(AP) – To see it unspool to watch the jumbled images ricochet, live, across the world’s endless screens was, as an American, a struggle to believe your eyes. But there it was, in the capital city of the United States in early January 2021: a real-time breaking and entering the likes of which the republic has never seen.
The U.S. Capitol was overrun by violent supporters of Donald Trump, who exhorted them to march on the domed building as lawmakers inside carried out their constitutional duty by certifying his electoral defeat. The proceedings were quickly abandoned as the selfie-snapping mob smashed windows, marched through hallways and rummaged through lawmakers’ desks.
Biden to introduce Judge Merrick Garland as attorney general
WASHINGTON (AP) President-elect Joe Biden will introduce Merrick Garland as his pick for attorney general on Thursday along with three others he has selected for senior Justice Department positions to “restore the independence” of the agency and faith in the rule of law.
In picking Garland, a federal appeals judge, Biden is turning to an experienced judge who held senior positions at the Justice Department decades ago, including as a supervisor of the prosecution of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
Garland’s nomination will force Senate Republicans to contend with someone they spurned four years ago refusing even to hold hearings when President Barack Obama nominated Garland for the Supreme Court.
2:55 p.m.
District of Columbia police have identified the three people who had medical emergencies and died during the storming of the Capitol.
They are 55-year-old Kevin Greeson, of Athens, Alabama; 34-year-old Rosanne Boyland, of Kennesaw, Georgia; and 50-year-old Benjamin Phillips, of Ringtown, Pennsylvania.
Police Chief Robert Contee would not go into detail about the exact causes of their deaths and would not say if any of the three was actively involved in breaching the Capitol building on Wednesday.
Contee would only say that all three “were on the grounds of the Capitol when they experienced their medical emergencies.”
Greeson’s family says he had a heart attack. They described him as a supporter of President Donald Trump s but denied that he condoned violence.
Congress affirms Biden s presidential win after riot at U.S. Capitol
Rosalind S. Helderman, Karoun Demirjian, Seung Min Kim and Mike DeBonis, The Washington Post
Jan. 7, 2021
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Damage inside the U.S. Capitol left by pro-Trump protesters on January 6, 2021 in Washington.Photo for The Washington Post by Oliver Contreras
WASHINGTON - Members of Congress, shaken and angry following a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of President Donald Trump s supporters, put a final stamp on President-elect Joe Biden s victory early Thursday morning and brought an end to a historically turbulent post-election period.
Republicans had at one point planned to object to the electoral college votes in a series of states won by Biden, but after the storming of the Capitol, several GOP senators changed course, disputing only Arizona and Pennsylvania. Both challenges failed.
Congress eventually confirmed Democrat Joe Biden won the presidential election after violent protesters loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, forcing lawmakers into hiding.