• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

I’m more Christian than these people and I’m an atheist.

“In the name of Zandar, I will fight the Stupid!”

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

A consequence of cucumbers

Israel, don’t be dumb like we were in the US after 9/11!

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Mobile Menu

  • Four Directions Montana
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • War in Ukraine
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • 2021-22 Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / One Of the Major Stories of Today’s Violent, Armed Revolt Is the Willful Failure of the Capitol Police

One Of the Major Stories of Today’s Violent, Armed Revolt Is the Willful Failure of the Capitol Police

by Adam L Silverman|  January 6, 20215:30 pm| 117 Comments

This post is in: 2020 Elections, America, An Unexamined Scandal, Crazification Factor, Domestic Politics, domestic terrorists, GOP Death Cult, Gun Issues, Open Threads, Politics, Silverman on Security

FacebookTweetEmail

I do not know who is in charge of the Capitol Police’s risk and threat assessment, but whomever it is needs to be terminated for their failures. And not just failures today, but the failures in strategic, critical, creative, and historical thinking that did not have sufficient personnel on site to handle what was clearly a possibility happening today: an attempt to breach the Capitol. Back on 8 November 2020 I did a threat assessment regarding the transition for someone and I covered this as a general possibility as part of a larger section.

We know that the Capitol Police are able to do proper threat assessments, forecasting, and then over responding to just peaceful protests. For example, the overreaction to the ADAPT protests at Senate Majority Leader McConnell’s office back in 2017:

This is how Capitol police treated ADAPT activists for peacefully protesting their right to healthcare pic.twitter.com/A6b13MUazr

— rebekah entralgo fernández (@rebekahentralgo) January 6, 2021

Here’s the pictures as stand alones:

One Of the Major Stories of Today's Violent, Armed Revolt Is the Willful Failure of the Capitol Police

One Of the Major Stories of Today's Violent, Armed Revolt Is the Willful Failure of the Capitol Police 1

One Of the Major Stories of Today's Violent, Armed Revolt Is the Willful Failure of the Capitol Police 2

One Of the Major Stories of Today's Violent, Armed Revolt Is the Willful Failure of the Capitol Police 3

The ADAPT protestors were both peaceful and disabled, as you can see from the pictures the Capitol Police had no problem exerting necessary force to remove them. But a bunch of white Trump supporters? RETREAT!!!!!!

This appears to be the initial entry into the Capitol:

They breached the Capitol pic.twitter.com/tWKxojW2Hr

— Matt Laslo (@MattLaslo) January 6, 2021

I’d also really like to know who in the Capitol unlocked and opened the locked side door on the east side of the complex allowing the armed, violent, extremists to breach into the building. Was it a staffer for one of the GOP members of the House and Senate who helped to inspire and foment this? Was it a member of the Capitol Police? Those doors are always locked because they don’t have manned security. Someone had to unlock it and open it from the inside, so who was it?

And let’s be really honest with ourselves, if the extremist insurrectionists today where visibly identifiable as ethnic minorities – Black, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Central Asian, Southeast Asian, East Asian – or from a visible religious minority or visibly LGBTQ maximum force would have been directed back at them, elected and appointed officials and the news media would be calling them terrorists, and new, draconian security legislation would already be written to be passed tonight in an emergency session of Congress. Instead we’ve got video of Capitol Police taking selfies with the insurrectionists:

Cops are taking selfies with the terrorists. pic.twitter.com/EjkQ83h1p2

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 6, 2021

We are way off the looking glass and through the map!

Open thread.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Interesting Times
Next Post: Were I a Black Man in America Right Now »

Reader Interactions

117Comments

  1. 1.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 6, 2021 at 5:31 pm

    Graham calls for prosecution of rioters "to the fullest extent of the law:" “Their actions are repugnant to democracy" https://t.co/ZpYzVBKTHN pic.twitter.com/wcaC1SFwOn— The Hill (@thehill) January 6, 2021

  2. 2.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2021 at 5:33 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: Graham has a great deal of responsibility for today’s revolt and attempt to overthrow the government of the United States.

  3. 3.

    dmsilev

    January 6, 2021 at 5:34 pm

    Yeah, the police actions today vs., for instance, the BLM protests are rather stark. And even given that, I’m sure some of the insurrectionists feel that they’re being harshly treated by the police.

  4. 4.

    JPL

    January 6, 2021 at 5:35 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: Prosecution, well heck they aren’t even arresting them.

  5. 5.

    Skepticat

    January 6, 2021 at 5:35 pm

    Were they black or brown, they’d all be dead. This is beyond horrifying, and Chump’s disgusting video will only ramp it up.

  6. 6.

    MisterForkbeard

    January 6, 2021 at 5:36 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: Neat! Let’s also prosecute Trump, Graham, Louie Gohmert, Boebert, and all of the rest of the Republican officeholders that incited this insanity.

  7. 7.

    MazeDancer

    January 6, 2021 at 5:36 pm

    Here are police letting terrorists in:

    https://twitter.com/griffinmalone6/status/1346931699976867842?s=21

  8. 8.

    Mike in NC

    January 6, 2021 at 5:37 pm

    I had to run an errand less than an hour ago and was half expecting some of my asshole neighbors to break out their Trump banners and yard signs in support of the attempted coup. He’s sealed his fate as one of the worst people this country ever produced.

  9. 9.

    JPL

    January 6, 2021 at 5:37 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Michael Rappaport has one good rant, that you might want to put up above.   link

  10. 10.

    Spanky

    January 6, 2021 at 5:37 pm

    Well, since I was typing downstairs when this got posted …

    You all (and definitely including the MSM) keep calling these seditionists “white people”. I’m going to go with “off-duty police”, given the video evidence of on-duty police reacting to their presence exactly as like they’ve been shown in other incidents, e.g. BLM “riots”. The wink and nod and letting them go on about whatever shit business they were engaged in.

    Not police? Let them prove it.

  11. 11.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    January 6, 2021 at 5:38 pm

    @dmsilev: GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME. HELP I’M A DIABETIC. I NEED MY MEDICINE. HELP.

  12. 12.

    Chief Oshkosh

    January 6, 2021 at 5:38 pm

    And live CNN showing that they STILL don’t have control. WTF is wrong with the godammed Capitol Police? Seriously, WTF do you collect a paycheck for? As someone said: YOU HAVE ONE FUCKING JOB.

  13. 13.

    PJ

    January 6, 2021 at 5:38 pm

    I would imagine that there are security cameras throughout the Capitol.  Hopefully these were not disabled (and the video was not wiped) so that evidence remains regarding everyone who allowed this to happen.  But I wonder if the Capitol Police are not in charge of the cameras and/or tapes, and whether the footage has not already been deleted.

  14. 14.

    The Moar You Know

    January 6, 2021 at 5:39 pm

    Lotta Republicans washing their hands of this right now.

    Won’t work.  Trump stink sticks

    Also, this is not an “attempted coup”.  This is a failed coup.  There’s a pretty major difference.

  15. 15.

    Kattails

    January 6, 2021 at 5:39 pm

    How the hell do we lock Trump up so that he can’t pull any more shit?  I have no doubt that he’s laughing his ass of and thinking what he can do next and skate on. The man is a malicious monster. Every goddamned GOP asshole who’s enable him over the last four years needs to be raked over the coals.

  16. 16.

    trollhattan

    January 6, 2021 at 5:39 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Ten bucks says Brave Sir Lindsay bravely ran away.

  17. 17.

    Debbie(Aussie)

    January 6, 2021 at 5:40 pm

    Thanks Adam. This is surreal.

  18. 18.

    Suzanne

    January 6, 2021 at 5:41 pm

    My God. Joe Biden has to lead this country in two weeks.

  19. 19.

    Poptartacus

    January 6, 2021 at 5:41 pm

    I’m so tired of the orange motherfucker and his minions

    https://youtu.be/OA8wkz0uGLE

  20. 20.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2021 at 5:41 pm

    I’ve just added this as an update to the post:

    And let’s be really honest with ourselves, if the extremist insurrectionists today where visibly identifiable as ethnic minorities – Black, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Central Asian, Southeast Asian, East Asian – or from a visible religious minority or visibly LGBTQ maximum force would have been directed back at them, elected and appointed officials and the news media would be calling them terrorists, and new, draconian security legislation would already be written to be passed tonight in an emergency session of Congress. Instead we’ve got video of Capitol Police taking selfies with the insurrectionists:

    Cops are taking selfies with the terrorists. pic.twitter.com/EjkQ83h1p2

    — Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 6, 2021

     

  21. 21.

    Lapassionara

    January 6, 2021 at 5:42 pm

    Who oversees the Capitol Police.

  22. 22.

    Hellbastard

    January 6, 2021 at 5:42 pm

    I saw a revolting a video of  a DC cop posing for selfies with one of the domestic terrorists *inside* a capitol building where they were trespassing. WTF is wrong with these cops?

  23. 23.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    January 6, 2021 at 5:43 pm

    Turns out they knew what they were doing. Whoda thunk it?

    https://twitter.com/i/status/1346919171595137025

  24. 24.

    Leto

    January 6, 2021 at 5:43 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Edit- deleted this comment as you posted what I was posting at #20.

  25. 25.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    January 6, 2021 at 5:43 pm

    @Hellbastard: Fellow travelers?

  26. 26.

    jlowe

    January 6, 2021 at 5:43 pm

    Lots of lessons-learned from this, forgive me for my corporatist-hack roots. If DC or Capitol police failed to do their duties, someone needs to look into that. Did hundreds of members of Congress commit or support sedition? That needs to be looked into, also. Seems like would require a heavy-weight commission. In the late 1990s, a combined Presidential and Congressional commission was convened to examine risk assessment and risk management for environmental contaminants. Seems like this is a risk that warrants no less of an examination.

    We really are laughingstock of the planet right now. And, this is a huge distraction from other more pertinent issues such as saving ourselves from the planet’s revenge. . . .

  27. 27.

    p.a

    January 6, 2021 at 5:44 pm

    Are there security cameras inside the capital bldg?  Would make prosecutions (including riot enablers) easier.

  28. 28.

    Roger Moore

    January 6, 2021 at 5:44 pm

    And not just failures today, but the failures in strategic, critical, creative, and historical thinking that did not have sufficient personnel on site to handle what was clearly a possibility happening today: an attempt to breach the Capitol.

    While I think you’re right in general, I strongly suspect the bigger problem was not with the Capitol Police.  I would guess that whoever was in charge of threat assessment knew there was a risk of this kind of thing, but Trump’s lackeys at DHS and DOD denied them access to police and National Guard forces they needed to have adequate personnel for the job.  There’s already an indication DOD held up the Guard when they were requested; I wouldn’t be the tiniest bit surprised to discover they had been requested in advance and also denied.

  29. 29.

    BellyCat

    January 6, 2021 at 5:44 pm

    @Suzanne: Joe became President today, right?  He was great — pissed, resolute, while calling for better angels to guide us.

  30. 30.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2021 at 5:44 pm

    @JPL: How about I just embed it here:

    No batons no knees on the neck
    NOTHING!!!! pic.twitter.com/DkbYYJ65EE

    — MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) January 6, 2021

  31. 31.

    debbie

    January 6, 2021 at 5:45 pm

    They should be arrested too, goddammit.

  32. 32.

    Chyron HR

    January 6, 2021 at 5:45 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    This is a failed coup.

    That seems like a premature assessment.

  33. 33.

    Leto

    January 6, 2021 at 5:46 pm

    Brian Williams/Nicole Wallace asking, on MSNBC right now, why Capitol Police didn’t know this was coming when that’s what they’ve (news media) been talking about for weeks now? This was known. This wasn’t some type of “spontaneous” thing.

    Investigations, firings/heads need to roll for this.

  34. 34.

    debbie

    January 6, 2021 at 5:46 pm

    @BellyCat:

    And calling out Trump directly!

  35. 35.

    Poe Larity

    January 6, 2021 at 5:46 pm

    Biden said he wasn’t worried about the inauguration, but if the DC NG is under Trump, I fully expect another coup attempt.

    Pelosi should be in CA, surrounded by State Police, just in case.

  36. 36.

    Heywood J.

    January 6, 2021 at 5:47 pm

    I just assumed that the CP’s lack of response to Y’all Qaeda was professional courtesy.

    But seriously, it’s impossible to imagine that any congressional representative feels safe coming back to work, knowing that such an incompetent gang of tools is entrusted with their lives. It’s inconceivable that a large, violent cadre of domestic terrorists would openly plan, down to the date, time, and location, and the people on the ground in charge of security would not only do nothing in preparation, but actually let them in.

    Frankly, it seems that some of the CP leadership, as well as the rank and file there today, need to be fired and then prosecuted, for criminal negligence at the very least.

  37. 37.

    marcopolo

    January 6, 2021 at 5:47 pm

    I’m reading at least a couple Reps are contemplating/drawing up articles of impeachment for Trump’s incitement to folks to march on the capitol today. Probably won’t go anywhere but who knows, all of the Reps & Senators are there atm, they all witnessed what just happened, I imagine a lot of the R lawmakers are up to here with dealing with Trump’s infantile response to losing the election and there has to be some R sympathy for Pence’s situation, so there’d always be the possibility to do it really fast. House could gavel it in, pass it, pass it over to the Senate, the Senate wouldn’t need much of a trial since they all just experienced it. If only. Hell it could happen fast enough to throw Trump out and get Pence in before Trump could sign any more pardons. If only for a second time.

    Btw, Hawley is my Senator & I have called his office to say he bears some responsibility for this due to his grandstanding over the certification.

  38. 38.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2021 at 5:47 pm

    @Lapassionara:

    Just a reminder: the US Capitol Police report to an oversight board made up of the House and Senate Sergeants at Arms and the Architect of the Capitol. No public accountability. They refuse to talk to us.

    — Daniel Schuman (@danielschuman) January 6, 2021

    I was on Capitol Hill on 9/11. I was there for the anthrax attacks. I remember getting the "quick hoods."

    This is bringing back many unpleasant memories.

    — Daniel Schuman (@danielschuman) January 6, 2021

  39. 39.

    Leto

    January 6, 2021 at 5:48 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: no. Fucking. Lie. Told.

  40. 40.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2021 at 5:49 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: She seems nice.

  41. 41.

    Leto

    January 6, 2021 at 5:49 pm

    Per MSNBC, the woman who was shot earlier has died.

  42. 42.

    Haroldo

    January 6, 2021 at 5:49 pm

    Thanks, Adam

    Something was fishy pretty much from the git-go.  And my suspicions grow and grow as the day weaars on.

  43. 43.

    BellyCat

    January 6, 2021 at 5:49 pm

    @debbie:And calling out Trump directly!

    Yup.
    The rioter shot, died. (Edit: Leto beat me)

  44. 44.

    dc

    January 6, 2021 at 5:50 pm

    @Poe Larity: Does the inauguration have to be in DC? Can’t they just do it in Delaware, with their National Guard and police surrounding the area?

  45. 45.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2021 at 5:51 pm

    @p.a: Yes, there are security cameras everywhere.

  46. 46.

    jonas

    January 6, 2021 at 5:54 pm

    @Spanky: I’m going to go with “off-duty police”, given the video evidence of on-duty police reacting to their presence exactly as like they’ve been shown in other incidents, e.g. BLM “riots”.

    This. I’m betting dollars to donuts this will turn out to have basically been an inside job. A bunch of these Proud Boy and other white supremacist militia guys are off-duty cops and, yeah. Inside job.

  47. 47.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2021 at 5:54 pm

    @Leto: My favorite was watching Andrea Mitchell ask over and over, while looking like she was in shock, how they got their weapons in because there are magnatometers and bag checks that you have to go through to get into the Capitol.

  48. 48.

    debbie

    January 6, 2021 at 5:56 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Reposting from below:

    NPR reported similarly (that the CP were overwhelmed) and pointed out that the building wasn’t hardened specifically because it is the Peoples House.

    Failure, absolutely. But can we be sure about willful?

  49. 49.

    Spanky

    January 6, 2021 at 5:56 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Small comfort, but when you do something so blatant that even Mrs. Greenspan notices …

  50. 50.

    jonas

    January 6, 2021 at 5:57 pm

    @Chyron HR: That seems like a premature assessment.

    Why? It’s looking less and less like a “protest that got out of control” and more and more like “a coordinated attempt to seize the Capitol building in order to (in their mind) stop the certification of Biden’s election and install Trump as president” with the full cooperation of local law enforcement.

  51. 51.

    jl

    January 6, 2021 at 5:57 pm

    Needs to be a huge investigation. Shocking to see videos of some groups of police outnumbered ten to one trying to do their jobs, and others seeming to recognize and pal around with the rioters. Something seriously rotten seems to be going on in the rank and file.

  52. 52.

    piratedan

    January 6, 2021 at 5:58 pm

    what is absolutely hateful about all of this, is that these asshats get to turn us into what they wanted… their problem is, is that it will be turned against them. There’s a purge coming and all of these folks that played footsy with these cosplay fascists are going to get it good and hard. I have to believe that at this point, the majority of the nation is simply sick of this shit and we’re going to have a reckoning/accounting of some kind, where we either roll over and give up or we throw down and end this shit.

    If it’s the latter, we’re going to need to see some serious legislation regarding the nations airwaves and bandwidths because asshats like Murdoch and his ilk can’t keep pumping their propaganda programming into people to do his bidding.

  53. 53.

    Leto

    January 6, 2021 at 6:00 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: stupid is as stupid does, Mrs Bubba… yeah, between her and Fuck Todd, there was as much screaming/rage at them as the insurrectionists. Just beyond worthless.

  54. 54.

    Martin

    January 6, 2021 at 6:00 pm

    The insurrectionists are emboldened. Josh reporting that the protestors telling police ‘you didn’t take the Capitol back, we gave it back’.

  55. 55.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2021 at 6:00 pm

    @Spanky: You missed my point. Mitchell couldn’t process how this could happen. She couldn’t process and accept what was actually was happening. She was stuck on the fact that this couldn’t happen because you have to go through security and a bag check to get in the building through the regular entrances. After the third time, and Katy Tur trying to explain it to her, they pulled her off the air.

  56. 56.

    jl

    January 6, 2021 at 6:01 pm

    And unless I missed it in the post, people only have to be liberals or leftists, and they’ll get pushed around, heads beat, arrested, kidnapped into unmarked police cars for doing less, sometimes orders of magnitude less. How many videos have demonstrated that?

    There are two systems of law in this country, one for conservative whites and their bigshot political sponsors, and another for everyone else.

  57. 57.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2021 at 6:02 pm

    @Leto: Or as we say in Florida: DeStupid is as DeStupid does.

  58. 58.

    Leto

    January 6, 2021 at 6:03 pm

    MSNBC showing video from earlier of the insurrectionists rushing the Capitol Police once they got inside. Fucking mob bum rush. Maddow pointing out how military grade force was brought upon the peaceful summer protestors for a Trumpov photo op, but here… rage has not subsided. They’re all traitors/enablers.

  59. 59.

    Heywood J.

    January 6, 2021 at 6:03 pm

    @Leto: Good. One down, more to go. Fuck these people. They need to bear the full consequences of their actions, for once in their worthless lives.

  60. 60.

    Heywood J.

    January 6, 2021 at 6:05 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I saw that. Hilarious, and so on-the-nose for Ms. Greenspan.

  61. 61.

    Leto

    January 6, 2021 at 6:05 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: hard lol :)

    Per WaPo:

     

    05:32 PM: Trump supporter says he entered Senate chamber, took picture with Mike Pence’s Bible

    Rick Crosby, a 25-year-old from Connecticut, was in an early wave of rioters that breached the Capitol, entering from the west.
    Crosby said he was among about 20 people who made it into the Senate chamber, where another rioter with a bullhorn led them in a prayer. They then sought to memorialize the moment.

    “We took a picture with Mike Pence’s Bible and put it back on the desk,” he said. After that, he said, they left at the direction of the police.

    “It felt very historic,” Crosby said. “Regardless of how this turns out, I think this is going to be a moment that goes down in the history books.”

    As he spoke, public officials and commentators from across the political spectrum were condemning the rioters’ actions, using terms such as “insurrection” and “domestic terrorism.” But Crosby rejected the idea that he and others were doing anything wrong.

    On the contrary, he said, they were just doing what the president asked of them.

    “I think probably President Trump said it best,” he said, citing Trump’s comments to some of his violent supporters in a presidential debate. “He said, ‘Stand back and stand by.’ That’s what we’re doing.”

    *bold is mine

    I’m glad he’s made it easier to arrest him.

  62. 62.

    Kent

    January 6, 2021 at 6:06 pm

    In 15 days Congress comes under total Democratic control.  Among the many other things on their plate needs to be a complete and total investigation of this fiasco and a top to bottom housekeeping of the Capitol Police.

  63. 63.

    Raven Onthill

    January 6, 2021 at 6:08 pm

    It appears that the Capitol police were told to stand down.

    Me on Twitter: “all these Republican Senators and Representatives, they all depended on people of obeying the law, they never believed that an actual coup attempt was possible. They thought they were safe, they thought they would be above it all.

    “Surprise.”

  64. 64.

    MisterForkbeard

    January 6, 2021 at 6:11 pm

    @Leto:  One of my friends is former military. He spent a good deal of time today telling us that calling out the military to protect that capitol was a bad idea, that our military was not trained in non-lethal pacification and that it was a bad idea to sic them on civilians.

    He changed his mind when the pictures of the armed guards barricading the doors with guns out came out. He’s all in favor. Bring in the military, let these assholes get shot if they resist at all. Try the ringleaders and Republicans in charge for sedition.

  65. 65.

    Anya

    January 6, 2021 at 6:13 pm

    What scares me the most is that I don’t trust our law enforcement. I think they are full of white supremacists  and psychopaths who probably identify and sympathize with these insurrectionists.

  66. 66.

    Roger Moore

    January 6, 2021 at 6:15 pm

    @jonas: 
    I think he was suggesting the “failed” part is a premature conclusion, not the “coup” part.

  67. 67.

    jlowe

    January 6, 2021 at 6:16 pm

    Hi Adam: I just read about how the DC National Guard was deployed. It seems that the chain of command was broken to get that order issued. Something occurred to me based on this: has anyone located the military aide packing around the nuclear football and segregated this person from the President, yet?

  68. 68.

    trnc

    January 6, 2021 at 6:18 pm

    @debbie: 

    NPR reported similarly (that the CP were overwhelmed) and pointed out that the building wasn’t hardened specifically because it is the Peoples House.

    Oh, give me a fucking break. If we’re going to take that to it’s logical conclusion, why have security at all? Just because the building belongs to us doesn’t mean people get to just go in to vandalize the place and threaten it’s occupants.

    Every time I consider starting to donate to NPR again, I hear shit like this.

  69. 69.

    Bill Arnold

    January 6, 2021 at 6:19 pm

    Have they brought in bomb dogs yet, and otherwise swept the premises?

  70. 70.

    jl

    January 6, 2021 at 6:19 pm

    @Anya: ” What scares me the most is that I don’t trust our law enforcement. I think they are full of white supremacists  and psychopaths who probably identify and sympathize with these insurrectionists. ”

    If what happened to today doesn’t start a huge investigation and purge of fascists from the police I don’t know what will.

    Looks like some of the police abandoned their colleagues, who decided to do their duty, to be chased around the Capitol by the rioters, outnumbered ten to one.

    What happened to the police always hanging to together and having each others’ backs? I guess if there is a fascist coup attempt, all that stuff goes into the dumpster for some cops.

  71. 71.

    raven

    January 6, 2021 at 6:21 pm

    President Trump is now defending the actions of his supporters who stormed and vandalized the Capitol.
    “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away,” he tweeted.
    Trump concluded the tweet, rather stunningly, with “Remember this day forever!” There is no proof of widespread election fraud and the election was not stolen from Trump.

  72. 72.

    Geminid

    January 6, 2021 at 6:22 pm

    Leave it to these male assholes to get a woman killed. Can the ringleaders who planned this assault be charged with felony murder?

  73. 73.

    Heywood J.

    January 6, 2021 at 6:23 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: Exactly. These aren’t “civilians,” they’re terrorists, and it’s long-past time they started getting treated as such. An entire year of open appeasement from “law enforcement” at various state houses led them to sensibly conclude that they can go anywhere and do anything they please.

    Law enforcement should have done their job when they had the chance, and corrected that misunderstanding early on.

    I’d even go one further:  the terrorist that was shot and died, and everyone else who is injured and/or dies tonight as this progresses, is on the head of the Capitol Police. The lack of preparation and planning and enforcement, those were all conscious choices. They could have had the area barricaded, and summoned reinforcements from other agencies, at the start of the day. The bozos show up, you arrest the first couple dozen and the rest disperse when they see that they’ll get the same. None of that was done.

    When the smoke finally clears, the head of the Capitol Police should not just be fired, but prosecuted for criminal negligence. This is completely inexcusable.

  74. 74.

    Heywood J.

    January 6, 2021 at 6:24 pm

    @raven: Yeah, but to be fair, I’m sure Twitter did the right thing and put a “bullshit” advisory on the tweet. It’s not like they’re standing by idly while a madman destroys the country or anything.

  75. 75.

    Danielx

    January 6, 2021 at 6:25 pm

    @trnc:

    Right. compare and contrast pics of armored and helmeted cops (of one variety or another) lined up shoulder to shoulder on the Capitol steps during BLM protests.

  76. 76.

    trollhattan

    January 6, 2021 at 6:28 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    What he said. Times 100.

  77. 77.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2021 at 6:31 pm

    @Leto: The bold should be the through line for every bit of reporting today.

  78. 78.

    marcopolo

    January 6, 2021 at 6:32 pm

    @Heywood J.:  FB just took down the video of Trump telling folks to go home though they were great people and he understood how upset they were at the election being stolen from him.  Pretty sure that is a first

    Btw, just called the local offices for my two senators & congresswoman and told them to please impeach Trump again ASAP.  I think my congresswoman will be receptive.  She’s already tweeted out about how she was treated worse for BLM protesting than the folks who stormed the Capitol today.

  79. 79.

    Jinchi

    January 6, 2021 at 6:34 pm

    @marcopolo: Btw, Hawley is my Senator & I have called his office to say he bears some responsibility for this due to his grandstanding over the certification.

    Do they actually respond to you or do they just take the message?

  80. 80.

    Citizen Alan

    January 6, 2021 at 6:35 pm

    Every person involved in the Proud Boys in any way shape or form needs to be added to the Terrorist Watch List and the No-Fly List ten minutes after Biden is inaugurated. I’d say immediately, but with Traitor Trump in office still, I assume that would be impossible.

  81. 81.

    marcopolo

    January 6, 2021 at 6:36 pm

    @Jinchi:  Well, for some strange reason the DC switchboard was inoperative and his office in StL, which I reached was closed, but I left a message.

  82. 82.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2021 at 6:36 pm

    @jlowe: From the reporting Pence gave the order. Which is illegal. He isn’t in the chain of command and has no authority. So right now the US military is operating outside of the actual lawful and legal civilian control.

  83. 83.

    Heywood J.

    January 6, 2021 at 6:37 pm

    @marcopolo:

    FB just took down the video of Trump telling folks to go home though they were great people and he understood how upset they were at the election being stolen from him. Pretty sure that is a first.

    It’s a start. Obviously, Twitter should have suspended his account years ago, but Jack Dorsey is an even bigger piece of shit than Mark Zuckerberg, which takes some doing.

  84. 84.

    cwmoss

    January 6, 2021 at 6:37 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Courtiers like Andrea Mitchell really need to be put out to pasture. Or give Valerie Plame ten minutes alone in a room with her.

  85. 85.

    marcopolo

    January 6, 2021 at 6:38 pm

    @Heywood J.:  And Twitter just joined FB in pulling down Trump’s last two tweets.  Another first.  Maybe there is a chance in hell Trump will get impeached a 2nd time.  A boy can hope.

  86. 86.

    Leto

    January 6, 2021 at 6:39 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: right? Everything about today/past four years is just that.

  87. 87.

    Cheryl Rofer

    January 6, 2021 at 6:40 pm

    Twitter just deleted Trump’s video justifying the insurrection. Good. Now do his account.

    — Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) January 6, 2021

  88. 88.

    marcopolo

    January 6, 2021 at 6:42 pm

    I need to get to making dinner but for those unaware, this shit is happening at multiple state capitals (~10ish) across the US. Here is a twitter thread documenting them:

    It’s not just DC: Starting a thread with Capitol buildings Trump voters have rallied around today. Here’s Olympia, Washington:https://t.co/wEEnP0rUdC— Lois Parshley (@LoisParshley) January 6, 2021

  89. 89.

    Leto

    January 6, 2021 at 6:44 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: apparently the law enforcement response was basically drills from Iraq/Afghanistan: room by room clearings, the same as we trained/did in Iraq/Afghanistan. I’m going to say, no not the Active Duty military. But the NG trains for shit like this (law enforcement duties). Riot shields and batons, knee caps/soft body parts. Of course this was on Federal property so I’ll leave it to Adam/lawyers to say how this might work.

  90. 90.

    Quiltingfool

    January 6, 2021 at 6:44 pm

    Do you think that arrests of some of these terrorists may come later?  After all, they weren’t shy about having their faces displayed, especially the asshole carting the Speaker podium out of the building, or the asshat hanging out in Speaker Pelosi’s chair (and she should burn that chair, btw).  I have this hope that these shitheads are at this minute being identified, then in a couple of weeks the feds come knocking on their doors and arresting them.  Defense attorneys ain’t cheap – life ain’t too sweet in a fed pen, I’ve heard.

  91. 91.

    Kattails

    January 6, 2021 at 6:48 pm

    The boxes containing the electoral college ballots were rescued from the senate floor by quick thinking floor staff. Sen. Jeff Merkley has a photo… could have been burned.  Hadn’t thought of that angle.

  92. 92.

    Kattails

    January 6, 2021 at 6:49 pm

    @marcopolo: George Conway and Bill Kristol are both calling for immediate impeachment, right after the vote is certified.

    A few years ago, there are nasty riots in the local small city that did an annual Pumpkin Festival. College students just went nuts and tore up shit. The campus police spent many many hours going over every video they could find, including all the self-incriminating stuff idiots post online, and there were a shitload of expulsions. Same need to happen here. Post the photos everywhere. Identify and set out consequences.

    And now off to the shiny new threads…  But always so happy to see your takes on this stuff, Adam.

  93. 93.

    jonas

    January 6, 2021 at 6:51 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: From the reporting Pence gave the order. Which is illegal. He isn’t in the chain of command and has no authority. So right now the US military is operating outside of the actual lawful and legal civilian control.

    Fuck. Like you said, we’re through the looking glass, here. This is way beyond Al Haig’s “I’m in charge here,” shenannigans during the Reagan assassination attempt. If this reporting is correct, it’s scary. Pence is carrying out a coup of sorts?

  94. 94.

    Kattails

    January 6, 2021 at 6:56 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: then maybe Pence needs to summon the balls to invoke the 25th amendment.

  95. 95.

    Jinchi

    January 6, 2021 at 6:57 pm

    @Leto: Per MSNBC, the woman who was shot earlier has died.

    I can’t imagine wanting to be the first martyr in the cause of Donald Trump.  And for all that, has he even mentioned her?

  96. 96.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 6, 2021 at 6:57 pm

    Instead we’ve got video of Capitol Police taking selfies with the insurrectionists:

    This is the most disgusting thing of what I’ve read about today.  (I didn’t follow this shitshow all day.)

    Absolutely repulsive attitude from the people who should be protecting the Capitol.

  97. 97.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 6, 2021 at 7:01 pm

    @Leto: Are there any details on who this woman was?

  98. 98.

    Leto

    January 6, 2021 at 7:01 pm

    Adam: The Rioters Who Took Over The Capitol Have Been Planning Online In The Open For Weeks

  99. 99.

    Leto

    January 6, 2021 at 7:02 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: none yet. Still too early.

  100. 100.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2021 at 7:02 pm

    @Leto: Yep. See my new post.

  101. 101.

    Chris

    January 6, 2021 at 7:04 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:

    We don’t need non-lethal pacification.  This is a coup.  Putting down the guilty parties with extreme prejudice is completely acceptable.

  102. 102.

    debbie

    January 6, 2021 at 7:04 pm

    @Kattails:

    They should all get the Medal of Freedom.

  103. 103.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2021 at 7:05 pm

    @Leto: I’m aware, I’ve been watching it.

    I stopped posting this here because people kept telling me I didn’t know what I was talking about and that I was too pessimistic and that I was overreacting.

  104. 104.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 6, 2021 at 7:08 pm

    @Raven Onthill:

    It appears that the Capitol police were told to stand down.

    By whom?

  105. 105.

    ema

    January 6, 2021 at 7:11 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Reasonable to think most/all hostile nations were able to take advantage of the breach and had their operatives roam around freely?

  106. 106.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 6, 2021 at 7:22 pm

    @Leto: Thanks.

  107. 107.

    Jack Canuck

    January 6, 2021 at 7:23 pm

    @jlowe: People outside the US mostly aren’t laughing. We’re horrified.

  108. 108.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2021 at 7:34 pm

    @ema: I do not know.

  109. 109.

    Geminid

    January 6, 2021 at 7:34 pm

    @Quiltingfool: That is what happened after the disastrous unite the right rally in Charlottesville. Law enforcement only got five (besides the driver who killed the poor woman, and was caught driving away). But Judge Moore sent a message by giving four of them 3 years penitentiary time for aggravated assault. The fifth, a Maryland clansman who fired a shot that easily could have started a bloody firefight, got 8 years.                         Crimes committed on federal property carry stiff penalties. A drunk in public conviction might get someone 30 days if committed in Charlottesville. But if committed on the Blue Ridge Parkway, you can get 6 months jail time. Hopefully a lot of these folks will spend time in jail, maybe prison.

  110. 110.

    ema

    January 6, 2021 at 7:55 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

     

    Thank you.

  111. 111.

    ballerat

    January 6, 2021 at 8:21 pm

     

     

    @BellyCat: Glad it was a terrorist and not a dem congressperson or a member of their staff or a janitor.

    Don’t give a fuck about the Republican congress people or their staffs. They encouraged and aided this attack.

  112. 112.

    ballerat

    January 6, 2021 at 8:31 pm

    @jonas: Too early to see if this fails or the Republicans support it. They seem to be on the fence on condeming it. But otherwise, agree.

  113. 113.

    ballerat

    January 6, 2021 at 8:40 pm

    @Leto: Someone short-circuited the FBI as well. I don’t believe for a moment they were unaware of those developments. Someone told them to stand down. Hmmm. Who would that be?

    Bet this was a also factor as to why Bob Barr left. That’s his DoJ.

  114. 114.

    karensky

    January 6, 2021 at 8:57 pm

    Fuck the Capital Police.

  115. 115.

    Starfish

    January 6, 2021 at 10:12 pm

    @PJ: The people involved were streaming themselves doing crimes.

  116. 116.

    jame

    January 6, 2021 at 10:30 pm

    Cop opened at least one gate for them.

    https://mobile.twitter.com/MysterySolvent/status/1346948784484278273

  117. 117.

    lowtechcyclist

    January 7, 2021 at 6:58 am

    If they’re gonna be that useless when it matters, why the fuck NOT defund them?

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Order 2024 Calendars

Final Preview of 2022 Pets of Balloon Juice: Calendar B! 1

2024 Pet Calendars Spreadsheets

2024 Pet Calendar A (Nyms A-K)
2024 Pet Calendar A (Nyms L-Z)
2024 Pet Calendar B (Nyms A-K)
2024 Pet Calendar B (Nyms L-Z)

Recent Comments

  • SeattleDem on A Spaceship Repair Girl Supposedly Named Rachel! (Dec 9, 2023 @ 4:57pm)
  • Dan B on If You Submitted a Pet Pic in 2023, Your Pet Is In the 2024 Calendar (Open Thread) (Dec 9, 2023 @ 4:55pm)
  • Alison Rose on If You Submitted a Pet Pic in 2023, Your Pet Is In the 2024 Calendar (Open Thread) (Dec 9, 2023 @ 4:51pm)
  • Geminid on If You Submitted a Pet Pic in 2023, Your Pet Is In the 2024 Calendar (Open Thread) (Dec 9, 2023 @ 4:47pm)
  • cain on If You Submitted a Pet Pic in 2023, Your Pet Is In the 2024 Calendar (Open Thread) (Dec 9, 2023 @ 4:46pm)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Talk of Meetups – Meetup Planning

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8
Virginia House Races
Four Directions: Montana

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
We All Need A Little Kindness
What Has Biden Done for You Lately?

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Cole & Friends Learn Español

Introductory Post
Cole & Friends Learn Español

Four Directions Montana

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!