting and insurrection, Acting US Attorney Michael Sherwin told reporters in a news briefing.
‘He hasn’t even called us’: Pelosi says Capitol Police chief should resign
US Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund to resign, after officers of the federal force charged with protecting Congress allowed supporters of President Donald Trump to storm the Capitol, sending lawmakers fleeing.
Officers fell back as the crowds advanced on Wednesday, allowing Trump supporters angry about his election defeat into the chambers of Congress to disrupt certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Others fought to keep lawmakers and staff safe.
“He hasn’t even called us since this happened,” Pelosi said of Sund during a news conference, adding that she made it known she would call for his resignation.
“Many of our Capitol Police just acted so bravely and with such concern for the staff, the members, for the Capitol … and they deserve our gratitude. But there was a failure at the top of the Capitol Police,” Pelosi said.
Senator: increase Capitol security ‘dramatically’
Senator Chris Murphy said that security around the Capitol Building must be ‘dramatically’ increased during protests, or the rules of engagement used by Capitol police need to change so police can more aggressively deal with rioters.
Murphy is the top Democrat on the US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, which oversees the US Capitol Police.
Trump ally Senator Graham calls for a peaceful transition to Biden
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close political ally and supporter of President Trump, threw cold water on talk of invoking the 25thAmendment to remove Trump from office and called on the president to facilitate a peaceful transition to the next administration.
Trump went “too far” by inciting the crowd of his supporters to storm the Congress, and Trump “needs to understand that his actions yesterday did not help”, Graham said at a news conference.
“As to the 25th Amendment being invoked, I did not believe that’s appropriate,” Graham told reporters.
“I am hoping that President Trump will allow his team to work closely with a Biden transition team to transfer power peacefully.”
Graham called on Trump to “turn down the rhetoric and allow us as a nation to heal and move forward”.
He said he has spoken to Trump’s top aides this morning about ensuring the transition proceeds.
John Bolton calls Capitol violence a ‘coup effort’
The former US Ambassador to the UN and Donald Trump’s one-time National Security Adviser branded Wednesday’s riot on Capitol Hill as a “coup effort”.
Speaking to UK broadcaster Sky, John Bolton, who has become one of Trump’s strongest critics since being fired from the White House, added that the outgoing US President will talk about running for reelection in 2024 but “will not run because he will fear defeat”.
Biden: Equal justice not carried out
President-elect Joe Biden criticised law enforcement’s handling of the pro-Trump rioters at the US Capitol Wednesday, saying they committed a “clear failure to carry out equal justice”.
“No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they wouldn’t have been treated very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol,” Biden said at an event to announce his nomination of Merrick Garland to be attorney general.
“We all know that’s true. And it’s unacceptable. Totally unacceptable.”
“And the American people saw it in plain view.”
House Speaker Pelosi calls for Trump’s removal
House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for the removal of Trump through emergency constitutional procedures under the 25th Amendment.
“We are in a very difficult place in our country as long as Donald Trump still sits in the White House,” Pelosi told reporters at the Capitol.
“By inciting sedition as he did yesterday, he must be removed from office,” Pelosi, a Democrat, said.
“The president must be held accountable again,” she said, adding she expects to hear an answer from Vice President Mike Pence “yes or no’ whether he will move to replace Trump.
Pelosi also said she had called for and expected to receive the resignation of Steven Sund, the chief of the US Capitol Police following the security failure at the Capitol.
Biden: ‘They weren’t protesters … They were … domestic terrorists’
President-elect Joe Biden had harsh words for the pro-Trump mob that stormed the US Capitol, as well as for President Trump himself, blaming him squarely for the violence.
“What we witnessed yesterday was not dissent, it was not disorder, it was not protest. It was chaos,” Biden said Thursday in Wilmington, Delaware. “They weren’t protestors. Don’t dare call them protestors. They were a riotous mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists.”
“I wish we could say we couldn’t see it coming. But that isn’t true. We could see it coming.”
“The past four years, we’ve had a president who’s made his contempt for democracy, our constitution, the rule of law, clear in everything he has done,” Biden continued.
“He’s unleashed an all-out assault of our institutions of our democracy from the outset. And yesterday was the culmination of that unrelenting attack.”
White House tells political appointees to prepare for January 20 resignation
White House deputy chief of staff Chris Liddell sent a memo to Cabinet agencies advising political appointees to prepare to resign on January 20 as part of the transition of power to President-elect Joe Biden.
“As we prepare for a transition of power, we must take appropriate measures to ensure this is done in an orderly manner. Traditionally, Presidential Appointees in non-term positions have been asked to submit formal letters of resignation. In keeping with this past practice, all Presidential Appointees must submit a letter of resignation to President Donald J. Trump with a departure date of no later than 1200 pm on January 20, 2021,” said the memo, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.
A White House official described the letter as part of the normal transition process.
Senator McConnell: ‘The ultimate blame … lies with the criminals..’
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell condemned the ransacking of the Capitol.
And said that “the ultimate blame for yesterday’s events lies with the unhinged criminals who tried to disrupt our government and with those who incited them. But this fact does not preclude our addressing the shocking failures in the Capitol’s security posture and protocols.”
US transportation chief resigns after Capitol attack
US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said she would resign after the attack on the US Capitol.
Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said her resignation would take effect Monday. She said the attack “has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside.”
Other top White House officials have also offered their resignation. Read more here.
Republican Maryland governor calls for Trump’s removal
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has called for President Donald Trump to resign the White House or be removed from office, saying Vice President Mike Pence should take over to ensure a peaceful transfer of power to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.
“Governor Hogan is calling for Vice President Pence to take over and conduct the peaceful transition of power,” Hogan’s spokesman Mike Ricci tweeted.
“I think there is no question that America would be better off if President Trump would resign,” Hogan said, according to Baltimore-based WBAL Radio.
OPINION: The day Trump finally lost it
I realise this was a chilling and nauseating day but I also found “Black Wednesday” somewhat entertaining. It felt like watching the last episode of the reality TV show, The Apprentice. Except Donald Trump, the man who fires, was himself fired, finally and for good.
For four years, President Donald Trump has been messing up big time. This week, however, he messed up bigly. On November 3, he lost the election and on January 6, he lost his chance for a comeback.
Read more here.
Is a peaceful transfer of power in the US at risk?
These are just some of the terms used to describe the chaos as the US Congress prepared to certify Joe Biden as the next US president: “An assault on American democracy”, “attempted coup” and “domestic terrorism”.
Crowds fuelled by Trump’s false claim that the election was stolen from him stormed the Capitol building to disrupt the process.
Trump is still refusing to concede, so can the US go through an orderly transition of power? For more click here.
Schumer says he will fire Senate sergeant-at-arms over Capitol breach: Politico
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he will fire Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mike Stenger when Democrats take control of the chamber this month after the pro-Trump riots in the Capitol.
“If Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Stenger hasn’t vacated the position by then, I will fire him as soon as Democrats have a majority in the Senate,” Schumer told Politico in a statement on Thursday.
Woman killed in the siege of US Capitol was a veteran
The woman shot dead by police during the siege of the US Capitol was identified by police as Ashli Babbitt, a US Air Force veteran whose social media activity indicates she embraced far-fetched right-wing conspiracy theories.
Babbitt, 35, was an avid supporter of US President Trump, her husband told KUSI News. Her posts and retweets on Twitter backed Trump’s false assertions that he was defeated because Democrats elaborately rigged the November 3 election.
Top China, Russia advisers among White House resignations
Top national security aides and other staffers have resigned from Donald Trump’s administration in protest over the storming of Capitol Hill, and officials said more departures are expected soon.
Deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, a leading figure in the development of Trump’s China policy, resigned abruptly on Wednesday in response to the incident, a senior administration official told Reuters.
That was followed by Ryan Tully, the senior director for European and Russian affairs at the National Security Council, another senior official said on condition of anonymity.
Mexican President deplores the loss of life in US violence
The Mexican president has said he wanted to refrain from comments on events in Washington, apart from commenting on the “regrettable” loss of life.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that “we have a very good relationship with President Trump, and we are not going to do any meddling”, adding that he also expected “no conflicts” with US president-elect Joe Biden.
Lopez Obrador has consistently prided himself on having a very good relationship with Donald Trump, he was one of the last leaders to congratulate Democrat Joe Biden after his electoral triumph.
UK PM condemns Trump for fomenting unrest, doubting election result
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has denounced Trump after the president’s supporters stormed Congress in response to his incendiary rejection of the US election result.
“In so far as he encouraged people to storm the Capitol and in so far as the president consistently has cast doubt on the outcome of a free and fair election, I believe that was completely wrong,”
“And I unreservedly condemn encouraging people to behave in the disgraceful way that they did in the Capitol.”
Johnson told a news conference while welcoming Biden’s confirmation as the next president by Congress.
Shopify removes stores affiliated with Trump
Canada’s Shopify Inc took down stores affiliated with US President Donald Trump from its e-commerce platform.
Shopify said the recent events determined that Trump’s actions violated its policy, which prohibits promotion or support of organisations, platforms or people that threaten or condone violence to further a cause.
DC Mayor: ‘Clearly the result of a failure’
Washington, DC mayor Muriel Bowser has said the brazen attack on the US Capitol was “clearly the result of a failure” and called for an investigation into the events.
“Congress must create a nonpartisan commission to understand the security failures that happened on the Capitol” Bowser said in a news conference on Thursday.
Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee said a total of four people died during the chaos at the Capitol, including one woman who was shot by a Capitol Police officer. Three other people also died because of medical emergencies, he added and 68 people were arrested, with 41 of those on US Capitol grounds.
Republican congressman calls for Trump’s removal with 25th Amendment
Republican US Representative Adam Kinzinger has called for the 25th Amendment to be invoked to remove President Donald Trump from office, a day after the president’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in a harrowing assault on American democracy.
“All indications are that the president has become unmoored, not just from his duty or even his oath, but from reality itself,” Kinzinger said in a video he posted on Twitter.
Top Senate Democrat calls for Trump to be removed from office immediately
US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has called on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution to immediately remove Trump from office, saying if he does not act, Congress should impeach the president
Capitol police chief calls riot ‘criminal’
The chief of the US Capitol Police has said the violent mob that stormed the building wielded metal pipes, chemical irritants and other weapons against law enforcement.
Steven Sund issued a statement on Thursday saying the rioting protesters “actively attacked” police officers and “were determined to enter into the Capitol Building by causing great damage”.
A Capitol Police officer shot and killed one person, who Sund identified as Ashli Babbitt. Sund did not identify the officer but said they would be placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
