United States Vice President Mike Pence declares that Joe Biden will become President of the United States on the 20th of January.
President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win has just been certified by lawmakers hours after rioters breached the U.S. Capitol.
Here is how this turbulent night unfolded on Twitter:
Thousands of pro-Trump protesters flocked to the nation’s capital today in support of President Trump’s demand that Vice President Mike Pence and Congress block Joe Biden’s presidential victory https://t.co/tCzCA0IK5i pic.twitter.com/bKvWwyIOvk
— Forbes (@Forbes) January 6, 2021
Our darkest hour.
Photo: @LeahMillis pic.twitter.com/E0wetTstpt
— John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) January 6, 2021
Imagine if #BlackLivesMatter were the ones who were storming the Capitol building.
Thousands of black people laying siege to the seat of government — in the middle of a joint session of Congress?
Just imagine the reaction.
— Van Jones (@VanJones68) January 6, 2021
This was the response to a peaceful BLM protest just a few months ago in DC. Clearly there was a level of collusion or unfathomable incompetence today between the US Capitol Police and these right wing Trump supporting terrorists. #Sedition pic.twitter.com/6YmH861L7x
— Rep. Kevin J. Boyle (@RepKevinBoyle) January 6, 2021
Throughout the summer, police showed up at otherwise peaceful marches in full-on riot gear. They kettled protestors and rammed their cars into crowds.
Letting these domestic terrorists storm the capitol is a choice.
— Amanda Litman (@amandalitman) January 6, 2021
I saw more arrests during protests in Minneapolis this summer than I have watching people storm the US Capitol.
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) January 6, 2021
How have hundreds of billions upon hundreds of billions of dollars been spent in the name of security since 9/11, along with the deployment of drones and surveillance tech, yet a few hundred protestors can so easily breach the Capitol, just waltzing in and taking it over?
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 6, 2021
i cant really wrap my head around the fact people who violently breached the building, and trashed it were allowed to just…leave the capitol.
— Kate Nocera (@KateNocera) January 6, 2021
White privilege is violently storming the US Capitol and just…being sent home.
— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chasten) January 6, 2021
They only arrested 13 people. For comparison’s sake, the first day the Veterans Stadium jail was open for an Eagles game it processed 20 people.
— Aaron (@BobbyBigWheel) January 6, 2021
Police once arrested 76 people in 30 minutes at Standing Rock. https://t.co/qz6id36ppt
— Lucas Brown Eyes (@LucasBrownEyes) January 7, 2021
For reference, there were 14,000+ arrests at the George Floyd protests.
— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) January 6, 2021
Stop comparing this to other countries. This is white supremacist violence and it is 100% American.
— Liliana Segura (@LilianaSegura) January 6, 2021
So damn tired of living in a country that treats Black grief as a threat and white rage as a sacrament
— Rev. Jacqui Lewis, PhD (@RevJacquiLewis) January 7, 2021
We’re not asking for you to shoot them like you shoot us.
We’re asking you to NOT shoot us like you don’t shoot them.— Tye Winters, DO, FACOP, FAAP (@tmswDO) January 7, 2021
On Donald Trump’s watch, aided and encouraged by him and his allies, for the first time in history, the US Capitol was illegally breached and the Confederate Flag is being marched through her halls.
Photo by @Reuters pic.twitter.com/lxIPgJzaRV
— Rufus Gifford (@rufusgifford) January 6, 2021
The Confederate battle flag has reached the United States Capitol building, something that did not happen during the Civil War. https://t.co/8knlrEzCzQ
— Joseph M. Adelman (@jmadelman) January 6, 2021
This is an embarrassment of historic proportions. https://t.co/p7XB6vMdRF
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) January 6, 2021
Why is the Confederate flag so offensive? Read here.
CEOs, industry groups and popular artists denounced the riots:
It is time for the leaders of this country to invoke the 25th Amendment. Isn’t it obvious? Today has made me sad with disbelief with what is happening in my country, a country that has inspired my songs of hope and love.
— Stevie Wonder (@StevieWonder) January 6, 2021
Today marks a sad and shameful chapter in our nation’s history. Those responsible for this insurrection should be held to account, and we must complete the transition to President-elect Biden’s administration. It’s especially when they are challenged that our ideals matter most.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 7, 2021
And we should all agree to not work with Trump and his supporters, even if that is expensive personally. https://t.co/264K2K6N9I
— Vinod Khosla (@vkhosla) January 7, 2021
Rest assured, this day will not end without us finishing the work Congress is supposed to carry out.
We will not let our Constitution be trampled on by a mob and threaten by a tyrant.
Democracy will prevail.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 6, 2021
The President incited an insurrection in the U.S. Capitol today. The 25th amendment should be invoked, and he should be removed from office. What we witnessed in Washington today was an assault on the citadel of democracy.
— Rep. Richard Neal (@RepRichardNeal) January 7, 2021
If Trump is insane, he should no longer be president.
If he’s inciting an insurgency, he should no longer be president.
Either way, he’s a clear and present danger to national security.
Impeach or 25th amendment.
Now.
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) January 6, 2021
I am drawing up Articles of Impeachment.
Donald J. Trump should be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate.
We can’t allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 6, 2021
JUST IN: “This is not news we deliver lightly,” @margbrennan says as she reports: Trump Cabinet secretaries are discussing invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump. Nothing formal yet presented to VP Pence.
“I’m talking about actual members of the Cabinet,” she says
— Ed O’Keefe (@edokeefe) January 7, 2021
As explained by BBC, the 25th amendment is an amendment to the Constitution that says if the president is unable to perform his duties, the responsibility can be re-designated. In this case, it would require a majority of cabinet leaders plus Vice-President Mike Pence to write to Congress’ leaders and say Pence is becoming acting-president as Trump is unfit.
The 25th amendment has never been invoked since it was ratified in 1967.
Nothing has been formally presented to Pence at the moment. Some have already called on Pence to trigger the 25th, accusing Trump of inciting of violence, including the National Association of Manufactures chief, the head of the NAACP and Vermont’s Republican governor.
Peaceful protest is the right of every American but this attack on our Capitol will not be tolerated and those involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) January 6, 2021
The acting Secretary of Defence confirms it was Vice President Pence NOT #Trump who authorised deployment of National Guard
— Mike Hanna (@mjahanna) January 6, 2021
For the first time in history, the United States of America has failed at a peaceful transition of power.
That’s deeply, profoundly sad.
— Brian Chappatta (@BChappatta) January 6, 2021
Both Twitter and Facebook locked Trump’s accounts over his claims of election fraud and support of the rioters.
Politicians worldwide expressed concerns over what was happening in the U.S. Capitol:
Disgraceful scenes in U.S. Congress. The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 6, 2021
In any democracy the peaceful transition of power is just as important as the vote itself.
There is no excuse for the deplorable scenes coming from the US Capitol today.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) January 6, 2021
The scenes from the Capitol are utterly horrifying. Solidarity with those in 🇺🇸 on the side of democracy and the peaceful and constitutional transfer of power. Shame on those who have incited this attack on democracy.
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) January 6, 2021
I believe in the strength of US institutions and democracy. Peaceful transition of power is at the core. @JoeBiden won the election.
I look forward to working with him as the next President of the USA. https://t.co/2G1sUeRH4U
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) January 6, 2021
President-elect Joe Biden forcefully denounced the storming of the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters, calling it an unprecedented assault on the nation’s democracy that “borders on sedition.”
He urged President Trump to publicly “demand an end to this siege.” “It’s not protest,” Mr. Biden said. “It’s insurrection.”
“I am genuinely shocked and saddened that our nation—so long the beacon of light and hope for democracy—has come to such a dark moment,” Mr. Biden said.
Let me be very clear: the scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not represent who we are. What we are seeing is a small number of extremists dedicated to lawlessness. This is not dissent, it’s disorder. It borders on sedition, and it must end. Now.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 6, 2021
Today is a reminder, a painful one, that democracy is fragile. To preserve it requires people of good will, leaders with the courage to stand up, who are devoted not to pursuit of power and personal interest at any cost, but to the common good.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 7, 2021
President Trump eventually issued a statement committing to an orderly transition of power to President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 20, but said he continued to “totally disagree with the outcome of the election.”
Just one conclusion by the thinking public:
Tomorrow’s History lesson, that I will be teaching, happened today.
— Nicholas Ferroni (@NicholasFerroni) January 6, 2021
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