Tag: riots

Biden Says Rioters Who Stormed Capitol Were Domestic Terrorists

President-elect Joe Biden characterized the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday as domestic terrorists, referring to the violence as “one of the darkest days in the history of our nation.”

“Don’t dare call them protesters,” Mr. Biden said in remarks from Wilmington, Del. “They were a riotous mob. Insurrectionists. Domestic terrorists. It’s that basic. It’s that simple.”

Mr. Biden blamed President Trump for inciting the violence, saying he had “unleashed an all-out assault on our institutions of democracy.” The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

“The past four years, we’ve had a president who’s made his contempt for our democracy, our Constitution and the rule of law clear in everything he has done,” the Democratic president-elect said during remarks in which he also formally introduced his pick for attorney general, Merrick Garland, and several choices for other top Justice Department jobs.

Mr. Biden has said he plans to make a priority of passing a law against domestic terrorism, and he has been urged to create a White House post overseeing the fight against ideologically inspired violent extremists and increasing funding to combat them.

Keep reading

MSM Already Using Capitol Hill Riot To Call For More Internet Censorship

The New York Times has published two new articles titled “The storming of Capitol Hill was organized on social media” and “Violence on Capitol Hill Is a Day of Reckoning for Social Media“, both arguing for more heavy-handed restrictions on speech from Silicon Valley tech giants.

In the former, NYT’s Sheera Frenkel writes “the violence Wednesday was the result of online movements operating in closed social media networks where people believed the claims of voter fraud and of the election being stolen from Mr. Trump,” citing the expert analysis of think tank spinmeister Renee DiResta of “Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian asset” fame. As usual no mention is made of DiResta’s involvement in the New Knowledge scandal in which a Russian interference “false flag” was staged for an Alabama Senate race.

“These people are acting because they are convinced an election was stolen,” DiResta said. “This is a demonstration of the very real-world impact of echo chambers.”

“This has been a striking repudiation of the idea that there is an online and an offline world and that what is said online is in some way kept online,” DiResta adds.

Keep reading

DC Mayor Told Federal Law Enforcement To Stand Down Day Before Violent US Capitol Riot

Mayor Muriel Bowser told federal law enforcement to stand down just one day before a mob of Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, smashing windows, entering the chambers, and forcing lawmakers and congressional staff inside into lockdown.

“To be clear, the District of Columbia is not requesting other federal law enforcement personnel and discourages any additional deployment without immediate notification to, and consultation with, MPD if such plans are underway,” Bowser wrote in a letter to acting U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, and Secretary of the Army Ryan D. McCarthy.

According to Bowser, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department in coordination with the U.S. Park Police, Capitol Police, and Secret Sevice were well-equipped to handle whatever problems could come up during the Trump rallies planned for Wednesday.

Keep reading

AOC’s Comms Director Asks Twitter To Ban Users From Citing AOC’s Support For Violent Riots

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s communications director asked Twitter to bar users from sharing one of the New York congresswoman’s previous tweets in support of protests that make people “uncomfortable,” saying it was being used as “misinfo.”

“@AOC’s Comms Director here. Right-wing accounts are taking the last tweet from this old thread on the ‘defund’ mvmnt & twisting it to imply AOC supports violence like what’s happening at the Capitol. We asked @Twitter to stop the misinfo, but as we wait, you can help with a RT,” she wrote on Twitter.

Keep reading

Multiple explosive devices found in DC amid Capitol chaos

At least two explosive devices were found Wednesday in Washington, DC, according to reports, as supporters of President Trump stormed the US Capitol building in a violent attempt to derail the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

One bomb was found at the Beltway headquarters of the Republican National Committee, the New York Times reported, citing sources briefed on the matter.

The report also said a suspicious package was being investigated at Democratic National Committee headquarters, though that package was not immediately determined to be an explosive.

NBC News additionally reported that at least one other device was found on the grounds of the US Capitol.

Keep reading

As Protest Images Spread, Twitter “Restricts Engagement” With Tweets That “Risk Violence”

As images of the US Capitol under siege (as the media proclaims) shock many around the world, Twitter has decided that – for our own good – these images should be “restricted”…

Keep reading