Chances are something worse than what happened last week Washington when a violent group of ‘Trumpistas’ stormed the capital cause the death of five people is very high.
That’s what the FBI told US lawmakers at a conference Monday to assess the risks present and their possession Joe Biden on January 20.
(Read here: What is known about the meeting between Trump and Pence in the White House?)
According to the FBI census, the far-right groups that participated are promoting one “take armed” not just in the US capital, but in all 50 states of the country.
What they told us was terrifying. They talk about taking over the Capitol building again, assassinating the President-elect, burning buildings. This is domestic terrorism and we will not be intimidatedThe representative said to the house Connor Lamb, who took part in the conversation with the FBI.
They talk about taking over the Capitol again, killing the president-elect, burning buildings
US President-elect Joe Biden.
During the meeting, the agents discussed not only plans to kill Biden, but also the vice president Kamala Harris, the President of Congress Nancy Pelosi and even Republican lawmakers who did not support President Trump and who criticized him for promoting last week’s violence.
In several cities across the country, authorities had begun to take extreme measures to defend their institutions if protesters acted on their threats. Many of these riots are scheduled for this weekend.
(You might be interested: Trump says his pre-Capitol takeover speech was appropriate)
In the capital, meanwhile, all security forces coordinated a massive deployment of public violence to defend Congress and the Supreme Court, the two targets most commonly cited by extremists as potential targets.
There are at least 15,000 members of the National Guard, plus the Congressional Police and Rapid Reaction Forces. It is already known that access to Biden’s possession for the Capitol, which usually brings together thousands, will be limited to the limit.
Likewise, the authorities have embarked on a series of movements to arrest and arrest the leaders of the uprising even before they manage to reach the capitals and disrupt their channels of communication.
The threats are very serious because they come from armed groups, according to the same FBI sources “to the teeth” And they can wreak havoc if they set their sights on it.
(Read here: According to the FBI, radical forums are preparing a new look at the Capitol)
Yet they are confident that they will be able to control them, because this time they are prepared for their arrival.
We analyzed what I said … and everyone thinks they were appropriate
Donald Trump before traveling to Texas.
Brendan Smialowski. AFP
In the same vein, the Washington Post published a report in which the FBI had warned the day before the attack on the Capitol that protesters were preparing for a “war” and that they would use violence. That report contradicts earlier statements by both the police and other authorities, according to which the event took them by surprise. Likewise, several studies have progressed indicating a possible association of members of the public power following the emergence of new videos and photos where several of them cooperate with the protesters.
Trump, in his initial comments since Thursday, sent a message to his supporters indicating that the violence is not appropriate. “We don’t want violence, never violence”the president told reporters at the White House.
(You may be interested in: Why will Trump be charged with instigating insurgency?)
However, he defended the statements he made on the day of the uprising that many believe prompted the takeover of Congress. “We analyzed what I said … and everyone thinks they were appropriate”, Trump said. Something that not even many Republicans or members of their own government share.
Alex Azar, his health secretary, said on Monday that the rhetoric Trump used before the incident was “unacceptable”.
It has also been questioned that the president decided to travel to Alamo, Texas, to deliver one of the final speeches of his tenure. Alamo is a border town named after a famous battle in 1836 and symbolizes the struggle for independence in the United States. In February of that year a group of about 200 Texans fighting for secession from Mexico, a mission of Franciscan priests was taken and they resisted for 13 days before being subjugated by the troops of the neighboring country, who were far superior.
Trump also insisted that the impeachment trial the Democrats want to have against him is another “Witch hunt” that sets the country for one “enormous danger”.
Democrats and some Republicans insist that the president should be punished for his role in last week’s events.
Last Monday, the House of Representatives passed a resolution asking Vice President Mike Pence to call for the 25th amendment to the national constitution that would allow the removal of a sitting president without him and half the cabinet is of the opinion that the president is not in office. to govern.
That the vice president immediately uses the powers of Section 4 of the 25th Amendment and mobilizes the officers of the wards to declare what is clear to a horrified nation: That the president is unable to perform his functionssays the resolution.
(In other news: Melania Trump mourns Capitol’s death and ‘gossip’ at her)
The text gives Pence 24 hours to carry out his term. If not, the House would vote on an impeachment article against Trump already presented this Monday calling for the president to be removed for “ inciting insurrection. ”
His approval is taken for granted, as the Democrats are the majority in the House of Representatives, and that would make Trump the first president in history to open two political trials against him.
The process would be pushed forward by the Senate, but it would be postponed until after January 20, once Biden took office and the Democrats take control of this chamber.
Removing a president, even retroactively, requires the votes of two-thirds of the senate (67). If approved, the lawmakers will vote by simple majority they could pass an additional provision that would prevent Trump from holding public office for life.
But it’s unlikely at this point that Democrats will convince enough Republican lawmakers (at least 17) to remove the president, even if he’s no longer in the White House.
In large part because they fear political retaliation a Republican base that remains very loyal to Trumpy thinks such a decision would further divide the country.
SERGIO GÓMEZ MASERI
CORRESPONDENT OF THE TIME
WASHINGTON
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