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NAACP sues Trump, Giuliani, alleging conspiracy to incite Capitol riot

NAACP sues Trump, Giuliani, alleging conspiracy to incite Capitol riot

President Donald Trump looks on at the end of his speech during a rally to contest the certification of the results of the 2020 US presidential election by the US Congress on January 6, 2021 in Washington, USA.

Jim Bourg | Reuters

The NAACP and Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, sued former President Donald Trump, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani and two right-wing groups on Tuesday for plotting to incite the fatal Jan 6 Riots in the US Capitol.

The lawsuit, which is likely to include other Democratic lawmakers, cites the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which accused the defendants of conspiring to prevent Congress from electing Joe Biden to confirm to president.

This law was passed 15 years after the end of the civil war in response to the violence of the racist KKK and its intimidation of South Congressmen.

In addition to Trump and Giuliani, defendants in the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC include the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups, members of which were known to be among the thousands of people who broke into the Capitol last month.

The lawsuit comes three days after Trump was acquitted of instigating the uprising in his second Senate impeachment trial. Only seven Republicans voted to condemn Trump.

Trump had said without evidence for months before election day that the 2020 presidential contest would be fraudulent. He spent two months after his loss to Biden falsely claiming that he won the election and that there was widespread election rigging that passed the official results on to the Democrats.

On January 6, shortly before the Capitol invaded, Trump, Giuliani, and other speakers at a rally outside the White House encouraged supporters to oppose the confirmation of Biden’s victory by a joint congressional session, which is usually a formality.

In a press release announcing the lawsuit, the NAACP said: “The uprising was the result of a carefully crafted plan by Trump, Giuliani, and extremist groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, all of whom shared the common goal of using intimidation. Harassment and Threats to Stop Electoral College Certification. “

“They succeeded in carrying out their plan. After seeing the Capitol police barricade the doors of the house’s chamber with furniture, Congressman Thompson and other lawmakers put on gas masks and were taken to the Longworth House office block to take them.” More than 200 other representatives, employees and staff members sought protection. “

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of a coordinated plan to undermine the democratic electoral process and block the legal votes on millions of ballots cast by black Americans.

“January 6th was one of the most shameful days in our country’s history and was instigated by the president himself,” Thompson said in a statement.

“His joyful support of violent white supremacists resulted in a rupture of the Capitol that put my life and that of my colleagues in grave danger. It is a coincidence that the outcome was no more fatal. While the majority of Republicans in The Senate have a responsibility to holding the president accountable has been given up. We must hold him accountable for the uprising he has so obviously planned. “

Thompson added that the failure to hold the defendants accountable “invites this kind of authoritarianism to the right-wing anti-democratic forces so intent on destroying our country.”

Jason Miller, a Trump spokesman, said in a statement: “President Trump was acquitted in the recent Democratic witch hunt and the facts are irrefutable.”

“President Trump did not plan, produce or organize the January 6 rally on the Ellipse. President Trump did not instigate or conspire violence in the Capitol on January 6,” Miller said.

He added that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., “And Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, have to answer questions about why they turned down additional Security and National Guard assistance in the run-up to Jan. 6. “

Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Politics

McConnell votes for acquittal however says ‘no query’ Trump accountable for riot

McConnell votes for acquittal but says 'no question' Trump responsible for riot

Minutes after the “not guilty” vote in Donald Trump’s impeachment proceedings, Senate Minority Chairman Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Said the former president was clearly responsible for the deadly Capitol riot.

“There is no question that Trump” is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day, “said McConnell shortly after the Senate acquitted Trump of instigating the attack.” No question. “

But “the question is contentious,” said McConnell, because Trump, as a former president, “has no constitutional right to convict”.

“After much deliberation, I believe that the best reading of the Constitution shows that Article 2 Section 4 exhausts the group of people who can lawfully be tried, tried or convicted,” McConnell said.

“It’s the president, it’s the vice-president and civil servants. We have no power to convict a former incumbent who is now a private individual,” he said.

While 57 out of 100 senators found Trump guilty, the chamber fell below the two-thirds threshold required for a conviction. Seven Republican senators, along with all Democrats and Independents, voted to condemn Trump.

The House indicted Trump on January 13, a week before the end of his term in office, of an article on “incitement to rebellion.” The Democrats had pressured McConnell, who was the majority leader at the time, to quickly open a lawsuit before Trump left the White House. However, the trial itself didn’t begin until nearly three weeks after President Joe Biden was sworn in.

On Tuesday, 44 Republican Senators, including McConnell, voted that the Senate was constitutionally not even responsible for conducting a trial against a former president.

However, in his post-vote speech, McConnell endorsed the view that “President Trump is still liable for everything he did during his tenure”.

“He hasn’t gotten away with anything yet,” McConnell said, noting, “we have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil trials. And former presidents are not immune to being.” [held] accountable by both. “

McConnell, who previously stated that Trump provoked the crowd of his supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, also pushed back some of the arguments made by Trump’s defense team during the trial.

“The problem is not just the moderate language spoken by the president on Jan. 6,” McConnell said, “but the whole atmosphere of impending disaster,” including “the increasingly fierce myths of a landslide election that was somehow stolen.”

Trump’s lawyers had argued extensively that what the former president had said at a pre-insurrection rally was an ordinary political speech protected by the First Amendment. McConnell argued, however, that other examples of cutting-edge political rhetoric “are different from what we’ve seen” than Trump.

Before McConnell spoke, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., railed against the Republicans who voted in favor of the acquittal.

“There was only one correct judgment in this process: guilty,” said Schumer.

“This was about electing a country before Donald Trump. And 43 Republican members voted for Trump,” said Schumer.

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Politics

New video exhibits Capitol riot, Romney and Pence evacuating

New video shows Capitol riot, Romney and Pence evacuating

The House impeachment executives on Wednesday used graphic video and audio clips – some of which had not been publicly released – to recreate the moments when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Delegate Stacey Plaskett, a Democrat representing the U.S. Virgin Islands, presented the harrowing footage and sound as she illustrated the danger ex-Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress faced when they won President Joe Biden’s election confirmed.

It came on a day when the impeachment executives of the House of Representatives were setting out their case, that former President Donald Trump before lawmakers who both witnessed the attack and will decide whether to condemn the former president for causing a riot against the Government triggered.

“President Trump put a target on their backs and his mob went to the Capitol to hunt them down,” said Plaskett at the end of her presentation.

The video shows the first moments Trump supporters break through barricades and approach the Capitol while some scattered police officers throw blows but do not hold them back. The police can be heard in previously unpublished radio protocols in which reinforcement is requested in the event of “several violations of the law enforcement authorities”.

One officer describes rioters who “throw metal bars at us”. Another says, “They start throwing explosives” or “Fireworks”.

“This is practically a riot now,” an official said Jan. 6 at around 1:49 p.m. ET.

When rioters reach the Capitol, they knock on windows and kick doors. A man breaks a window with a screen and the mob streams in through the opening. A rioter carries a Confederate flag into the Capitol.

US Vice President Mike Pence looks back on January 6th when his security detail of US intelligence brought and evacuated him from a secure room in the US Capitol during the impeachment proceedings against former President Donald Trump for inciting a fatal attack on the U.S. Capitol on Capitol Hill in Washington, USA on February 10, 2021.

US Senate | Reuters

In security videos of the same incident from inside the building, which Plaskett said has never been seen, rioters pour through a door and window while a lone officer responds. One member of the crowd wears tactical body armor and another has a baseball bat.

After the Senate pauses at about 2:13 p.m. ET, Pence and the Senators leave the Chamber. Security footage shows former Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, who later turned rioters away from the Senate Chamber, passed Utah GOP Senator Mitt Romney in a hallway and told him to hurry in the opposite direction of the mob.

Additional security footage shows Pence and his family storming down a flight of stairs as they evacuate from the Senate Chamber.

Even more videos show rioters looking for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Asking, “Where are you, Nancy? We’re looking for you.” A Pelosi employee in hiding whispers into a phone, “You are knocking on the doors and trying to find them.”

A subsequent presentation by Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., Recreated how close the mob was to reaching Members of the House. Security footage showed lawmakers fleeing the chamber of the house and walking through hallways wearing gas masks.

He presented a video in which police shot and killed Ashli ​​Babbitt, the woman who died as a group of rioters trying to break through doors near the chamber of the house.

Swalwell also showed a video of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., who turned and crawled the other way after moving in the direction of the mob.

“You were only 58 paces from where the mob had gathered,” Swalwell told the senators.

Some senators, including Romney, watched carefully as the impeachment managers re-enacted the danger faced by lawmakers, according to reporters at the Capitol. Masks they wore to slow the spread of the coronavirus-protected reactions.

The senators watched dozens of haunting videos, the last of which showed the mob crushing a cop in a doorway as he yelled. Swalwell ended his presentation with the graphic clip.

The House of Representatives prosecuting the Trump case are faced with the challenge of convincing Republican senators to vote in favor of condemning the former president. Seventeen GOP senators would have to join all 50 Democrats.

On Tuesday only six Republicans voted for the process to continue at all. The former president’s legal team argued that Trump should not face impeachment proceedings after leaving office.

Both sides have 16 hours to resolve their cases within up to two days. Trump’s lawyers are expected to argue that months of comments the House says spurred the mob on during the election and after the constitutionally protected speech.

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Man arrested with gun outdoors Capitol, chief requires everlasting fence after Trump fan riot

Man arrested with gun outside Capitol, chief calls for permanent fence after Trump fan riot

A US Capitol police car drives past the US Capitol in Washington, USA on January 26, 2021.

Al Drago | Reuters

The acting head of the U.S. Capitol Police called for permanent fencing of the complex on Thursday and cited the January 6 uprising by a crowd of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters.

Calls for “huge improvements” to the security of the Capitol came the day after a West Virginia man was arrested after police found a gun and a list of members of Congress in his car, which was stopped near the complex’s temporary barrier .

Acting Capitol chief Yogananda Pittman noted that a 2006 Capitol security assessment “specifically recommended the installation of a permanent perimeter fence.”

“In light of recent events, I can clearly state that the physical security infrastructure needs to be significantly improved to allow permanent fences and the availability of emergency services in close proximity to the Capitol,” said Pittman.

She noted that after becoming acting boss on Jan. 8, she directed staff to conduct a physical security assessment of the entire Capitol complex. In addition to this review, the Capitol Police’s internal watchdog is investigating the January 6th events and a third party review of the complex’s security systems.

“In the end, we all have the same goal – to prevent what happened on January 6th from ever happening again,” said Pittman.

Five people died in the riot, including a Capitol policeman.

Two other police officers defending the Capitol that day killed themselves and up to 140 other police officers were injured while fighting Trump supporters who were invading the halls of convention, according to the Capitol Union.

A temporary fencing was set up after the violence, motivated by anger over Congress’ proposed confirmation of President Joe Biden’s election that day.

Shortly before the Trump uprising, his sons, personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, and other key supporters reiterated false claims that Biden won the election through electoral fraud and urged followers to help undo Biden’s victory.

A permanent fence would drastically change the traditional atmosphere around the Capitol, whose grounds and buildings were usually open to the public.

West Virginia man arrested

On Wednesday afternoon, Washington police arrested a 71-year-old West Virginia man, Dennis Warren Westover, who parked his car on the street near the fence on the southwest side of the Capitol and began to “yell at” [National] Guardsmen who were inside the fence line, “the authorities said.

Westover, who lives in South Charleston, later told police, “I wanted to see the fence that was around ‘my capitol’,” according to court records.

Westover’s car, according to court documents, contained a Sig Sauer P365 semi-automatic pistol with 10 rounds of ammunition and a separate 9mm 10-round magazine in the center console of the car.

Westover was charged with carrying an unregistered firearm and ammunition.

He told police he was “concerned about the honesty and integrity of the elections,” according to a criminal complaint.

The complaint also contained “Stop the Steal Paperwork” in his car, which contained a list of Senators and representatives from the US Congress and the West Virginia House of Representatives with contact information.

“He said that is the process that I am busy with [in] is justice, justice and truth, “says the complaint.

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Business

Capitol riot ‘incited by the President,’ says former DHS Secretary

Capitol riot ‘incited by the President,’ says former DHS Secretary

Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” that the January 6 attack on the Capitol was “instigated” by President Donald Trump and criticized him for telling the “big lie” in the election fueled on November 3rd, it was stolen from him.

“He did not say what would be most helpful, namely that he lost the election fair and the seat and that it is time for a peaceful change of power, as is the great tradition of our country,” said Yellen, who was from 2009 to 2013 Minister of Homeland Security. “… He did not realize that some of this violence was fueled by the so-called ‘big lie’ and he is the main proponent of it.”

An internal security report released in 2009 warned that right-wing extremism was on the rise and could lead to violence. There have been calls for Napolitano to resign, and she had to apologize for part of that report that said extremists might try to attract veterans. Napolitano said host Shepard Smith during an interview on Tuesday evening that white nationalists had only become more dangerous since the report.

“I think that assessment was generally correct at the time and it has proven to be correct in the following years and certainly in the last four years and certainly in the last few weeks,” said Napolitano. “We saw a surge in these right-wing nationalist groups, fueled in part by social media and social media messaging, and actually instigated on the 6th, in my view, by the president.”

There are growing concerns about an insider attack involving US soldiers charged with securing the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. The FBI is taking no chances and is reviewing the 25,000 National Guard troops who will be present at the inauguration.

According to a Pentagon spokesman, twelve members of the National Guard have since been expelled from Biden’s inauguration following the FBI investigation. Officials say two of the National Guard forces were flagged for “inappropriate” comments and text, while the other ten were removed for “various reasons”.

Napolitano said the security level in the Capitol was “necessary” because of the January 6 riot, but the measures would result in a “very uneventful day of inauguration”.

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No Biden point out, glosses over Covid deaths, Capitol riot

No Biden mention, glosses over Covid deaths, Capitol riot

U.S. President Donald Trump watches as he speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One to leave Washington and cross the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Texas at Andrews Joint Base, Maryland, Jan. 12 To visit in 2021.

Carlos Barria | Reuters

President Donald Trump made a taped farewell speech touting his economic and foreign policy record while glossing over the Capitol uprising that spilled over the last few weeks of his presidency.

He also failed to name his successor Joe Biden. Biden will be inaugurated as the nation’s 46th president on Wednesday.

Trump’s nearly 20-minute speech, taped Monday, described his departure from the White House as the natural conclusion to a job well done, rather than as a result of his loss of the election to Biden.

“We did what we came here for – and much more,” said Trump in the address.

“This week we are inaugurating a new administration and praying for their success in ensuring America’s security and prosperity. We wish them all the best and we want them to be lucky – a very important word,” said Trump.

Trump previously confirmed that a new administration will take command on Wednesday, but he has not officially conceded Biden. In contrast to the farewell speeches of previous presidents, Trump’s address does not specifically mention his successor.

The president’s speech also referred to the January 6 invasion of the Capitol by a swarm of his supporters – an event that killed five people and spurred the House to indict him a second time.

“All Americans were appalled by the attack on our Capitol. Political violence is an attack on everything we as Americans value. It can never be tolerated,” Trump said in the speech.

He has declined any responsibility for the invasion. But earlier on Tuesday Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Said the mob was “provoked” by the President and other powerful people.

Trump is facing impeachment proceedings in the Senate.

In the video, Trump praised his administration’s efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic, saying the US “has outperformed other countries economically because of our incredible economy and the economy we have built. It would not have been without the foundations and foundations worked like that. ” “”

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the US exceeded 400,000 deaths in Covid on Tuesday. About a quarter of these deaths were reported in the past five weeks alone.

“We mourn every life lost and commit ourselves in your memory to eradicate this terrible pandemic once and for all,” said Trump, whose term ends on Wednesday, in his address.

Trump, who regularly accused the media of “being the people’s enemy” and advocated the promise to drain the swamp of DC, also devoted a sizable portion of the address to a warning of “political censorship and blacklisting.”

“Closing a free and open debate goes against our core values ​​and the most sustainable traditions,” said Trump, who was permanently banned from Twitter after his initial reaction to the Capitol uprising.

“Now that I am preparing to hand over power to a new government on Wednesday noon, I want you to know that the movement we have started is only just beginning,” he said.

However, it is unclear whether this movement will include Trump – at least as a candidate for elected office. Senate minority chairman Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., vowed earlier Tuesday that if Trump is convicted after his impeachment trial, he will “vote on preventing him from running again.”

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Jacob Fracker, Virginia Nationwide Guard corporal, charged in U.S. Capitol riot

Jacob Fracker, Virginia National Guard corporal, charged in U.S. Capitol riot

This January 6, 2021 photo, provided by the United States Capitol Police in a warrant of appeal and arrest, shows Rocky Mount Police Department Sgt. Thomas “TJ” Robertson and officer Jacob Fracker in the Capitol building in front of a statute of John Stark, a Revolutionary War officer known for writing the New Hampshire state motto: “Live Free or Die”.

United States Capitol Police | AP

The U.S. Army said Jacob Fracker – one of the two off-duty Virginia police officers arrested on riot charges at the Capitol – is a non-commissioned officer in the Virginia National Guard.

Fracker is the first known active military service to be charged in the attack on the convention halls.

The disclosure of Fracker’s status as a Guardsman comes as thousands of National Guard service members, some of whom are armed, provide security in and around the Capitol following the deadly January 6 riot.

President Donald Trump was charged Tuesday with incitement to mob protests against Joe Biden’s election as president.

Fracker and colleague Thomas Robertson of Rocky Mount, Virginia, were seen posing for a photo and making obscene gestures in front of a statue in the Capitol during the invasion. This is evident from filings filed with the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC

Other rioters killed Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick and beat and sprayed other police officers defending the complex that same day.

Four other people died in the hand-to-hand combat, including an Air Force veteran Ashli ​​Babbitt, a rioter who was shot and killed by police while attempting to climb through a blocked area in the House of Representatives building.

Another member of the mob, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Larry Rendall Brock Jr., was charged with the riot in which he was photographed in the Senate wearing a helmet and zippered handcuffs.

This undated photo, made available by the Grapevine, Texas Police Department in January 2021, shows Larry Rendall Brock Jr. During the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, Brock was helmeted in the Senate and heavy vest photographed and handcuffed with zippers.

Grapevine, Texas Police Department via AP

Brock was handcuffed for “taking hostages” and possibly “executing members of the US government,” a federal attorney told a judge who released Brock on Thursday in the Texas detention center.

In a social media post relating to the photo of him and Robertson, Fracker wrote, “Lol to anyone who may be concerned about the picture of me,” according to the District of Columbia District Attorney’s Office both pursued police officers.

“I’m sorry I hate freedom?” Fracker wrote. “Not as if I did anything illegal … you do what you think is necessary.”

Robertson wrote in his own mocking post-attack social media post, “CNN and the left are just insane because we actually attacked the government that is the problem, and not some random small business.”

“The right one day took the f ***** US Capitol. Keep nudging us,” Robertson wrote, according to the prosecutor. In an Instagram post, Robertson wrote that he was “proud” of the photo because he was “ready to bring skin into play”.

Both Fracker and Robertson are charged with knowingly entering or staying in a restricted building or site without legal authority, once forcibly intruding and behaving in disorder for the purposes of the Capitol.

They are each free for an unsecured release loan of $ 15,000 and are not allowed to go to Washington or participate in demonstrations or protests while their criminal case continues.

Robertson told WSLS-10 News that the photo of him and Fracker “was taken long after a disturbance and we were admitted and escorted by the Capitol Police.”

He also said, “I went through an open door that was guarded by two Capitol police officers, got a bottle of water by then and asked to stay in a rope area, which we did.”

Dozens of other people were charged with the uprising that began after Trump held a rally on The Ellipse calling on supporters to march to the Capitol and help him reverse Biden’s election as president.

In a statement to CNBC, the National Guard said, “Jacob Fracker is a sergeant in the Virginia National Guard serving as an 11B infantryman in a traditional National Guard status where he typically trains one weekend a month and two weeks of annual training.”

“He is currently not serving with the Virginia National Guard forces in Washington, DC,” said the spokesman. “The Virginia National Guard will be investigating the matter and we will be able to provide more information when this is complete.”

In its own statement, the Rocky Mount Police Department said it “takes this matter very seriously” and is investigating the incident.

In the meantime, Fracker and Robertson are on administrative leave pending this review, police said.

“The recent events in our US Capitol are tragic. We stand with and support those who denounced the violence and illegal activities that day,” the department said.

In a statement Tuesday, the Army said it was working with the FBI to determine if anyone involved in last week’s riot had any connection with the Army.

“Any type of activity that involves violence, civil disobedience or a violation of the peace can be punished under the Unified Code of Military Justice or federal or state law,” an army spokesman wrote in an email sent to CNBC Explanation.

Gary Reed, director of intelligence at the Pentagon, wrote in a statement Wednesday: “We in the Department of Defense are doing everything we can to eradicate extremism in the Department of Defense.”

“DoD policy expressly forbids military personnel from actively advocating supremacist, extremist or criminal gang doctrine, ideology or causes,” wrote Reed.

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Business

Palm Seaside County appears to be like to finish Trump golf course lease after U.S. Capitol riot

Palm Beach County looks to end Trump golf course lease after U.S. Capitol riot

US President Donald Trump plays golf at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, the United States, December 30, 2020.

Marco Bello | Reuters

Palm Beach County, Florida this week was looking for a way to terminate a contract with President Donald Trump’s award-winning International Golf Club.

Howard Falcon, an assistant district attorney, said Friday a district commissioner asked him to see if the place could terminate its lease on the president’s popular West Palm Beach course.

The Palm Beach Post, which first reported that the county was reviewing the lease, added that Trump was paying $ 88,338 monthly rent on the property.

Trump visits his eponymous international golf club, which is located in West Palm Beach without a legal personality and is owned by the county, during his visits to Mar-a-Lago, his estate in Palm Beach. It is known that the President throws parties in the club. Well-known guests on the course in recent years have included Kid Rock and Tiger Woods.

Despite interest in terminating the lease, Falcon said he doesn’t believe the county has legal authority to terminate the lease.

An attorney for Trump’s golf course added to the Post that he had spoken to Falcon and concluded that there is “no basis for terminating the lease”.

The county’s move to cut ties with Trump came about a week after hundreds of violent rioters stormed Capitol Hill and at least five people died, including a police officer.

The unprecedented attack on the Capitol has resulted in national and bipartisan setbacks from politicians from across the political spectrum. The House of Representatives made history this week when it decided to indict Trump a second time for his role in inciting or otherwise promoting the insurgency.

President-elect Joe Biden, who will succeed Trump on Wednesday, has publicly denounced the president’s actions, calling him “incompetent”.

Although the impeachment process upset the president, Trump is reportedly more upset about the impact the insurrection has had on his business reputation and standing in the golfing world.

Several news outlets reported earlier this week that Trump was apoplectic after the PGA of America voted Sunday to remove the championship from his New Jersey golf course next year.

“We are in a political situation that we did not create,” Seth Waugh, CEO of the PGA of America, told the Associated Press. “We are trustees for our members, for the game, for our mission and for our brand. And how do we best protect that? Our feeling was given in the face of the tragic events on Wednesday that we could no longer hold it in Bedminster. The Damage could have been irreparable. “

A New York Times reporter wrote Monday that Trump’s reaction to the PGA decision was compared to his reaction to the impeachment trial before him ” [a] other order of magnitude. “

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that the city would sever its own business relations with the president’s company after the riot. In a statement, de Blasio said New York is taking steps to terminate all contracts with the Trump Organization, which is made up of hundreds of companies owned by the president.

The organization has three concession contracts in the city – the Central Park Carousel, Wollman and Lasker Ice Rinks, and Ferry Point Golf Course – that gross $ 17 million annually for the company, according to The Washington Post.

“The president instigated a rebellion against the United States government that killed five people and threatened to derail the constitutional delegation,” de Blasio said in a statement.

“The city of New York is in no way associated with such unforgivable acts and we are taking immediate steps to terminate all Trump Organization contracts,” he added at the time.

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Inaugural Safety Is Fortified in D.C. as Army and Police Hyperlinks Are Eyed in Riot

Inaugural Security Is Fortified in D.C. as Military and Police Links Are Eyed in Riot

The arrest of Mr. Sanford had nothing to do with the death of a Capitol police officer, Brian Sicknick, who was reportedly hit in the head by a fire extinguisher, according to two police officers.

Later that day, the charges against a man accused of beating a police officer on the Capitol grounds with an American flagpole were overturned. According to a criminal complaint, the man, Peter Stager, alleged that the victim of the attack was a member of Antifa, the loose collective of left-wing activists who have often grappled with far-right demonstrators, even though the words “Metropolitan Police” were clearly written on the officer’s uniform.

“Everyone there is a traitorous traitor,” Stager said in an apparent reference to the Capitol, according to a video obtained from the FBI. “Death is the only remedy against what is in this building.”

Even as they pursued new leads and suspects, federal investigators tried to investigate a fire charge brought up by several lawmakers this week: some members of Congress helped coordinate the attack.

On Wednesday, Representative Mikie Sherrill, a New Jersey Democrat and former naval pilot, and more than 30 of her colleagues called for an investigation into what they called “suspicious” visits by outside groups to the Capitol the day before the riot at a time when most Tours were restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, another lawmaker, Representative Mary Gay Scanlon, Democrat of Pennsylvania, said she witnessed a tour of the building in person by “Trump supporters” prior to the January 6 attack.

A police officer said investigators had not yet found evidence that members of Congress were involved in planning the attack and warned that the investigation was extensive and that any evidence would need to be carefully checked.

The spate of arrests and investigations added an air of nervous activity to a city that appeared to be under siege. The National Mall area was overcrowded with military vehicles on Thursday and cut off from the surrounding area by metal fences. This created what the secret service agent responsible for opening security called a “safe bubble”.

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World News

Parler sues Amazon for withdrawing assist after U.S. Capitol riot

Parler sues Amazon for withdrawing support after U.S. Capitol riot

John Matze, Parler CEO, will join CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on July 2, 2020.

CNBC

The social network Parler is suing Amazon for discontinuing its cloud computing support after the deadly uprising in the US Capitol.

Parler was popular with conservatives and supporters of President Donald Trump and relied on AWS ‘cloud computing services. However, AWS withdrew its support this week after it concluded that posts on Parler “clearly encourage and encourage violence.”

In a lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court in Seattle, Parler accused Amazon Web Services of violating antitrust laws.

“AWS’s decision to effectively terminate Parler’s account is apparently motivated by political animations,” the lawsuit said. “It is also apparently intended to reduce competition in the market for microblogging services in favor of Twitter.”

It goes on: “This emergency lawsuit seeks an injunction against defendant Amazon Web Services to prevent Parler’s account from being closed. This is like pulling the plug on a hospital patient for life support. It will bring Parler’s business to a standstill at just that Time when it will skyrocket. “

An AWS spokesman told CNBC that the allegations have no value, while Parler did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

“It is clear that there is significant content on Parler that promotes and incites violence against others and that Parler is unable or unwilling to promptly identify and remove such content in violation of our Terms of Use.” an AWS spokesman told CNBC.

“We’ve shared our concerns with Parler for several weeks and during that time we’ve seen a significant increase in this type of dangerous content, not a decrease that resulted in us closing their services on Sunday evening.”

Apple and Google remove Parler

Parler app screenshots viewed by CNBC show users posting references to firing squads, as well as calls for guns to be brought to Joe Biden’s inauguration next week.

In the lawsuit, Parler’s attorneys ask why AWS is not removing support for Twitter, which is also an AWS customer.

AWS “stated that the reason for the suspension was because AWS was not certain that Parler could properly monitor its platform for content that encourages or incites violence against others,” the lawsuit said. “Hang Mike Pence was one of the most popular tweets on Twitter on Friday night, but AWS has no plans or threats to suspend Twitter’s account.”

Twitter declined to comment.

Parler became the number one free downloaded app on Apple’s App Store after Twitter announced it was permanently banning Trump from its platform. “Conservative users fled en masse from Twitter to Parler,” said the lawsuit.

However, Apple removed Parler from the iPhone app store on Saturday, a day after Google removed Parler from its Android app store.

John Matze, founder and CEO of Parler, condemned the moves of the tech giants. In a series of posts about Parler over the weekend, he said his platform had removed the violent content and added that community guidelines do not allow Parler to be knowingly used for criminal activity.

Matze said Monday that the Parler app will be down “longer than expected” as other cloud hosting companies refuse to partner with Parler in light of press releases from Amazon, Google and Apple.

“This is not due to software restrictions. We have our software and all data ready. Rather, statements by Amazon, Google and Apple to the press about the blocking of our access have meant that most of our other providers have stopped supporting us . ” good, “said Matze.

He added, “Most people with enough servers to host us have closed their doors to us. We’ll all update and update the press when we get back online.”

Parler has transferred its domain name to Epik, which hosts the similar far-right social media network Gab. However, a hosting provider has yet to be found.

Gab, a social network known for its far-right user base and frequent hate speech, appears to be benefiting from the aftermath. On Monday, Gab CEO Andrew Torba announced that the platform had gained 600,000 new users.

– CNBC’s Annie Palmer contributed to this report.