SPECIAL EDITION JANUARY 6 2021
National Guard on Hand as Trump Supporters Rally in DC
Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump are marching Wednesday in multiple rallies in Washington as they back his objection to the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the November election.
Trump is speaking at a rally on the Ellipse, just south of the White House.
Biden is set to deliver remarks Wednesday from his home in Delaware after meeting with his economic advisers.
Congress is expected to certify the Electoral College results on Wednesday.
Ahead of Wednesday’s events, Trump continued to use Twitter to make unsubstantiated claims that he won the election.
“They won’t stand for a landslide election victory to be stolen,” the president said of those traveling to Washington for the rallies.
Hundreds of people gathered Tuesday night in Washington, including some groups who clashed with police.
Authorities said they arrested at least six people on charges that included weapons and ammunition possession, assaulting a police officer and possessing a stun gun.
Washington streets were shut down, and Mayor Muriel Bowser called in the National Guard, fearing repeats of violence between protest groups like the city saw during the summer.
Downtown shops have been boarded up, and National Guard members will assist D.C. and National Park police controlling crowds on Wednesday.
Bowser and politicians in neighboring Maryland and Virginia have urged residents to stay home Wednesday and avoid counterprotests.
I am asking Washingtonians and those who live in the region to stay out of the downtown area on Tuesday and Wednesday and not to engage with demonstrators who come to our city seeking confrontation, and we will do what we must to ensure all who attend remain peaceful.
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) January 4, 2021
Some activists on social media also called for counter protesters to stay home, warning against inciting violence between groups.
Clashes between Trump supporters and counter protesters in December led to four people suffering stab wounds.
The Proud Boys, designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, are expected to be present at the rally on Wednesday.
Proud boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio was arrested Monday on charges of destruction of property for burning a Black Lives Matter flag that was torn down from a historic Black church during protests last month in Washington. He was released from police custody on Tuesday but has been barred from returning to the city before his next hearing in June.
The election certification, a usually routine and ceremonial function that is the final step after the Electoral College officially elected Biden on December 14, has turned into a litmus test on Republican lawmakers’ loyalty to Trump. More than 100 Trump loyalists in Congress are set to challenge Biden’s certification.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to fellow Democrats on Tuesday that the certification “is about guaranteeing trust in our Democratic system.”
“As Members of Congress, we all have a responsibility to uphold the principle: the people are sovereign and that they hold the power to choose their leaders through the ballot box,” she said.
WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — The U.S. Capitol locked down Wednesday with lawmakers inside as violent clashes broke out between supporters of President Donald Trump and police.
An announcement was played inside the Capitol as lawmakers were meeting and expected to vote to affirm Joe Biden's victory. Due to an "external security threat," no one could enter or exit the Capitol complex, the recording said. Vice President Mike Pence has been evacuated safely.
Protesters tore down metal barricades at the bottom of the Capitol's steps and were met by officers in riot gear. Some tried to push past the officers who held shields and officers could be seen firing pepper spray into the crowd to keep them back. Some in the crowd were shouting "traitors" as officers tried to keep them back.
Videos posted online showed protesters fighting with Capitol Police officers as police fired pepper spray to keep them back.
Police told congressional staff members they should evacuate the Cannon House Office Building and the building that houses the Library of Congress. It wasn't immediately clear what specifically sparked the evacuation.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE:
Trump's supporters rallied to bolster the president's unproven claims of widespread voter fraud. officials Election from both political parties, governors in key battleground states and Trump's former attorney general, William Barr, have said there was no widespread fraud in the election.
"We will not let them silence your voices," Trump told the protesters, who had lined up before sunrise to get a prime position to hear the president.
The crowd cheered when he said, "We will stop the steal." That's been the rallying cry of protests against the election results.
“We will never give up, we will never concede,” Trump said in his hour-long remarks.
Leaders across Illinois, Springfield express disgust amid violent protests at U.S. Capitol
Photo Julio Cortez, AP
Springfield-area and statewide elected leaders and activists across the political spectrum expressed surprise and dismay to Wednesday’s violent protests and attempts in Washington, D.C.
“The scenes of violence happening at the U.S. Capitol are absolutely shocking and disgraceful,” said state Rep. Mike Murphy, R-Springfield. "What's happening today you would see in a Second- or Third-World democracy."
State Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, a former U.S. Capitol staff member, said: “As someone who has worked on Capitol Hill, this is beyond scary and a sad day for our country.”
Butler faulted President Donald Trump, a fellow Republican, for allowing violence to happen both inside and outside the Capitol as Congress attempted to finalize the results of the November election in which Trump was defeated by former Vice President and now President-elect Joe Biden, a Democrat.
"Today is a day of reckoning” for the Republican Party, Butler said, adding that the events in Washington were a “direct assault” on our democracy.
Added Murphy, a Korean War veteran: "The peaceful transition of power is something I always thought was something we could hang our hat on. We can no longer say that."
Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said in posts on Twitter that he was “disgusted watching the violence playing out inside and around the Capitol. First and foremost, I pray for the safety of our first responders, elected officials, staff and the public.”
The governor said in a tweet that Trump “has incited a violent coup attempt. And his enablers share responsibility for this, pure and simple.
“This violence is abhorrent and is nothing like what the founders envisioned for this nation,” Pritzker added. “The peaceful transition of power is a bedrock of our democracy. It is sacred and must be protected.”
Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, said: “The events unfolding at the United States Capitol today, and the inflammatory remarks by members of the Republican Party, are a disgrace to the core values and beliefs of our great nation. These actions do not represent our Republican Party, and are against everything we stand for as Americans. I am sickened and deeply saddened by what I have witnessed today. Any public officials who condone these actions have no place in the Republican Party or in our democracy.”
Emily Cahill, a Plainfield resident and Trump supporter who organized Wednesday's “Save Our State” rally outside the Illinois Capitol about the presidential election results, said she didn’t agree with protesters storming the U.S. Capitol “in the way they did, but their voices are being heard.
"It did stop them from certifying a faulty election," she said, "so maybe it will get more light shined onto the issue because if we don't stop what happened in 2020, the 2022 election is going to be rigged.”
Cahill said violence “is not what we are about. We are about peaceful protesting and getting our word out there. That is why we are here.”
This story will be updated.
Contact Dean Olsen: dolsen@gannett.com; (217) 836-1068; twitter.com/DeanOlsenSJR.
'Protesters are in the building': US Capitol under siege
WASHINGTON (AP) — The crowd pushed past the police barricades, up the steps to the iron doors and in what seemed like no time at all, hoisted a Trump flag from the U.S. Capitol.
“Protesters are in the building,” came the last words picked up by a microphone carrying a live feed of the Senate before it shut off.
Hundreds of President Donald Trump’s supporters paraded and hollered through some of the most hallowed spaces in the Capitol -- propped at the Senate dais and in the House speaker's office -- all to protest the election and keep President Donald Trump in office.
It was an extraordinary, unprecedented scene.
Trump, the defeated president, had been encouraging protesters as Congress convened for a joint session to certify Joe Biden’s win.
Under the very risers set up for Biden’s inauguration at the U.S. Capitol, the Trump supporters gathered.
Protests are typical at the Capitol. But this one was not.
At least one person was shot and killed, though it’s not clear who pulled the trigger during the chaotic scene. Some in the crowd were shouting “traitors” as officers tried to keep them back.
Inside the House chamber, lawmakers described a harrowing scene.
As they stayed down, they were told to have gas masks at the ready -- and take off the lapel pins they wear identifying them as elected representatives.
Police had guns drawn, and furniture barricaded the door.
Glass was shattered. Some prayed while protesters banged on the doors. Rep. Dean Phillips yelled loudly at his Republicans, “This is because of you!”
A chaplain prayed as police guarded the doors to the chamber and lawmakers tried to gather information about what was happening.
Announcements blared: Due to an “external security threat,” no one could enter or exit the Capitol complex, the recording said. Lawmakers tweeted that they were sheltering in place.
Reporters and lawmakers hid under tables as the protesters banged on the door, demanding to be let inside. Rumors of guns spread but it wasn’t clear if any shots were fired beside the one. Tear gas was said to have been dispersed in the Rotunda.
After making sure the hallways were clear, police swiftly escorted people down a series of hallways and tunnels to a cafeteria in one of the House office buildings.
As he walked out of the Capitol, Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes said he “always assumed it could never happen here.”
But others were not so sure.
Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, among those challenging Biden’s win, blamed “both sides” for the chaos at the Capitol.
“What do you think was taking place in this country?” he told reporters. “There’s been a lot of people during the last four years that have just been getting more and more incensed over what is going on around the country, on both sides. It’s just too bad. This is not how we handle things in America.”
The Senate side was not much different.
Vice President Mike Pence, who was presiding over the session, was evacuated from the Senate as protesters and police shouted outside the doors.
Police evacuated the chamber at 2:30 p.m., ushering senators to the first of what would be several undisclosed locations.
Clerks grabbed boxes of electoral college certificates as they left.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, attending the session, was among those ushered to safety.
As
soon as they left, protesters roamed the halls shouting, “Where are
they?” One got on the Senate dais and yelled, “Trump won that election.”
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