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The US Capitol has been Breached [Action and Developing stories]


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Confederacy of Dunces: Part 1,307.6

Alabama AG , head of GOP RAGA Klavern, says he "didn't know" the same organization published sent out robocalls urging people to “march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal."

https://www.al.com/news/2021/01/steve-marshall-says-hell-investigate-republican-ag-groups-role-in-washington-march.html

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Someone serve up the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus meme.  (I guess sheriff's in Oklahoma dress like it's Halloween or something.)

 

large960_blur-cd0d485c7200ab01d8d2368484

 

chris-west-sheriff.jpg

EL RENO — Canadian County Sheriff Chris West acknowledged Friday that he marched to the U.S. Capitol this week in support of President Donald Trump but said he was not involved in the rioting.

At a news conference Friday, he denounced those who broke into the U.S. Capitol Wednesday.

"What happened at the nation's Capitol, the crimes that were committed, the egregious crimes on our beacon and bastion of last hope for our nation, breaking in to that and terrorizing it, that's horrible," the Republican said.

"The fact that people died, the fact that law enforcement officers were assaulted on our nation's Capitol, that our congressional members and other people in our government were in fear for life, I rebuke all of that. Every bit of it. I vehemently rebuke it."

He spoke out as speculation grew on social media about the level of his involvement in the demonstrations Wednesday. He called the speculation "crazy talk" spread by those who don't like his politics.

The violence came after Trump spoke at a rally Wednesday and urged supporters to go to the Capitol.

There, a mob rioted, overwhelming Capitol police to force their way inside as lawmakers met to certify President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.

West drove to Washington, D.C., attended the rally and then walked to the Capitol. He said at the rally were hundreds of thousands of Americans who love freedom.

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8 hours ago, JimmyJames said:

Five people died. All involved are culpable.

Sorry but you fuck around you find out. Maybe it sucks for some... 

But that’s the law. 

Just ask a 100,000 black people or so currently rotting in prison. 

Hang on. 80k or so of those felons were smoking the “reefer”. I mean surely jail is too good for those perfidious purveyors of the green demon??

 

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7 hours ago, Guadaloopy said:

I’ll never understand that attitude, other than the fact the USAF is the spoiled brat of the armed forces.  I’m a retired Navy O-5, and I am embarrassed to answer questions about my retirement pay. I get especially uncomfortable when the topic of health insurance comes up.  I am humbled by and grateful for the U.S. Military retirement benefits.  
This Lt. Col just pissed all over that generosity, and while he may not be subject to recall to active duty and court martial, he damned sure better be worried about the Hiss Act: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/96-530.pdf

 


 

 

Shit dude.  You got bounced around, sent to sea, and underpaid for 20 years.  At minimum.  

As said above, you earned it.

Thanks for your service and nothing to be embarrassed about.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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Any word about additional prep for future attacks around Inauguration Day?  I know the capitol Chief resigned, but how are they going to prevent a follow up?

There needs to be a lot more fortifications and personnel with military grade hardware to ensure Biden and Harris are kept safe.

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6 minutes ago, Goredho said:

Any word about additional prep for future attacks around Inauguration Day?  I know the capitol Chief resigned, but how are they going to prevent a follow up?

There needs to be a lot more fortifications and personnel with military grade hardware to ensure Biden and Harris are kept safe.

I’d imagine they’re are but perhaps they like to keep that info somewhat sheltered.

The concern about the police and other forces is real; they’ve certainly got themselves outfitted nationwide with military gear, so the thing we have to own is that when we do shithole banana republic dysfunction, we’re going to do it bigger and better cuz ‘murica. 

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I just want to see a horde of fully armed troops waiting for the same assholes who led the last assault to lead this one.  And if that happens, I do not want to hear one more damn word about how some "innocent" attacker got their ass killed.

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9 hours ago, jw4381 said:

How in the ever loving fuck is bison head not in custody?

Well everyone seems to love saying "fuck around and find out," but the "finding out" is looking more and more like charges of unlawful entry, breaking curfew, and locked Twitter accounts. Lol I was fucked harder than that by a speed camera in Scottsdale. What a fucking joke of a country. 

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6 hours ago, HOOK'EMHOOAH said:

 

I don't require or want "upvotes" for this comment.

 

Well that's just too damn bad, because you're getting it anyways. +rep

Thank you for all you've done and continue to do for this country. People like you fully deserve the title of "patriot," and it disgusts me to no end to see treasonous shitbags who've done nothing more than yell on social media take that label for themselves.

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2 hours ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Someone serve up the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus meme.  (I guess sheriff's in Oklahoma dress like it's Halloween or something.)

 

large960_blur-cd0d485c7200ab01d8d2368484

 

chris-west-sheriff.jpg

EL RENO — Canadian County Sheriff Chris West acknowledged Friday that he marched to the U.S. Capitol this week in support of President Donald Trump but said he was not involved in the rioting.

At a news conference Friday, he denounced those who broke into the U.S. Capitol Wednesday.

"What happened at the nation's Capitol, the crimes that were committed, the egregious crimes on our beacon and bastion of last hope for our nation, breaking in to that and terrorizing it, that's horrible," the Republican said.

"The fact that people died, the fact that law enforcement officers were assaulted on our nation's Capitol, that our congressional members and other people in our government were in fear for life, I rebuke all of that. Every bit of it. I vehemently rebuke it."

He spoke out as speculation grew on social media about the level of his involvement in the demonstrations Wednesday. He called the speculation "crazy talk" spread by those who don't like his politics.

The violence came after Trump spoke at a rally Wednesday and urged supporters to go to the Capitol.

There, a mob rioted, overwhelming Capitol police to force their way inside as lawmakers met to certify President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.

West drove to Washington, D.C., attended the rally and then walked to the Capitol. He said at the rally were hundreds of thousands of Americans who love freedom.

Im getting real fucking tired of these seditionists trying to say they weren't involved when the Find Out part of FAAFO starts.  

What a bunch of cowardly cosplay pussies.  but then again, they support the biggest coward of all so I guess I should not be surprised.

Edited by Gardner Barnes
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46 minutes ago, Doc Sam Beckett said:

Well everyone seems to love saying "fuck around and find out," but the "finding out" is looking more and more like charges of unlawful entry, breaking curfew, and locked Twitter accounts. Lol I was fucked harder than that by a speed camera in Scottsdale. What a fucking joke of a country. 

True. but locked Twitter accounts for people like Trump and his merry band of insanity is painful.  I also believe that the social stigma of exposure more broadly will stain some of these people's live for a long time.

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6 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

This may get lost in the late night, but can anyone with knowledge compare what the trump movement has done, is doing, and will do, to the IRA in terms of violent behavior to further a cause?

very preferably without getting into the cause of each or the righteousness thereof?

IRA - Some people are rightfully pissed off at the British occupiers and murderers

Spoiler

Bloody Sunday (1920)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bloody Sunday (Irish: Domhnach na Fola) was a day of violence in Dublin on 21 November 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. More than 30 people were killed or fatally wounded.

The day began with an Irish Republican Army (IRA) operation, organised by Michael Collins, to assassinate the "Cairo Gang" – a group of undercover British intelligence agents working and living in Dublin. IRA operatives went to a number of addresses and killed or fatally wounded 15 men. Most were British Army officers, one was a Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) sergeant, and two were Auxiliaries responding to the attacks. At least two civilians were killed, but the status of some of those killed is unclear. Five others were wounded.[1] The assassinations sparked panic among the British authorities, and many British agents fled to Dublin Castle for safety.

Later that afternoon, British forces raided a Gaelic football match in Croke Park. British RIC members called "Black and Tans", Auxiliaries, and British soldiers,[2][3][4] were sent to carry out a cordon and search operation. Without warning, the police opened fire on the spectators and players, killing or fatally wounding 14 civilians and wounding at least sixty others.[5][6][7] Two of those killed were children. Some of the police claimed they were fired at, and this was accepted by the British authorities. All other witnesses said the shooting was unprovoked, and a military inquiry concluded it was indiscriminate and excessive. The massacre further turned Irish public opinion against the British authorities.

 

Quote

The famine was a watershed moment in the history of Ireland,[3] which was ruled directly by Westminster as part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1801 to 1922. The famine and its effects permanently changed the island's demographic, political, and cultural landscape, producing an estimated 2 million refugees and spurring a century-long population decline.[18][19][20][21] For both the native Irish and those in the resulting diaspora, the famine entered folk memory.[22] The strained relations between many Irish and their ruling British government worsened further because of the famine, heightening ethnic and sectarian tensions and boosting nationalism and republicanism both in Ireland and among Irish emigrants around the world. English documentary maker John Percival said that the famine "became part of the long story of betrayal and exploitation which led to the growing movement in Ireland for independence".[23]

Trumpkins - Uneducated and mentally ill people with guns and online accounts

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5 minutes ago, Gardner Barnes said:

True. but locked Twitter accounts for people like Trump and his merry band of insanity is painful.  I also believe that the social stigma of exposure more broadly will stain some of these people's live for a long time.

Your second sentence may depend upon the expanse of their bubble and their standing in it, don't you think?

Your first sentence brings up a topic that we've talked about previously--addiction. This was not just shutting off the spigot of hate rhetoric spewed forth by a madman, it was an intervention of sorts. Those txag and tigerdropping fans that are deleting their accounts, how will they cope? I'm not being sarcastic, either. Many of them have left Facebook already, now they threw their twitter nicotine in the trash, and parler is not on their phone, what will they find? Go down into the darker web? Visit the various forums on reddit that have not been dropped or message boards such as this one? It's a  dopamine hit and they are going to be missing it.

Funny, they are lamenting the President's 'loss,' and canceling their own voice because of it but cannot see that he has dozens of more avenues of using his voice than they ever have, he just has to *gasp* follow the laws that govern elected officials and citizens.

Maybe they should write a letter to the editor. Oh wait, you have to use your real name and address for that. Cowards.

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1 hour ago, Goredho said:

Any word about additional prep for future attacks around Inauguration Day?  I know the capitol Chief resigned, but how are they going to prevent a follow up?

There needs to be a lot more fortifications and personnel with military grade hardware to ensure Biden and Harris are kept safe.

Biden addressed this  couple of days ago.  The inauguration will be run by Secret Service", not Capitol police. 

 

* That group could use a purge, as well.

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4 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Your second sentence may depend upon the expanse of their bubble and their standing in it, don't you think?

Your first sentence brings up a topic that we've talked about previously--addiction. This was not just shutting off the spigot of hate rhetoric spewed forth by a madman, it was an intervention of sorts. Those txag and tigerdropping fans that are deleting their accounts, how will they cope? I'm not being sarcastic, either. Many of them have left Facebook already, now they threw their twitter nicotine in the trash, and parler is not on their phone, what will they find? Go down into the darker web? Visit the various forums on reddit that have not been dropped or message boards such as this one? It's a  dopamine hit and they are going to be missing it.

Funny, they are lamenting the President's 'loss,' and canceling their own voice because of it but cannot see that he has dozens of more avenues of using his voice than they ever have, he just has to *gasp* follow the laws that govern elected officials and citizens.

Maybe they should write a letter to the editor. Oh wait, you have to use your real name and address for that. Cowards.

Quote

Trump received endorsements from only 20 daily newspapers and six weekly newspapers nationwide, of which only two, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union, had circulations of above 100,000.[4] The small number of endorsements received by Trump was unprecedented in American history for a candidate from a major party.[6][7][8]

Media journalist Jim Rutenberg wrote in early October 2016 that endorsements in the 2016 presidential election were distinguished by "blunt condemnation" of Trump and by a "save the Republic" tone.[3]

A handful of newspapers endorsed third party candidates, including independent candidate Evan McMullin and Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson; endorsing a candidate outside the two major parties is rare.[4][5]

Summary of newspaper and magazine endorsements in the 2016 United States presidential election

Candidate Daily Weekly Magazines College International Total
Hillary Clinton 243 148 15 77 17 500
No endorsement 64 13 0 5 0 82
Not Donald Trump 8 2 4 12 4 30
Donald Trump 20 6 0 0 2 28
Gary Johnson 9 0 0 0 0 9
Split endorsement 2 0 0 0 0 2
Evan McMullin 1 0 0 0 0 1
Not Hillary Clinton 1 0 0 0 0 1

Was just thinking about newspapers and began to wonder which papers endorsed Trump.  Answer: not many of any repute.

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1 hour ago, AnTiM said:

I just want to see a horde of fully armed troops waiting for the same assholes who led the last assault to lead this one.  And if that happens, I do not want to hear one more damn word about how some "innocent" attacker got their ass killed.

The issue there is that it's likely that a third of the armed troops may be on the side of the insurrection. 

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2 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Your second sentence may depend upon the expanse of their bubble and their standing in it, don't you think?

Your first sentence brings up a topic that we've talked about previously--addiction. This was not just shutting off the spigot of hate rhetoric spewed forth by a madman, it was an intervention of sorts. Those txag and tigerdropping fans that are deleting their accounts, how will they cope? I'm not being sarcastic, either. Many of them have left Facebook already, now they threw their twitter nicotine in the trash, and parler is not on their phone, what will they find? Go down into the darker web? Visit the various forums on reddit that have not been dropped or message boards such as this one? It's a  dopamine hit and they are going to be missing it.

Funny, they are lamenting the President's 'loss,' and canceling their own voice because of it but cannot see that he has dozens of more avenues of using his voice than they ever have, he just has to *gasp* follow the laws that govern elected officials and citizens.

Maybe they should write a letter to the editor. Oh wait, you have to use your real name and address for that. Cowards.

Had a friend tell me he was concerned that the bans would push the speech deeper underground where it would radicalize people and strengthen walls between information silos. 
 

I’m having forebodings of angry mobs storming capitols and state houses, hatching plots to kidnap and kill elected officials, and murdering police officers.  A world where people consume a steady stream of easily disproven propaganda and become almost religiously attached to its purveyors. 
 

Truly frightening to contemplate. 

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6 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Had a friend tell me he was concerned that the bans would push the speech deeper underground where it would radicalize people and strengthen walls between information silos. 
 

I’m having forebodings of angry mobs storming capitols and state houses, hatching plots to kidnap and kill elected officials, and murdering police officers.  A world where people consume a steady stream of easily disproven propaganda and become almost religiously attached to its purveyors. 
 

Truly frightening to contemplate. 

The FBI better be all over this shit.

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Had a friend tell me he was concerned that the bans would push the speech deeper underground where it would radicalize people and strengthen walls between information silos. 
 
I’m having forebodings of angry mobs storming capitols and state houses, hatching plots to kidnap and kill elected officials, and murdering police officers.  A world where people consume a steady stream of easily disproven propaganda and become almost religiously attached to its purveyors. 
 
Truly frightening to contemplate. 


There always has been and there always will be a lunatic fringe. They don’t need the Internet (see the Know Nothings of the mid 19th century, the Q Anon of their time). But I have to believe it will help tremendously when the ultimate source is no longer the actual sitting President of the United States with a Twitter bullhorn.

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1 minute ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Had a friend tell me he was concerned that the bans would push the speech deeper underground where it would radicalize people and strengthen walls between information silos. 
 

I’m having forebodings of angry mobs storming capitols and state houses, hatching plots to kidnap and kill elected officials, and murdering police officers.  A world where people consume a steady stream of easily disproven propaganda and become almost religiously attached to its purveyors. 
 

Truly frightening to contemplate. 

Agreed. The chatter I'm hearing is that Trump would like something along those lines. Suuuure he would, any wanna be dictator would. I also saw, perhaps here, that the Q guy Watkins? has been going back and forth in dialogue with (bear with me cause I'll get it wrong) 8kun? 8chan? one of those web thingies that keeps shutting down and moving around so I believe these behind-the-scenes folks are trying desperately to do this because it's what they want. How much of it is driven by foreign interference I don't know--other than I saw on a investigative reporter account for one of the media--Vox or some such that the parler guy has a tie to Russia-girlfriend, wife or something. The perfect marriage of  puppet master and puppets staging their play.

It feels today as if time is accelerating and dragging. Those seconds keep ticking by, with me holding my breath in the pool and first I thought it was going to be okay, and now I'm  wondering if that dark object in the water by the diving board is a depth charge.

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1 minute ago, Buzzrock said:

 


There always has been and there always will be a lunatic fringe. They don’t need the Internet (see the Know Nothings of the mid 19th century, the Q Anon of their time). But I have to believe it will help tremendously when the ultimate source is no longer the actual sitting President of the United States with a Twitter bullhorn.
 

 

Spot on. However, I'm just a little concerned that there are not a few folks with Presidential ambitions that are taking notes and planning.

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2 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:

 


There always has been and there always will be a lunatic fringe. They don’t need the Internet (see the Know Nothings of the mid 19th century, the Q Anon of their time). But I have to believe it will help tremendously when the ultimate source is no longer the actual sitting President of the United States with a Twitter bullhorn.
 

 

Yep. And the hope is it sort of delegitimizes the movement for some Trump sympathizers when the platform isn't used by all Americans. Riling people up on Parler will not have the same effect as Twitter. You can't own the libs when none of them are on Parler. 

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4 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Agreed. The chatter I'm hearing is that Trump would like something along those lines. Suuuure he would, any wanna be dictator would. I also saw, perhaps here, that the Q guy Watkins? has been going back and forth in dialogue with (bear with me cause I'll get it wrong) 8kun? 8chan? one of those web thingies that keeps shutting down and moving around so I believe these behind-the-scenes folks are trying desperately to do this because it's what they want. How much of it is driven by foreign interference I don't know--other than I saw on a investigative reporter account for one of the media--Vox or some such that the parler guy has a tie to Russia-girlfriend, wife or something. The perfect marriage of  puppet master and puppets staging their play.

It feels today as if time is accelerating and dragging. Those seconds keep ticking by, with me holding my breath in the pool and first I thought it was going to be okay, and now I'm  wondering if that dark object in the water by the diving board is a depth charge.

Jim Watkins is an interesting person of interest in this. 8kun/chan keep getting their hosting contracts pulled, because they aren't big enough to host their own infrastructure. There's a good podcast titled "Q Clearance" that walks through the conspiracy theory's origination a 4chan memes all the way through the identity of "Q" almost certainly changing hands multiple times

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2 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

 

The find out portion of the simulation is just cranking up.  The fallout for the idiots who had a real life is going to be painful and lasting.  As it should be.

 

 All the Trump supporters I know flipped after this attempt.  So there is a limit to the idiocy.  It’s just way worse than I thought.

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30 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

I disagree. While undergrounds will always exist, this happened because the Republican Party mainstreamed conspiracy theories and the reactionary underground as a means of coalition building. We neeed a strong and stable Republican Party. It’s a crucial institution. The lunatic fringe is infecting the rest of the GOP and must be treated as a dangerous parasite. They could fix this by rejecting it, but that makes their math a problem, so society will have to do it for them, and as always there’s a role for the business community to play.

There are a whole range of enterprises that banks will not provide services to because of the reputational risk. This is no different. I’m not suggesting that Regular Republicans be muzzled in any way. I am suggesting that society stop treating dangerous people and dangerous actions as somehow harmless.

I obviously disagree with my friend, all the shit I wrote about already happened because the social media world enabled and empowered this bullshit.  Forcing it underground puts it back where it belongs.

Underground radicalism is a danger to people, mainstream radicalism is a danger to nations.

 

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-capitol-mob-desecrated-a-historical-workplace--and-left-behind-some-disturbing-artifacts/2021/01/08/e67b3c88-51d1-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html

 

Quote

It was after the House had reconvened Wednesday night, and after Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) had voted to certify the Arizona vote for President-elect Joe Biden, that he decided to take a walk. He exited the House chamber through doors with bashed-out glass windows. He walked to the middle of the Rotunda and looked around at the remnants of the riot that had engulfed the Capitol hours earlier. There were American flags and splinters of historic furniture scattered with gloves and cigarette butts and the powdery residue left behind by fire extinguishers. The meaningful mixed with the mundane.

Kim was overwhelmed with sadness at the desecration of what he considers the most beautiful building in the country. “Under that great dome was just ransacked, just garbage and debris everywhere, all of it all over the statues, all over the floor,” he says. “It was really painful to see this room and this building that I love so much hurting.”

 

Quote

So he got a trash bag, and started to pick it up.

He cleaned up car keys, and Trump flags, and water bottles — as well as some alarming items such as body armor. There were some police posted nearby. “I asked the officers if it was theirs, and they said no,” says Kim. He says he found a manufacture date on the armor: It had been bought just weeks earlier, as if for this very occasion.

Kim kept cleaning. He cleaned the Rotunda, Statuary Hall, the crypt. It was 1 a.m. The litter was a testament to the violence. “There was some metal furniture that was broken, which was pretty amazing to me,” he says. “These are like, metal benches that were just broken to pieces.”

 

Quote

A lot of things were broken to pieces, or pilfered, or defaced. Windows and door frames. The placard above House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s door. Camera equipment owned by the Associated Press. A photo of the late congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis, with a quote about the necessity of getting into “good trouble,” that had stood on an easel outside of the office of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).

The office of the Senate parliamentarian was ransacked. A bust of President Zachary Taylor was smeared with what appeared to be blood.

Missing: Laptops from the offices of Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Pelosi and others. Mail. Paperwork. Records that the Department of Justice referred to cryptically as “national security equities.”

 

Spoiler

“If anyone cleaning up the Capitol (or any of the hallways we were quickly moving through) spots a blue eyeglasses case with gold-rimmed glasses in them — let me know,” tweeted PBS correspondent Lisa Desjardins

Inside the Capitol after a day of mob violence
 
 

Seven pieces of historically significant art were covered in “corrosive gas agent residue,” according to a spokesperson for the Committee on House Administration, which has oversight over the House curator and the Architect of the Capitol. Those gas-doused artifacts — including a marble statue of Thomas Jefferson, marble busts of House speakers Joseph Gurney Cannon, Joseph W. Martin Jr., Thomas Brackett Reed and Champ Clark and portraits of James Madison and John Quincy Adams — were being sent to the Smithsonian for assessment and restoration. A 19th-century gold mirror in Speaker Pelosi’s office was smashed and will be repaired, per the spokesperson.

Litter inside the U.S. Capitol left by the trespassing mob.
Litter inside the U.S. Capitol left by the trespassing mob. (Oliver Contreras for The Washington Post)

“On the West Front, the teams identified graffiti on the building near the Inaugural Stands and two broken Olmsted light fixtures,” said a spokeswoman for the Architect of the Capitol in an email. “Statues, murals, historic benches and original shutters all suffered varying degrees of damage – primarily from pepper spray accretions and residue from tear gas and fire extinguishers – that will require cleaning and conservation.”

 

The Capitol is a place of business but also a museum. When a window has been broken, a replacement can’t just be ordered from Home Depot. “All original materials will be used in repairs where possible,” said the spokeswoman.

During the riot, precious artifacts were paraded around as props and prizes. A Florida man in a ski cap made off with the House speaker’s lectern. A photograph of the man with his quarry quickly became iconic, a symbol of the mob’s audacity in taking what they wanted without bothering to hide their identities. (The Bradenton [Fla.] Herald later identified the man as 36-year-old Adam Christian Johnson, a furniture maker and stay-at-home dad.) A listing for the lectern briefly appeared on eBay, commanding bids of at least $56,000 before it was taken down. (“Stolen items are illegal and not allowed on eBay,” a company spokeswoman said in an email.) The postings were a hoax: The lectern, as well as a gavel, were recovered undamaged, reported the spokesperson for the Committee on House Administration.

The Antiquities Trafficking and Heritage Anthropology Research (ATHAR) Project kept a lookout online for rioters’ stolen “souvenirs.” Katie Paul, the group’s co-director, says she saw postings for the lectern on Facebook Marketplace, where the sale of stolen goods is prohibited.

“Especially with federal charges coming, people are likely going to want to get this material out of their possession,” says Paul. “But it also is going to be worth money, particularly since it’s now from a historical event.”

A Gadsden Flag (“Don’t tread on me”) left behind after the raid.
A Gadsden Flag (“Don’t tread on me”) left behind after the raid. (Oliver Contreras for The Washington Post)

Because of the historic nature of the Capitol riot, the mob not only destroyed historically important artifacts but created them. As cleanup crews tended to the Capitol’s exterior on Thursday, another type of worker was sifting through the mess for salvageable items. Frank Blazich, a curator from the National Museum of American History collected signs and other ephemera from the scene. Among the objects: a sign that read, “Off with their heads: Stop the steal.” Other leavings, including pro-insurrection stickers and flags found inside the Capitol, will be preserved along with artifacts like the speaker’s damaged name plate in the House and Senate collections and shared with national museums, including the Smithsonians, said the Committee on House Administration spokesperson.

Jane Campbell, president of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, a nonprofit chartered by Congress to inspire “ informed patriotism,” says she was angry and heartbroken watching Wednesday’s events unfold on television from her Capitol Hill home.

But as soon as the siege ended, Campbell switched into historian mode. Her organization is collecting first-person accounts, videos and social media posts for what will become a digital archive of the riot. She also hopes that much of the physical detritus of the day will be saved.

“As a historian I want everything preserved,” Campbell says. “I think the people who did the attack on the Capitol are insurrectionist, immoral and bad news all the way around . . . but if they left stuff behind, it should be preserved and studied later. We have to look at, ‘What did we learn?’ ”

Workers clean up debris outside the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Workers clean up debris outside the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Many members of the Capitol’s janitorial staff are people of color, and it did not go unnoticed by people scrolling through photos of the destruction online that Black and Latino custodians — plus one first-generation Korean American congressman — were the ones picking up a mess left behind by a mostly White group that included, among others, a man carrying a gigantic Confederate flag.

That didn’t enter Rep. Kim’s thoughts until later. He thought of his parents, and how they came to this country.

“When I see the Capitol defaced, I see the values and the opportunities that gave my family a chance in this country disrespected,” he says. “This building is bigger than all of us. It deserves our respect.”

 

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15 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

So he got a trash bag, and started to pick it up.

He cleaned up car keys, and Trump flags, and water bottles — as well as some alarming items such as body armor. There were some police posted nearby. “I asked the officers if it was theirs, and they said no,” says Kim. He says he found a manufacture date on the armor: It had been bought just weeks earlier, as if for this very occasion.

Kim kept cleaning. He cleaned the Rotunda, Statuary Hall, the crypt. It was 1 a.m. The litter was a testament to the violence. “There was some metal furniture that was broken, which was pretty amazing to me,” he says. “These are like, metal benches that were just broken to pieces.”

Wasn't that a crime scene?

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31 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

 

Quote

Johnson is a registered voter in Manatee County listed as no party affiliation. He voted in the presidential elections in both 2004 and 2020.

That’s weirdly stated. Are they saying he didn’t vote in 2008, 20012, or 2016? He turned 18 in 2002, voted in his first Presidential election in 2004, and then never voted again until voting to re-elect Trump in 2020? I can believe that. It’s just a weird use of “both” to describe an arbitrary pair out of a set of five. Kudos to him, though. His entire voting record has been dedicated to re-electing the two worst Presidents in history. 

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30 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:

Has some enterprising person assembled a state-by-state analysis of origin for arrested and/or identified insurrectionists? It seems like Tennessee is going hard but I don’t want to sell anyone short.

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The hardcore treasonous Trump patriots are too stupid to use any technology that has any level of security beyond "CLICK THE SQUARES THAT HAVE CROSSWALKS" , and even that might hurt their brains. They're not going to be running their shit through encrypted channels.

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10 minutes ago, Red Five said:

Wasn't that a crime scene?

Once the cops let everyone back in, it ceased being a crime scene in any meaningful sense (e.g. evidence collection). There was no longer chain of custody for anything, people moving around and touching things, etc. Why would you search for something to criticize him?

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19 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

All the + rep to Rep. Kim, and telling that none of the other congress critters even thought about helping clean up.

It was a crime scene and should’ve been treated as such. No congress members or staff should have been touching anything. Bring in the FBI to process the scene. Photograph everything, collect and catalog every piece of evidence to aid in the criminal prosecution of Trump’s goons who attempted to overthrow democracy. 
 

Probably not realistic to think that could happen. But it seems like that’s what should’ve happened. 

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Just now, WhatTheBuck said:

It was a crime scene and should’ve been treated as such. No congress members or staff should have been touching anything. Bring in the FBI to process the scene. Photograph everything, collect and catalog every piece of evidence to aid in the criminal prosecution of Trump’s goons who attempted to overthrow democracy. 
 

Probably not realistic to think that could happen. But it seems like that’s what should’ve happened. 

24 hours after the crime after hundreds of people had contaminated the area?

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