Armed Insurrection Attempt At Capitol

[toucana]

The joint session of Congress has been forced into recess, and political leaders evacuated to a safe location after an armed mob broke through perimeter security at the Capitol and some have actually reached the Senate chamber.

https://edition.cnn.com

A woman has reportedly been shot and seriously injured within the precincts.

National Guard reinforcements in riot gear have been despatched to the scene to restore order.

[Serpent]

So far, the police are not doing at all well.
I really thought America was more security-conscious than to be caught this short.
I mean --- smashing down windows and doors, rampaging in the chambers, vandalizing Congress, menacing public servants... !!
And the contrast all the commentators keep pointing out between how this is being allowed run unchecked, with how peaceful BLM protesters were treated by law enforcement is not biding well for future relations.

[toucana]

CNN report that police bomb squads have defused at least two explosive devices in Washington DC amid reports of multiple bomb warnings being received. One of the devices was said to have been found near the premises of the RNC headquarters.

Muriel Bowser the mayor of Washington DC has announced a 6pm to 6am citywide curfew in central Washington DC.

https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-electoral-college-tally-live-updates/2021/01/06/954052803/d-c-mayor-issues-6-pm-curfew-as-trump-supporters-breach-capitol?t=1609970510973

Live feeds from CNN show extra riot police arriving at the Capitol. They also show snipers being deployed on rooftops of nearby buildings.

[Serpent]

Any [knowledgeable] information on why the call for reinforcements was so tardy?
Or why they were so poorly prepared in the first place?

[toucana]

There is a great deal of debate going on among media pundits as to why the Federal police who are responsible for protecting the Capitol complex were apparently so woefully ill-prepared for an insurgent mob.

One detail that is being consistently reported by numerous media sources including the NYT however, is that it was VP Mike Pence who finally signed off on authorising the Washington DC National Guard to deploy and come to the assistance of the Capitol police, after president Donald Trump refused to do so.

That is why it all took so long - That and the fact that it was a multiple agency intervention involving the FBI and the SS - none of whom appear to have a pre-existing plan to deal with such a contingency. They had to work out an operational battle plan from scratch it seems.

[BadgerJelly]

Media pundits = clowns.

The simple truth is that people can be taken unawares. Lord Thomas Cochrane was an astute captain in the navy that used this principle to overcome seemingly enormous odds.

Crazy people can gain momentum in packs - it’s called mob rule. It’s always shocking and unexpected because it had no brain.

[Serpent]

They had to work out an operational battle plan from scratch it seems.

Again - why?? Everybody else has seen this coming since last February, if not longer.
At least they might have followed his twitter feed yesterday!

The simple truth is that people can be taken unawares. Lord Thomas Cochrane was an astute captain in the navy that used this principle to overcome seemingly enormous odds.

But did he paste up fliers on the lamp-posts, warning his enemies what he meant to do?

[toucana]

Two of the media security consultants that I was watching on TV yesterday were John Brennan formerly the director of the CIA under president Obama, and Frank Figliuzzi who was assistant director of counter-intelligence at the FBI under Robert Mueller.

Both now work for the NBC and MSNBC TV networks as consultants on national security related matters. I wouldn’t describe either of them as ‘clowns’.

One thing Frank Figliuzzi said to MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace yesterday which rather caught my attention was when he said “This was not a failure of intelligence, it was a failure of security”.

He went on to explain that to his personal knowledge, a variety of federal agencies had been monitoring and evaluating recent online discussions (and probably criminal informant sources) relating to quite extensive plans by a variety of well-known and violent far-right activists who intended to travel to Washington DC on 6 January and attempt to disrupt the certification of the electoral college votes.

Given the degree of warning of the travel plans and intentions of some of these ringleaders, the question then becomes what was done with this intelligence, and what steps were subsequently taken by the agencies responsible for the safety of Congress and the government ?

Washington DC is a federal district not a state. It has a mayor but not a governor. The Capitol complex itself is federal property, and it is the responsibility of the federal government, and most especially the Department of Justice to protect it. The Capitol police are the agency responsible for security of the precincts of Congress itself.

One of the more remarkable aspects of yesterday’s ‘flash-mob’ was that it took place while a joint session of Congress was in progress under the supervision of VP Mike Pence, who along with other senior political leaders is under 24/7 protection by the US Secret Service. This alone guarantees that a major inquest and public enquiry will now take place under the new administration to establish who was responsible for such an egregious security failure.

Fingers will be pointed at Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of homeland security - a man who had no difficulty in turning federal agents loose on BLM demonstrators in Portland Oregon last July - but one who wasn’t even in the country yesterday. He was apparently on an official overseas junket yesterday while Congress was being breached.

The other primary target of an inquiry will be the leadership of the DOJ which has been left entirely rudderless since AG William Barr abruptly stepped down from his position on 23 December 2020 after contradicting president Trump’s baseless claims about ‘overwhelming fraud’ in the 2020 presidential election.

[Serpent]

If I were of a conspiracy-seeking bent of mind, I would almost suspect that it was deliberately allowed to happen. Perhaps to force a showdown and reveal the Trump supporters for what they are. Perhaps, on the part of the police, because they support the Trump faction.
Of course, vacuum at the top is always a plausible supposition in the current state of Washington.
I will be very interested to see how many people are charged - with the actual crimes witnessed, live, on camera, by millions of uninvolved people. I will be very interested to see how many cops are fired or censured.

[TheVat]

We've had people here who post "look at the footage." I think anyone who compared footage of BLM demonstrations and yesterday's, and noted the differential in police response and escalation, would no longer have any doubts regarding the concept of "white privilege."

[Forest_Dump]

I was surprised at easily a few dozen hillbillies were able to disrupt the capital. Commentators noted that the last time something of this scale happened was 200 years ago when Canada invaded. I didn't think we could still do it but now I think we can. Canada has tanks. The problem is what would we do with that mess if we won. Does make me realize how unrealistic "White House Down" was. Or "Olympus Has Fallen".

[toucana]

One of the more grimly amusing attempts by right-wing media to spin yesterday’s events was a story in The Washington Times which claimed that ‘antifa infiltrators’ were responsible for the mayhem.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/group-behind-gaetzs-antifa-mob-claim-say-its-a-lie?ref=home?ref=home

According to a scoop by Times reporter Rowan Scarborough, proof positive of this theory was a claim that an obscure facial recognition company called XRVision had identified some of the rioters as left-wing antifa agitators including one “Stalinist sympathiser”.

Scarborough’s article was based entirely on an interview with an anonymous “retired military officer” who claimed to have seen XRVision data that proved two of the rioters were members of “Philadelphia Antifa.” The story didn’t include any pictures of the supposed antifa infiltrators or other evidence.

Some right-wing echo chambers such as Fox News host Laura Ingraham began trying to push this as a ‘developing’ story in a tweet recirculated more than 35,000 times, and Fox host Tucker Carlson also devoted part of his segment to denouncing the danger of ‘antifa violence’.

GOP congressmen such as Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Al) tweeted it, and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fl) even cited the Washington Times story on the House floor during the electoral vote count last night.

But XRVision, the company at the center of the story, says the Times story is totally made up. In a statement provided by the company’s attorney, XRVision said its facial recognition software had in fact identified two neo-Nazis and a QAnon supporter.

“We concluded that two of [the] individuals (Jason Tankersley and Matthew Heimbach), were affiliated with the Maryland Skinheads and the National Socialist Movements,” the statement reads. “These two are known Nazi organizations, they are not Antifa. The third individual identified (Jake Angeli) was an actor with some QAnon promotion history. Again, no Antifa identification was made for him either.”

XRVision have demanded a retraction and an apology from The Washington Times.

[Dave_Oblad]

Am I the only one that senses some higher level intellect behind all this? Do you think the Capitol was deliberately understaffed security wise? That the riot was predicted and allowed to take place to take down Trump a few notches? Perhaps use the 25th to get him gone?

Give an idiot enough rope and he will hang himself.

If they can kick Trump out before the inauguration then perhaps his plans to escape justice by fleeing the country has been spoiled and immediate arrest/custody by the FBI or other agencies for the purpose of prosecution can pre-empt his escape to a sanctuary country like Russia etc.

Maybe we can just hand him an anvil and point him towards a tall cliff. Better yet, I want to see him in an orange jumpsuit behind bars.

I think the Republicans have never seen/read the story of Frankenstein..lol.

Stay safe and be good,
Dave :^)

[Serpent]

I've floated that one. Here's an interesting article on security planning
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-attempted-coup-federal-law-enforcement-capitol-police-2021-1

[Forest_Dump]

Could make for interesting timing. The threat of the 25th might have Trump scrambling to get some of those pardons drafted. But I doubt much more will happen over the next two weeks. For the GOP talking about it might help some to distance themselves from a sinking ship. For the Dems, given they now have complete control for at least the next two years, any move now would look mostly like unseemly overkill. Politically Trump is now just a bad memory. I think even he now knows that.

[Forest_Dump]

I have to admit that what this most reminded of was the invasion of the US embassy in Iran in 1979 +/-.

[hyksos]

Am I the only one that senses some higher level intellect behind all this? Do you think the Capitol was deliberately understaffed security wise? That the riot was predicted and allowed to take place to take down Trump a few notches? Perhaps use the 25th to get him gone?

Give an idiot enough rope and he will hang himself.

If they can kick Trump out before the inauguration then perhaps his plans to escape justice by fleeing the country has been spoiled and immediate arrest/custody by the FBI or other agencies for the purpose of prosecution can pre-empt his escape to a sanctuary country like Russia etc.

Maybe we can just hand him an anvil and point him towards a tall cliff. Better yet, I want to see him in an orange jumpsuit behind bars.

I think the Republicans have never seen/read the story of Frankenstein..lol.

Stay safe and be good,
Dave :^)

The evidence is trickling in that this was planned. We have a guy in a black t-shirt with words on it making a reference to "January 6 , 2021". Out of the 5 people killed, several of them were from states as far away as Alabama and Georgia. The woman who was shot inside was a native of San Diego.

I'm a little bit worried about how the media is glossing over the bombs that were found.

[Serpent]

They may be under caution not to reveal what police know, while the investigation proceeds.

[charon]

I've no doubt it was planned. Of course it was. People had come from a long way away to do that. It didn't happen - couldn't have happened - spontaneously. But this is what protesters do, organise. They need moles, infiltrators, in that group!

None of that excuses the lack of response, though. That was ridiculous.

Personally, I don't see this as an isolated incident. Things have been working up to something like this happening for four years. It was only a matter of time. When people generate a cult-like following this sort of thing is par for the course. But good people don't lead cults.

Any reaction now has been, as usual, too little too late. They put up with an obviously crazed man in the White House virtually from day one. There were numerous warnings with everything he did. He started on his own security staff and went on from there.

Only now, days away from his exit, are they deserting the sinking ship. It's their own fault. A fool could have seen what was happening years ago but they chose to ignore, if not support, it for their own personal and political reasons.

It's irrelevant, in my view, whether he attends the inauguration or not. Probably better not, it would only create an unnecessary and unpleasant disturbance. He's very lucky no one's shot him yet. He must be immune :-)

I see Twitter are letting him post videos. More fool them.

[TheVat]

Am I the only one that senses some higher level intellect behind all this? Do you think the Capitol was deliberately understaffed security wise? That the riot was predicted and allowed to take place to take down Trump a few notches? Perhaps use the 25th to get him gone?

Give an idiot enough rope and he will hang himself.

[...]
Dave :^)

As others said (and NPR has a useful analysis today showing how darkweb and social media platforms were swarming with more-or-less vague tacticians the past few weeks), there was certainly planning, but it may be giving too much credit to anti-Trump cadres to suggest that someone orchestrated all the poor law enforcement planning and set up such fertile conditions for invoking the 25th, sec. 4. Some of the understaffing was due to law enforcement wrongly assuming the main violence would be out on the streets, with Proud Boys venting their rage on counterprotestor groups (which, wisely, opted to stay home that day) Some was a planned ratcheting-down of armed troops, due to the way that played out in DC back in the summer, with the George Floyd protests, and the massive LE overreaction and brutality.

That misguided plan produced the now obvious and ugly disparity between the heavy federal thumb on protestors in Portland, a tiny number of which attacked a fairly low-profile fed building target, and the apparent lack of defense for our most hallowed center of government while in session.

I also think there's evidence that some police are fairly sympathetic, even secretly supportive, of the far right groups (many which profess strong Blue Lives Matter positions) which may explain some of the more surreal moments, like police taking selfies with protestors, or standing back and letting them pass.

I think it was predictable that Trump, in his speech whipping up the mob, would invite them to move on the Capitol. Even without him specifying a violent action there, the dogwhistle to insurrection and hostage taking rang loud and clear.

[TheVat]

Here's the article I referenced....

https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-e ... lain-sight

[toucana]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxmnJA0TBn8

This Rachel Maddow clip from MSNBC vividly documents why it took so long to deploy National Guard reinforcements on Wednesday after the Capitol police security perimeter was overrun.

It tells how Maryland congressman Steny Hoyer who is the Democrat Leader in the lower house managed to contact the Republican Governor of Maryland on the phone while barricaded behind locked doors inside the Capitol and asked Governor Hogan if he could send any Maryland National Guardsmen to assist - “Sure” came the reply from Governor Hogan, “we have civil disturbance trained police and hundreds of Guardsmen ready to go - but we need an authorisation from the federal government”

And that is where they hit a problem. Neither the besieged Democrat leaders inside the Capitol, nor the Maryland Governor could get a call returned from the Secretary of Defense in spite of numerous attempts. The official in question Christopher C. Miller, like a lot of president Trump’s cabinet, happens to be an ‘acting secretary’ after the previous incumbent Mark Esper was abruptly fired by Trump in early November.

It wasn’t until almost an hour and a half later that Governor Hogan received an incoming call from a number that he didn’t recognise which turned out to be that of Ryan McCarthy who is the US Secretary of the Army who was phoning to ask “Umm .. do you have any troops you can send to Washington DC ASAP?”

It should be noted that Ryan McCarthy isn’t even in the relevant federal line of military command here. (He deals mainly with budget management). But Governor Hogan and his staff took this as authorisation anyway and sent in their units.

Governor Hogan is one of three Republican governors to date to say publicly that president Trump should be removed from office immediately.

[charon]

Here's the article I referenced....

https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-e ... lain-sight

Et voila.

Incidentally, Giuliani's little speech urging 'Trial by combat' should result in immediate arrest.

The recent reversal speeches by both him and Trump can be safely disregarded as last-ditch hypocritical skin-saving.

I saw yet another report that Trump had once again been crawling round asking about self-pardoning. Quite amusing really, considering that, according to him from day one, he was always the innocent, hard-done-by victim. So pardoned for what?

[toucana]

Federal prosecutors say that an Alabama man was found with a pickup trucked packed with 11 homemade bombs, an assault rifle and two handguns parked near the Capitol on Wednesday.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/08/politics/us-capitol-riots-arrest-pelosi-desk/index.html

They also detained another man in possession of an assault rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition who had posted texts vowing to “shoot or run over Nancy Pelosi”.

Leroy Coffman 70 of Falkville Alabama told police he had 11 mason jars filled with melted styrofoam and gasoline as makeshift napalm bombs. His truck had an M4 carbine on the front seat, and the suspect was carrying a 9mm and a .22 pistol in each of his front pockets. None of the weapons were registered to him.

Another man called Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr, was detained at a Holiday Inn on Wednesday evening. Police who searched his trailer parked outside found a Glock 19, a 9mm pistol, and assault rifle and several hundred rounds of ammunition. He had previously picketed the home of Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, and made online threats to shoot Nancy Pelosi.

Some of the most disturbing images captured on Wednesday however are ones like the image shown above taken in the viewing gallery of the Senate Chamber.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/1/8/2007207/-Gen-Barry-McCaffrey-Goes-There-Trump-Terrorists-Tried-To-Kill-Pelosi-Pence

It shows two intruders dressed in full tactical combat gear with flak jackets and side arms, carrying white flex cuffs. These were members of a snatch-squad who planned to kidnap and execute senior political leaders online.



A Reuters photographer Jim Bourg claimed he heard three Trump supporters discussing plans to drag VP Mike Pence out and hang him from a tree as a ‘traitor’. A make-shift gallows and noose was erected on the west front of the Capitol by some of the mob.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9127971/Trump-mob-wanted-hang-Mike-Pence-tree-riot-says-photographer.html

[toucana]

A CNN post provides a useful run-down of the neo-nazi and far right-wing militia flags, memes and emblems that were brandished or worn by members of the mob who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday and were captured by photgraphers at the scene.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/09/us/capitol-hill-insurrection-extremist-flags-soh/index.html

The image above shows Nationalist Social Club stickers on what appears to be US Capitol Police equipment It's unclear when the photo was taken, but it was posted Wednesday in a Telegram chat the group uses, which includes a Nazi symbol as part of their name.

NSC, apparently a word play on the National Socialists or Nazi party, is a neo-Nazi group that has regional chapters in both the United States and across the globe, according to the ADL. It is unclear if the sticker on the right refers to a New England chapter, or because the group originally called itself the New England Nationalists Club.

"NSC members see themselves as soldiers at war with a hostile, Jewish-controlled system that is deliberately plotting the extinction of the white race," according to the ADL. "Their goal is to form an underground network of white men who are willing to fight against their perceived enemies through localized direct actions."

[charon]

When is Pence going to realise that Trump is not his friend and never was?

[Serpent]

When is Pence going to realise that Trump is not his friend and never was?

Doesn't he already have bolt-hole tickets?
Just leave the keys on the desk and turn out the lights.

[TheVat]

Conan shares insights -- not a barbarian, after all....

https://youtu.be/x_P-0I6sAck

[charon]

Watched that yesterday, Vat. Not bad. Possibly we could have done without the 'patriotic' music. Life isn't a movie.

This was interesting too. Not new, but interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku3z9ZejrLQ

'Dr. Lance Dodes joins Lawrence O’Donnell to discuss Trump’s mental state as he’s banned from Twitter and why he will get worse once he leaves office and faces legal jeopardy: “The more desperate he becomes, the more delusional he is, the more he needs to prove to himself ultimately that he is still a god, so the less power he has, the more stress he’s under, the more dangerous he is.” '

[charon]

By the way, after four years of despicability, the rats are finally mumbling their excuses and leaving the sinking ship.

Pity they didn't have the courage of their convictions a l-o-n-g time ago.