Trump Turns MAGA Mobs Loose on Congress; Shots Fired

Lame Duck President Donald Trump addressed his followers on the Ellipse this afternoon. “After this, we’re going to walk down and I’ll be there with you,” he said. They walked, but he didn’t, probably because of his bone spurs. He continued:

“We’re going walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators, and congressmen and women. We’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you’ll never take back our country with weakness.”

“We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated. I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”

They marched, but not peacefully, and certainly not patriotically. They resisted Capitol Police, broke into the U.S. Capitol Building, even disrupting the congressional coup plotters working on Trump’s behalf, looting and vandalizing the House and Senate chambers and offices. Tear gas was deployed in the Capitol Rotunda, and at least one rioter has been shot.

The National Guard has been activated, and the DC mayor has declared a 6PM curfew. As of 4PM the President, clearly the instigator of this historic national disgrace, has not called off his MAGA dogs.

On Tuesday, Washingtonian‘s Andrew Beaujon noted that some Trump worshippers had been plotting a Capitol break-in online, but none of us really expected it to happen. We should have.

Updates:

“Trump Justifies Violence at Capitol: These ‘Things’ Happen When No One Recognizes My ‘Sacred Landslide,’” Blake Montgomery, Daily Beast

“Capitol has seen violence over 220 years, but not like this,” Jerry Schwartz, Associated Press

“Every Trump Loyalist Is Complicit in the President’s Incitement of Sedition,” Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine

“Twitter locks Trump out over election fraud tweets amid Capitol siege,” Ina Fried, Axios

“Ivanka, Eric, and Don Jr. Are in Furious Damage Control Mode Following Capitol Hill Siege,” Bess Levin, Vanity Fair

“Democrats, Republicans blame Trump for inciting ‘coup’ as mob storms Capitol,” Colby Itkowitz and Paulina Firozi, Washington Post

Solicitation to commit a crime of violence – 18 U.S. Code § 373

“Republican AGs group sent robocalls urging protesters to the Capitol. GOP officials now insist they didn’t know about it.” Andrea Salcedo, Washington Post

“Guns, Brass Knuckles, Homemade Napalm: Read Some of the Documents From Arrests After the Capitol Riot,” Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian

“‘Trump said I could’: One possible legal defense for accused rioters,” Teri Kanefield and Mark Reichel, Washington Post

“US Capitol Building Riot: Justice Dept. Pursues at Least 150 Suspects,” Katie Benner and Adam Goldman, New York Times

“Who were they? Records reveal Trump fans who stormed Capitol,” Michael Biesecker,
Michael Kunzelman, Gillian Flaccus, and Jim Mustian, Associated Press

“‘Trump said I could’: One possible legal defense for accused rioters,” Teri Kanefield and Mark Reichel, Washington Post

“MAGA Civil War shirts, a Camp Auschwitz hoodie, and other extremist merchandise was on full display at the Capitol riot,” Hilary George-Parkin, Vox

“QAnon reshaped Trump’s party and radicalized believers. The Capitol siege may just be the start.” Drew Harwell, Isaac Stanley-Becker, Razzan Nakhlawi, and Craig Timberg, Washington Post

“Using A Pseudonym, This QAnon Believer Raised $40,000 To Send People To The DC Riot,” Craig Silverman and Jane Lytvynenko, BuzzFeed News

“‘I Answered the Call of My President’: Rioters Say Trump Urged Them On,” Alan Feuer and Nicole Hong, New York Times

“Texas woman who stormed Capitol says she was following Trump’s orders,” Lauren Aratani and Martin Pengelly, The Guardian

“Alabama Man Charged in Capitol Riot Said He Was Following Instructions From Alex Jones: Affidavit,” Arya Hodjat, Daily Beast

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COVID-19: President Trump Urges Insurrection

Last week President Trump told governors to “call the shots” on reopening their states’ economies, then called on mobs of his followers to “liberate” states with Democratic governors, specifically the battleground states of Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia. His rabid supporters turned out at state capitals, and some of them were armed.

A photo of the Ohio protesters banging on the statehouse windows looked familiar:

“One wears a Guy Fawkes mask. Two men wear Trump-branded baseball caps. Two women, the closest to the windows, shape their mouths into the same elongated howl as Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream.’ American flags obscure some of the protesters in the back.”

“It looked awfully familiar to Michael Satrazemis, the director of photography for ‘The Walking Dead’ and director of ‘Fear the Walking Dead,’ two shows that seem a little scarier these days, since they’re about a zombie apocalypse that begins with an uncontrollable pathogen.

The visual trope is ‘classic horror,’ says Satrazemis. It plays on the common fear of claustrophobia, making the audience “\’feel the walls are closing in and the world is shrinking around you. And there’s no way out.’”

— “That Ohio protest photo looked like a zombie movie. Zombie movie directors think so, too.”Maura Judkis, Washington Post

Mr. Trump must be nostalgic for his MAGA zombie rallies, and uneasy about the likelihood that he won’t be having any rallies before November’s election.

GOP Convention: Look Out, Cleveland….

Reality TV star and billionaire thug Donald M. Trump, fresh from the triumph of winning the Florida GOP primary, shared his vision of this summer’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland. If he’s a few hundred delegates shy of 1,237 and isn’t the nominee: “I think you’d have riots,” he told Chris Cuomo,  “I think you’d have problems like you’ve never seen before. I think bad things would happen.”

But since GOP delegates are selected by GOP state committees and not the candidates, they represent the Republican Party first, so the convention is not necessarily a Trump Coronation. Look out, Cleveland.

Attention Sports Fans!

The United Kingdom is sparing no expense in preparing for next summer’s Olympic Games. The host city of London is testing new demonstration sports — rioting, arson, and looting — and enthusiasm for these Xtreme sports is sweeping the country.