January 2021

Derrick Evans, the West Virginia state lawmaker who was allegedly among the rioters who stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday, resigned Saturday. “I hereby resign as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, effective immediately,” he wrote in a brief letter addressed to West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice. “I take full responsibility for my actions, and deeply regret any hurt, pain or embarrassment I may have caused my family, friends, constituents and fellow West Virginians,” Evans said in a statement Saturday. Evans has been charged with one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds. A federal magistrate judge in West Virginia released him on his personal recognizance after he appeared in court Friday afternoon, according to court records. Evans, a supporter of Trump, recorded a Facebook Live video in which he can be heard shouting, “We’re in! We’re in, baby!” while moving among a crowd of rioters as he walked through a doorway of the Capitol. He has denied taking part in the destruction and violence and has since deleted the clip, but not before it was shared on social media and aired by CNN affiliate WCHS. In another video posted to his Facebook page Wednesday morning, Evans laughs as he predicts a riot. Evans said later Wednesday that he had filmed the event only as an “independent member of the media to film history,” though it does not appear he has any experience working as one.

via cnn: West Virginia GOP state lawmaker who allegedly stormed US Capitol has resigned

Die Polizei meldet nach dem Einbruch ins US-Kapitol erste Erfolge: Der Dieb des Rednerpults von Nancy Pelosi wurde festgenommen. Auch der sogenannte „Q-Anon-Schamane“ befindet sich inzwischen in Gewahrsam. Sein Bild ging nach dem Sturm des US-Kapitols um die Welt: Mit einem Kopfschmuck aus Fell und Hörnern, angemaltem Gesicht, nacktem Oberkörper und einem Speer mit US-Flagge in der Hand posierte Jake Angeli am wichtigsten Ort der US-Demokratie. Nun hat der Einbruch für den Anhänger der Verschwörungsbewegung »QAnon« juristische Konsequenzen. Angeli, der eigentlich Jacob Anthony Chansley heißt, wurde in Arizona festgenommen. Das teilte die Staatsanwaltschaft in Washington mit. Ihm wird illegales Eindringen in ein besonders gesichertes Gebäude sowie gewaltsames Eindringen und ungebührliches Verhalten auf dem Gelände des Kapitols zur Last gelegt. Auch ein anderer durch die Fotos bekannt gewordener Eindringling befindet sich inzwischen in Gewahrsam. Der Mann, der völlig sorglos und lächelnd das Rednerpult der Sprecherin des Repräsentantenhauses Nancy Pelosi davontrug wurde identifiziert und festgenommen: Es handelt sich um Adam Christian Johnson aus dem US-Bundesstaat Florida.
Zusätzlich zur Verhaftung des 36-Jährigen wurden im Zusammenhang mit dem Aufstand mindestens 13 Personen vor dem US-Bezirksgericht strafrechtlich verfolgt, und mindestens weitere 40 Personen wurden vor dem Obersten Gerichtshof des Bezirks Columbia angeklagt. Eindringling in Pelosis Büro festgenommen und angeklagt Der Mann der sich beim Sturm auf das Kapitol stolz im Sessel der Vorsitzenden des Repräsentantenhauses, der Demokratin Pelosi, fotografieren ließ, wurde Justizangaben zufolge ebenfalls festgenommen. Richard Barnett werden Eindringen in ein besonders gesichertes Gebäude, Hausfriedensbruch, Vandalismus und Diebstahl vorgeworfen, wie ein leitender Vertreter des Justizministeriums mitteilte. Barnett sei in Little Rock im Bundesstaat Arkansas festgenommen worden.

via spiegel: Sturm auf das Kapitol Mehrere prominente Kapitol-Randalierer festgenommen

Witnesses say Trump was oblivious to the gravity of the situation as five died, Congress was violated and his vice-president faced the very real possibility of being lynched (…) The protest has turned into an insurrection, breaching the home of US democracy, for the first time since the British army set it on fire in 1814. Even those who had warned in vain of the Trump crowd’s criminal intent were stunned at how quickly the nation’s defences buckled. This was America’s “shining city upon a hill” but only the thinnest blue line was there to guard it at the crucial hour. It later turned out that the Capitol police had turned down offers of support from the national guard, only calling for reinforcements when it was too late. The plan was to act as relaxed and low-key as possible, presumably so as not to irritate the crowd. The contrast with the mass deployments of over 5,000 troops for the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer could not have been more glaring. Then, Washington resembled a city under occupation. On Wednesday, it was close to defenceless. This appeared to be deliberate, at least in part. Donald Trump was not about to let the federal government go to war with “his people”, who he had invited to the nation’s capital in a last-ditch effort to reverse his emphatic election defeat, due to be certified by Congress on Wednesday. The broader issue was race. The protesters in the summer were largely Black, infuriated by repeated police killings of unarmed Black civilians. The mob which stormed the Capitol was almost entirely white. Efforts to build a concerted government response to the growing white supremacist terrorist threat had been stymied for years in the absence of political will and money. The warning signs along the road to Wednesday’s attempted putsch, the dress-rehearsal occupations of state capitols and a foiled plot to kidnap the Michigan governor, not to mention the activities of the Proud Boys and other far-right factions, were mostly ignored.

via guardian: Insurrection Day: when white supremacist terror came to the US Capitol