Completely Understandable. When I didn’t see my email, I went to Facebook (that I’m trying to avoid). But it made me realize even more how important your words, your being here, mean to me. I get emotional (something I’m doing a lot of lately). Just your calm presence is so important. I just wish we all could provide support to you in some way also.
I saw Jessica Yellin's (News not Noise) post on Instagram this morning and took the time to think about how stressed out everyone else must be... I was so frazzled I was just mindlessly bouncing around and really needed grounding.
No worries. You did post to Facebook. I'm here in Washington, DC. Your calm, well reasoned essays, ironically, calm me down. As you might imagine, things have been really unnerving in DC. Trump not only called his cult to DC January 6th. But he also wants them back January 20th. They still plan to come.
I believe the attack on the Capitol was part 2 of the Internet hack that's undermined many Federal agencies and corporations for the last 9 months. I think Trump literally gave the keys to the kingdom to our adversaries. Now he's trying to finish the job. Remember, laptops and other security devices were stolen in the Wednesday Capitol melee, by people who seemed to know what they wanted and where to go to get it. I've been in the Capitol. It's a maze. You'd never know where, as a stranger, you'd know how to find anything, unless you'd already figured it out.
After the election, Trump made numerous civilian military appointees to key agencies who could refuse to help in a national emergency. Many wondered why he was doing this after losing the election. We now know. It was so they could say no.
Then Trump called in the invasion cult, "Be here. Be wild." And incited his cult, at his Wednesday rally, saying he would walk down Pennsylvania Avenue with them. This from a guy who golfs with a cart, and who's longest walk was from the now denuded Rose Garden to Lafayette Square where he posed with a Bible. Instead he went back to The White House by motorcade and turned on the TV. His delight was so palpable that resignations began immediately.
Few understand that Washington DC is a quilt of unrelated security. Federal is Federal. Local is local. There are numerous agencies that are their own silos. Our Washington DC Metropolitan Police cannot, CANNOT, enter Federal areas like the Capitol, unless invited. Only the President can ask other agencies to assist. Trump repeatedly refused requests from both the Capitol Police and from our Mayor Bowser, asking for the National Guard. The best Mayor Bowser could do was to get the guard in for unarmed traffic control. Maryland, who wanted to help, was similarly refused.
The Capitol Police had asked Federal agencies for help. They'd asked for the National Guard. But Trump and his civilian military minions repeatedly refused.
There's some evidence that some (but definitely not all) of The Capitol Police were in on the plot (video of lifted gates and selfies, suggest this). Eventually the Federal Capitol Police did ask our local MPD for help. Our MPD was there in force in a flash, once invited (remember, our local police cannot police Federal property unless invited).
Now the true Trump believers say it wasn't them. I don't think they have any idea how man security cameras are here in DC. A DC program gives residents and businesses discounts on security cameras, as long as they can be accessed by the police and other agencies.
Names are being published. The guy in the Viking like helmet with horns is from Arizona. The guy with his feet on Pelosi's desk is identified. The guy stealing the podium? Identified. The FBI has been inundated with tips and videos since launching its hotline and Website.
The airlines have offered to detain anyone who can be identified before leaving town. 9/11 was solved with airport security footage. Everything is so much more sophisticated now that more information is easily sharable. It's much harder to hide.
Now that the Capitol Police officer hit with a fire extinguisher has died, homicide will be among the charges levied against anyone identified and arrested. Deaths from the traitorous insurrection are now at 5.
Let's hope that all perpetrators are all arrested and rounded up before January 20th. There's going to be a lot of them. Perhaps they should be incarcerated at Guantanemo where we keep other unrepentant terrorists.
One another thing I just thought of. At any event in Washington DC, there are officials patrolling with dogs. Some are canine police. Others are drug or bomb sniffing dogs. I saw no canine patrols at either the rally or at the Capitol. When I've been to the Capitol, there have always been dogs. I know because I had a service dog who just died. We were very other dog aware.
Thank you for this explanation of the various police agencies. I wondered if some Capital Police were complicit, but since I’d only heard about selfies and didn’t see them, decided to withhold judgment.
I'm sorry for your loss of a helpful canine mate (in the Aussie 'pal' sense). I know they are working dogs, but their friendship and loyalty is no less than that from a pet mutt. Are you on a list for another?
It has been noted by many members of Congress that, given the maze that constitutes the design of offices and gathering spaces in the Capitol building, the intruders had to have been in possession of prior information to locate specific offices.
Lack of planning and response by security forces was not accidental. We have seen how quickly police and guards were mobilized during BLM protests. Our country has been in denial that an elected President would collude with foreign powers and operatives to our detriment. We have just had a brutally rude awakening.
The real hero is the Secret service. They barricaded behind locked doors slowing the mob. Preventing them from reaching Pelosi and Pence. It is unfortunate that they had to use deadly force. I've watched the videos, the agent yelled "stop" like 40 times. Ashli Babbit was an Air Force veteran. She had to have weapons training at basic training. The agent is less than 6 feet from her, gun raised, finger on the trigger. Instructing her to "STOP". She didn't and continued climbing through the broken glass of the barricaded doorway. So Secret Service shot her, to protect our elected officials from attack and a potential hostage event. WHOLLY COW!!! There are several videos from the mob's phone cameras that have been posted and picked up by News.
Thank you, Christina, for your excellent info. Your point about the laptops is alarming. I wondered how anyone got into Nancy Pelosi's office as it's across the street from the Capitol Building in the Senate Office Building. I figured that Members of Congress would be safe due to the underground tunnels leading to their offices. Clearly the insurgents knew exactly where to go and this was way more planned and orchestrated than it appeared. Very disturbing!!
It would appear from what I've been able to piece together from various sources that many in the mob were just cannon fodder, while a small elite (highly trained) corps was there to get specific items under the cover of the milling, mindless mob.
That makes so much sense on so many levels. *Cannon fodder* is exactly what 90+% were. Mirroring DJT’s distraction technique that’s so effective. Selling off the Arctic land during this debacle is a perfect example. God knows what else we’ve lost during the past 4 years of daily drama.
Christina thank you so much for the highly informative and well-written post. Nothing like true experience to relax the nerves and pour cold water on the speculation. 🙏
This comment was full of important information unknown by me! Thank you for posting. It is so frightening. Like others, I ask, can it be copied and shared with naming you?
Yes. I've heard so much misinformation from those who simply don't know how the silos of jurisdictions and agencies work. Critics have been blaming the wrong people.
Christina, BRAVA! Thank you for this, and may I add that your last sentence was the first thing I thought this morning after awaking from some bizarre dreams. It was most gratifying to read it here, in your excellent overview. May I share your thoughts -- with or without attribution, your call. Again, many, many thanks.
Christina-Thank you so much for this summary from a local’s perspective. I, too, worked in the Capitol for a couple of years, and it is a maze. No one would walk in and go straight to the Speaker’s office without prior planning. Definitely worth others sharing, especially to quell rumors about BLM participation, but if I were you, I would not want my name shared for attribution. How would you like that handled? Should weanyone who shares it just say something like, “A friend of mine, who lives in D.C. and is familiar with the Capitol shared this information”...??? Your decision, of course, but perhaps something to think about.
Wow wow wow! Thank you for that info. I wasn't aware of how audaciously defiant trump and his minions were to allowing outside law enforcement to assist. The really shocking thing I hadn't considered is what you say about the possibility of unknown agents (?) targeting secure electronic devices and/or documents once inside. Ouch. When he was elected, I predicted trump would hasten the US's slide to third world status. Mission accomplished.
Thanks for this information, Christina. Can you tell me if there really were large crowds of people who were 'peacefully protesting' for trump and weren't involved in the insurrection? I have FB friends (who I've never met, but chatted with for a few years) stating that the majority of the crowd wasn't involved, and is also insisting that Antifa and BLM folk were given a tour the day before, so 'they knew exactly where to go', and that MSM isn't reporting the full story.
Normally, she's a level headed person, but she's writing things that are nearly as out there as the qanon adherents and it would be nice to hear from someone who actually lives there. Thanks!
Total bullshit. ANTIFA is an idea not a group. Anyone against fascism is ANTIFA, an acronym for anti fascist. Are you or your friends FOR fascism? Didn't think so.
This is COVID-19. All museums and all places to tour are closed. There weren't any tours. Even if there had been, Black Lives Matter doesn't do tours as a group. That's for tourists. And, even when there are tours, tourists don't get to see areas with staff or laptops. You go down some halls. You may visit your representatives. You'll see the public areas. And, as mentioned, there are dogs. You need special permission to enter. You go through airport style security. You have to have a picture ID. You're given a picture badge, which you have to return when you leave (though I was allowed to keep service dog Windsor's ID. Guess they thought he wasn't much of a threat).
The Antifa and BLM and Socialism nonsense is a major sore point for me. It's propaganda scare tactics used to rile up low information dumtards. I try not to call people names, it is counterproductive, but... aaarghh! They have no idea what these words mean, they just like to spout them. One video of the riot showed a sweatshirt emblazoned "F### ANTIFA" - spelled out of course. The logical interpretation of that is "YEA FASCISM." Aaarghh.
That's pretty much what I thought (that it's all BS), but it's nice to have you, as someone who lives there) confirm it. Thanks for quick reply, I appreciate it!
It is true that not every Trumpster broke in, but some were surprising. One was a West Virginia legislator. Another was the CEO of a consulting firm. Because Trump told them to go and be strong, they thought they were so in the right, that they took videos and selfies, which is making it pretty easy to find them. Since they refused to wear legally required face masks, they're rather easy to find.
I've heard reports that the son of a State Supreme Court judge went into the Capitol. Not sure what state, maybe Arizona or New York. His brother defended him saying he didn't mean to, he got pushed in by the crowd! Nice try. Lock them all up. Especially the ring leader.
Notice the use of deniability, the use of "alternative facts", Post-truth. So sick of it. Its just lying. Its just fraud. When you add Power to liars and fraudsters...well this is the mess we get to clean up.
Kings County, NY (Brooklyn). Two reports I've read said that his father was elected w the backing of the Brooklyn Democratic Party. A third one described his father "Steven (Shlomo) Mostofsky, a New York judge and former president of the National Council of Young Israel, an Orthodox synagogue association that has been outspokenly pro-Trump."
Great, Now we know the Thomas Family, and that Fascism exists on the SC too. So Fascism exists at the highest levels in all three branches of our democracy.
I read about the legislator - he's apparently just been elected and he made be made to resign. One woman was a realtor who's pretty much ended her life. And they felt like right was on their side - total brainwashing.
I'm sorry, this isn't brainwashing. Brainwashing is done to captive people against their will. These people have been choosing, for years, to ONLY listen to a particular stream of "information", and flat out refuse to question what they hear once they've found something that aligns with the beliefs they hold or lean toward. They have taken the easy way out, choosing only to receive, and to put no effort whatsoever into researching other ideas or possibilities or evidence. They certainly make no effort, as many here do, to seek evidence against their beliefs, always a good tool for seeking truth.
I do not believe it is self imposed. A society with free speech is vulnerable to this attack. If we taught "Media consumption and reality" at a younger age, perhaps we could inoculate against demagoguery?
Prior to the riot/insurgency, at the WH Stop the Steal Rally Jan 6th, 2021, 10 minutes past 1pm, DT said, " You have to fight like hell, or you wont have a country"
Hold on! I agree with much of what you've said here, Christina, but I think we should be careful too not to go down the conspiracy road.
"I believe the attack on the Capitol was part 2 of the Internet hack that's undermined many Federal agencies and corporations for the last 9 months. I think Trump literally gave the keys to the kingdom to our adversaries. Now he's trying to finish the job. Remember, laptops and other security devices were stolen in the Wednesday Capitol melee, by people who seemed to know what they wanted and where to go to get it. I've been in the Capitol. It's a maze. You'd never know where, as a stranger, you'd know how to find anything, unless you'd already figured it out."
I know you began this paragraph with 'I believe', but this is a very big statement. It may prove to be right and true in time, but to my ears, right now, it sounds too much like a conspiracy theory and not enough like a hypothesis.
I don't think that one has to "go down the conspiracy road" to note the objective truth: the people who had the authority to order increased security did NOT order increased security, when asked (even begged and pleaded to do so) the decision-makers at DOD (all of whom are currently Trump political employees many placed there since Nov 3) refused to increase the security. Request for authorization for of National Guard were ignored by Trump and denied by his appointees at DOD. Those are established facts. That does not require "conspiracy" thinking. Deliberate decisions were made to limit security at the capitol at a time that it was well know that many Trump and Qanon supporters were discussing radical actions on Parler and other internet forums. That is simple fact.
do you have real info about this? i"d really like it if you did, have the capital police made a statement about exactly who and when they asked for help? and exactly who refused? I would love to know that.
I would refer you to Heather Cox Richardson's January 7th letter in which she said "The Capitol Police have exclusive jurisdiction over the Capitol Building, and rejected help from National Guard troops and from the FBI before they were overwhelmed yesterday as the mob attacked. They were late calling for help when they finally did, leaving the building underprotected." - she provided reference for this. However, in researching the matter, it would appear that my impression that Trump had denied the initial request for National Guard was based on speculation and rumor that bounced around Twitter and some news sources (all of whom have scrubbed such speculation) rather than fact, the speculation came because multiple sources (WP, NYT, BI, etc.) said that VP Pence was the one in conjunction with the DOD that authorized the National Guard deployment. It is however, factually established that the Capitol Police turned down offers of help from National Guard more than once.
I notice that in her January 8, 2021 letter Heather Cox Richardson also says that the initial request by the mayor of DC was denied (although she does not specify by whom), I'm wondering if she has references that I was unable to find. Note also HCR's January 8 post was deleted by Facebook, probably because she began the post suggesting a "conspiracy"...which I think is unnecessary to suggest.
You can see Cap Police open the gates. DC and Capital Police officers are posting on their SM accounts that there were mobers also off duty police flashing their badges to let them pass. Capital Police women Cortney Craft is one.
In many ways the path to unfreedom follows a pattern. It doesn't rhyme exactly, but what happened Wednesday does fit a pattern that Authoritarians have used in the past and recent past. Authoritarians are skilled at killing the story and those who try to tell what happened. Authoritarians are good at this, they know they need to hide the truth, or key parts of it to keep their deeds camouflaged.
Thank you Christina for your DC insightfulness. You bring up so many things that I hadn't thought but am not shocked - which says too much. I didn't know that the Capitol was a maze and they would have to know where they were going but of course it would be. Didn't think about stealing laptops - that would certainly tie in to the hacking breach. I heard that he was happy and that adds to everything - lack of police presence in any form or fashion. It seems as if there were some Capitol Police that must have been aware and let them *breach* the *barriers*, hold the door open for them and take selfies. Then there were obviously the others, like the Black policeman who was chased up the stairs, who had no idea what to do and were terrified - just like the rest of us.
I'm hoping that the Inauguration is moved indoors or someplace that is beyond safe. Can you imagine if something happened to Biden now?
It sounds like the idea of the 25th might be getting some traction especially with Chao and Devos resigning and breaking from Trump.
I've been holding my breath to experience joy until 1/20. I hope I wasn't too optimistic.
I believe that many of the Inauguration Day festivities were already scheduled to be virtual due to COVID-19 constraints (which the Biden-Harris team have been observing meticulously as a great example to those few of us [who probably don't need reminding] keeping up with their frequent announcements on the transition website). If the inauguration is completely virtual, that will bring on more conspiracy theories, so the swearing in will likely have to be in person. However, I'm hoping the number of invited attendees will be severely restricted - originally for health concerns, and now primarily out of concerns for security.
Trump needs to be removed from office before another attack. He cannot be allowed to have domain over the security forces that are supposed to be protecting the capitol and the country against his own coup!
So after a long night, an early interview (Moyers), your usual exceptional talk in the afternoon, and then your amazing letter with your usual yard-long list of sources, you forgot to hit the Send button?! You're a real-life but very human Wonder Woman with her magic truth-telling rope. We can wait a couple of hours for you to hit the Send button! You are a bright and dear light, and your care is always FIRST.
We are all so grateful for you and your insights. I missed my newsletter this morning, but went to your Facebook page to find it. Please know that you are appreciated and supported.
No apologies necessary. You must be exhausted. We make too many demands on your intellect and emotional energy. Do not let us suck the life out of you.
For everything you do for us, you don't need to apologize. I'm thinking at some point you're going to take a 2 week break and just SLEEP. Thank you for continuing your work. It is helping a lot of us get through all this nonsense.
I’ll echo what it seems others are saying: your post is the first thing I look for in the morning (or early morning as the case sometimes is!) and when it wasn’t there today I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it on FB. Whew! I then realized how much I count on your stabilizing analysis to face the day! Thank you.
Why is no one talking about the felony murder rule whereby the murder of a capitol police officer is attributed to all members of the conspiracy including those who solicited the multiple felonies committed at the Capitol
Agree Stanley. 100%. This is horrible. This is was beyond the pale of a once decent society. We have to watch. This is not okay. 1/3 or more of our population think this was okay? 1/3 of the population is no longer a civilized society.
My dear, we are ALL distracted these days! Friends of mine have been likening what many of us are feeling as similar to PTSD. This has been pretty traumatic for all of us who love this country and who had to witness the desecration of our nation's capitol, a hallowed space if there ever was one.
In the same vein, when seeing Congressmen and women hunkering down in place, scared to death, I couldn't help but think about so many of our nation's school children having to do similar things because of "active shooters". Maybe the next time legislation comes up about containing the spread of deadly firearms these legislators will remember how THEY felt during this event and imagine what our children have gone through/are going through.
Gotta say, I didn’t realize how much I look forward to, and enjoy, your emails in my morning inbox until this morning. Thanks so much for everything you do. And I’ll take the email no matter what time it arrives!
Completely Understandable. When I didn’t see my email, I went to Facebook (that I’m trying to avoid). But it made me realize even more how important your words, your being here, mean to me. I get emotional (something I’m doing a lot of lately). Just your calm presence is so important. I just wish we all could provide support to you in some way also.
Agree! I’m hopeful that our responses are supporting Heather intrinsically.
I saw Jessica Yellin's (News not Noise) post on Instagram this morning and took the time to think about how stressed out everyone else must be... I was so frazzled I was just mindlessly bouncing around and really needed grounding.
same here. I still keep up with my friends over FB.
No worries. You did post to Facebook. I'm here in Washington, DC. Your calm, well reasoned essays, ironically, calm me down. As you might imagine, things have been really unnerving in DC. Trump not only called his cult to DC January 6th. But he also wants them back January 20th. They still plan to come.
I believe the attack on the Capitol was part 2 of the Internet hack that's undermined many Federal agencies and corporations for the last 9 months. I think Trump literally gave the keys to the kingdom to our adversaries. Now he's trying to finish the job. Remember, laptops and other security devices were stolen in the Wednesday Capitol melee, by people who seemed to know what they wanted and where to go to get it. I've been in the Capitol. It's a maze. You'd never know where, as a stranger, you'd know how to find anything, unless you'd already figured it out.
After the election, Trump made numerous civilian military appointees to key agencies who could refuse to help in a national emergency. Many wondered why he was doing this after losing the election. We now know. It was so they could say no.
Then Trump called in the invasion cult, "Be here. Be wild." And incited his cult, at his Wednesday rally, saying he would walk down Pennsylvania Avenue with them. This from a guy who golfs with a cart, and who's longest walk was from the now denuded Rose Garden to Lafayette Square where he posed with a Bible. Instead he went back to The White House by motorcade and turned on the TV. His delight was so palpable that resignations began immediately.
Few understand that Washington DC is a quilt of unrelated security. Federal is Federal. Local is local. There are numerous agencies that are their own silos. Our Washington DC Metropolitan Police cannot, CANNOT, enter Federal areas like the Capitol, unless invited. Only the President can ask other agencies to assist. Trump repeatedly refused requests from both the Capitol Police and from our Mayor Bowser, asking for the National Guard. The best Mayor Bowser could do was to get the guard in for unarmed traffic control. Maryland, who wanted to help, was similarly refused.
The Capitol Police had asked Federal agencies for help. They'd asked for the National Guard. But Trump and his civilian military minions repeatedly refused.
There's some evidence that some (but definitely not all) of The Capitol Police were in on the plot (video of lifted gates and selfies, suggest this). Eventually the Federal Capitol Police did ask our local MPD for help. Our MPD was there in force in a flash, once invited (remember, our local police cannot police Federal property unless invited).
Now the true Trump believers say it wasn't them. I don't think they have any idea how man security cameras are here in DC. A DC program gives residents and businesses discounts on security cameras, as long as they can be accessed by the police and other agencies.
Names are being published. The guy in the Viking like helmet with horns is from Arizona. The guy with his feet on Pelosi's desk is identified. The guy stealing the podium? Identified. The FBI has been inundated with tips and videos since launching its hotline and Website.
The airlines have offered to detain anyone who can be identified before leaving town. 9/11 was solved with airport security footage. Everything is so much more sophisticated now that more information is easily sharable. It's much harder to hide.
Now that the Capitol Police officer hit with a fire extinguisher has died, homicide will be among the charges levied against anyone identified and arrested. Deaths from the traitorous insurrection are now at 5.
Let's hope that all perpetrators are all arrested and rounded up before January 20th. There's going to be a lot of them. Perhaps they should be incarcerated at Guantanemo where we keep other unrepentant terrorists.
One another thing I just thought of. At any event in Washington DC, there are officials patrolling with dogs. Some are canine police. Others are drug or bomb sniffing dogs. I saw no canine patrols at either the rally or at the Capitol. When I've been to the Capitol, there have always been dogs. I know because I had a service dog who just died. We were very other dog aware.
I was thinking the same thing. This was pretend policing.
Thank you for this explanation of the various police agencies. I wondered if some Capital Police were complicit, but since I’d only heard about selfies and didn’t see them, decided to withhold judgment.
Take care of yourself there in DC!
I'm sorry for your loss of a helpful canine mate (in the Aussie 'pal' sense). I know they are working dogs, but their friendship and loyalty is no less than that from a pet mutt. Are you on a list for another?
It has been noted by many members of Congress that, given the maze that constitutes the design of offices and gathering spaces in the Capitol building, the intruders had to have been in possession of prior information to locate specific offices.
Lack of planning and response by security forces was not accidental. We have seen how quickly police and guards were mobilized during BLM protests. Our country has been in denial that an elected President would collude with foreign powers and operatives to our detriment. We have just had a brutally rude awakening.
The real hero is the Secret service. They barricaded behind locked doors slowing the mob. Preventing them from reaching Pelosi and Pence. It is unfortunate that they had to use deadly force. I've watched the videos, the agent yelled "stop" like 40 times. Ashli Babbit was an Air Force veteran. She had to have weapons training at basic training. The agent is less than 6 feet from her, gun raised, finger on the trigger. Instructing her to "STOP". She didn't and continued climbing through the broken glass of the barricaded doorway. So Secret Service shot her, to protect our elected officials from attack and a potential hostage event. WHOLLY COW!!! There are several videos from the mob's phone cameras that have been posted and picked up by News.
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/washington-dc-election-riots/h_218e9772a1f0bc70c43a9f6802adb739
Thank you for the detailed local information that doesn't always make the news here in California. It's eye opening, and I share your concerns.
Thank you, Christina, for your excellent info. Your point about the laptops is alarming. I wondered how anyone got into Nancy Pelosi's office as it's across the street from the Capitol Building in the Senate Office Building. I figured that Members of Congress would be safe due to the underground tunnels leading to their offices. Clearly the insurgents knew exactly where to go and this was way more planned and orchestrated than it appeared. Very disturbing!!
I believe she also has a capitol building office as Speaker.
Ah, I didn't know that. That makes more sense. Thanks.
It would appear from what I've been able to piece together from various sources that many in the mob were just cannon fodder, while a small elite (highly trained) corps was there to get specific items under the cover of the milling, mindless mob.
I'm just reading about that now too. It's frightening!! Also read that Twitter permanently suspended ddt's account because more riots are being planned on Jan 16. Did you see this article about the highly trained military types during the insurrection on Wed? It could have been so much worse!!! https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/was-there-a-plan-for-hostages-or-killings-at-the-capitol.html?fbclid=IwAR2o2TCu1L2Cdsv8oHZH9avv4TAQQhb5shvWqMLFRsgFFCFxc411yPNm0Sc
That makes so much sense on so many levels. *Cannon fodder* is exactly what 90+% were. Mirroring DJT’s distraction technique that’s so effective. Selling off the Arctic land during this debacle is a perfect example. God knows what else we’ve lost during the past 4 years of daily drama.
Christina thank you so much for the highly informative and well-written post. Nothing like true experience to relax the nerves and pour cold water on the speculation. 🙏
Thank you so much for this. I too have been saying that Gitmo may be an appropriate place for incarceration these terrorists.
sorry, incarcerating
This comment was full of important information unknown by me! Thank you for posting. It is so frightening. Like others, I ask, can it be copied and shared with naming you?
Yes. I've heard so much misinformation from those who simply don't know how the silos of jurisdictions and agencies work. Critics have been blaming the wrong people.
Christina, BRAVA! Thank you for this, and may I add that your last sentence was the first thing I thought this morning after awaking from some bizarre dreams. It was most gratifying to read it here, in your excellent overview. May I share your thoughts -- with or without attribution, your call. Again, many, many thanks.
Yes, you may.
Christina-Thank you so much for this summary from a local’s perspective. I, too, worked in the Capitol for a couple of years, and it is a maze. No one would walk in and go straight to the Speaker’s office without prior planning. Definitely worth others sharing, especially to quell rumors about BLM participation, but if I were you, I would not want my name shared for attribution. How would you like that handled? Should weanyone who shares it just say something like, “A friend of mine, who lives in D.C. and is familiar with the Capitol shared this information”...??? Your decision, of course, but perhaps something to think about.
You're right. Maybe say somebody who actually lives in DC.
I was just about to ask the same. Thank you.
Wow wow wow! Thank you for that info. I wasn't aware of how audaciously defiant trump and his minions were to allowing outside law enforcement to assist. The really shocking thing I hadn't considered is what you say about the possibility of unknown agents (?) targeting secure electronic devices and/or documents once inside. Ouch. When he was elected, I predicted trump would hasten the US's slide to third world status. Mission accomplished.
Unrepentant terrorists need to spend a lot of time in jail.
Thanks for this information, Christina. Can you tell me if there really were large crowds of people who were 'peacefully protesting' for trump and weren't involved in the insurrection? I have FB friends (who I've never met, but chatted with for a few years) stating that the majority of the crowd wasn't involved, and is also insisting that Antifa and BLM folk were given a tour the day before, so 'they knew exactly where to go', and that MSM isn't reporting the full story.
Normally, she's a level headed person, but she's writing things that are nearly as out there as the qanon adherents and it would be nice to hear from someone who actually lives there. Thanks!
Total bullshit. ANTIFA is an idea not a group. Anyone against fascism is ANTIFA, an acronym for anti fascist. Are you or your friends FOR fascism? Didn't think so.
This is COVID-19. All museums and all places to tour are closed. There weren't any tours. Even if there had been, Black Lives Matter doesn't do tours as a group. That's for tourists. And, even when there are tours, tourists don't get to see areas with staff or laptops. You go down some halls. You may visit your representatives. You'll see the public areas. And, as mentioned, there are dogs. You need special permission to enter. You go through airport style security. You have to have a picture ID. You're given a picture badge, which you have to return when you leave (though I was allowed to keep service dog Windsor's ID. Guess they thought he wasn't much of a threat).
The Antifa and BLM and Socialism nonsense is a major sore point for me. It's propaganda scare tactics used to rile up low information dumtards. I try not to call people names, it is counterproductive, but... aaarghh! They have no idea what these words mean, they just like to spout them. One video of the riot showed a sweatshirt emblazoned "F### ANTIFA" - spelled out of course. The logical interpretation of that is "YEA FASCISM." Aaarghh.
The dumbing of America.
That's pretty much what I thought (that it's all BS), but it's nice to have you, as someone who lives there) confirm it. Thanks for quick reply, I appreciate it!
It is true that not every Trumpster broke in, but some were surprising. One was a West Virginia legislator. Another was the CEO of a consulting firm. Because Trump told them to go and be strong, they thought they were so in the right, that they took videos and selfies, which is making it pretty easy to find them. Since they refused to wear legally required face masks, they're rather easy to find.
I've heard reports that the son of a State Supreme Court judge went into the Capitol. Not sure what state, maybe Arizona or New York. His brother defended him saying he didn't mean to, he got pushed in by the crowd! Nice try. Lock them all up. Especially the ring leader.
They had a permit to be 300 yards away from the Capitol steps. No one got pushed that far and into the building.
Notice the use of deniability, the use of "alternative facts", Post-truth. So sick of it. Its just lying. Its just fraud. When you add Power to liars and fraudsters...well this is the mess we get to clean up.
*Didn't mean to* - puleeze...
similar to "i was just following orders"
Kings County, NY (Brooklyn). Two reports I've read said that his father was elected w the backing of the Brooklyn Democratic Party. A third one described his father "Steven (Shlomo) Mostofsky, a New York judge and former president of the National Council of Young Israel, an Orthodox synagogue association that has been outspokenly pro-Trump."
https://gothamist.com/news/trump-fur-ever-costumed-capitol-rioter-son-brooklyn-supreme-court-judge
What did Clarence Thomas wife say? I didn't catch this in any news reports but it is in HCR letter?
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/ginni-thomas-donald-trump-clarence-thomas-capitol-riot.html
Thank you Tommye.
Great, Now we know the Thomas Family, and that Fascism exists on the SC too. So Fascism exists at the highest levels in all three branches of our democracy.
I read about the legislator - he's apparently just been elected and he made be made to resign. One woman was a realtor who's pretty much ended her life. And they felt like right was on their side - total brainwashing.
I'm sorry, this isn't brainwashing. Brainwashing is done to captive people against their will. These people have been choosing, for years, to ONLY listen to a particular stream of "information", and flat out refuse to question what they hear once they've found something that aligns with the beliefs they hold or lean toward. They have taken the easy way out, choosing only to receive, and to put no effort whatsoever into researching other ideas or possibilities or evidence. They certainly make no effort, as many here do, to seek evidence against their beliefs, always a good tool for seeking truth.
Demagoguery is a stronger force than most know. It is an effective psychological weapon. Millions of minds have been hacked with DT Malware.
"If citizens can be kept uncertain by the regular manufacture of crisis, their emotions can be managed and directed"
Self imposed brain solitary confinement. I'm still trying to come up with something a little catchier.
Icepick selfies? (Referring to the bad old days of frontal lobotomies.)
Hiding in a bubble.
Will work on this, something catchy, I agree!
I do not believe it is self imposed. A society with free speech is vulnerable to this attack. If we taught "Media consumption and reality" at a younger age, perhaps we could inoculate against demagoguery?
I stand corrected. Thank you.
He is a felon now. I think that disqualifies him now. Right? Gosh I hope so!
Prior to the riot/insurgency, at the WH Stop the Steal Rally Jan 6th, 2021, 10 minutes past 1pm, DT said, " You have to fight like hell, or you wont have a country"
Hold on! I agree with much of what you've said here, Christina, but I think we should be careful too not to go down the conspiracy road.
"I believe the attack on the Capitol was part 2 of the Internet hack that's undermined many Federal agencies and corporations for the last 9 months. I think Trump literally gave the keys to the kingdom to our adversaries. Now he's trying to finish the job. Remember, laptops and other security devices were stolen in the Wednesday Capitol melee, by people who seemed to know what they wanted and where to go to get it. I've been in the Capitol. It's a maze. You'd never know where, as a stranger, you'd know how to find anything, unless you'd already figured it out."
I know you began this paragraph with 'I believe', but this is a very big statement. It may prove to be right and true in time, but to my ears, right now, it sounds too much like a conspiracy theory and not enough like a hypothesis.
I don't think that one has to "go down the conspiracy road" to note the objective truth: the people who had the authority to order increased security did NOT order increased security, when asked (even begged and pleaded to do so) the decision-makers at DOD (all of whom are currently Trump political employees many placed there since Nov 3) refused to increase the security. Request for authorization for of National Guard were ignored by Trump and denied by his appointees at DOD. Those are established facts. That does not require "conspiracy" thinking. Deliberate decisions were made to limit security at the capitol at a time that it was well know that many Trump and Qanon supporters were discussing radical actions on Parler and other internet forums. That is simple fact.
They were also on YouTube commenting on various videos, on Twitter, on Facebook. They were by no means discreet.
I agree, Sue. Please note that I said I agreed with Christina except for the paragraph I included in quotation marks.
do you have real info about this? i"d really like it if you did, have the capital police made a statement about exactly who and when they asked for help? and exactly who refused? I would love to know that.
local CBS affiliate out of Baltimore did however, verify that when the Mayor of DC asked for additional National Guard, that request was denied. https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2021/01/06/dc-curfew-trump-protesters-police-clash-national-guard-request-denied/
I would refer you to Heather Cox Richardson's January 7th letter in which she said "The Capitol Police have exclusive jurisdiction over the Capitol Building, and rejected help from National Guard troops and from the FBI before they were overwhelmed yesterday as the mob attacked. They were late calling for help when they finally did, leaving the building underprotected." - she provided reference for this. However, in researching the matter, it would appear that my impression that Trump had denied the initial request for National Guard was based on speculation and rumor that bounced around Twitter and some news sources (all of whom have scrubbed such speculation) rather than fact, the speculation came because multiple sources (WP, NYT, BI, etc.) said that VP Pence was the one in conjunction with the DOD that authorized the National Guard deployment. It is however, factually established that the Capitol Police turned down offers of help from National Guard more than once.
I notice that in her January 8, 2021 letter Heather Cox Richardson also says that the initial request by the mayor of DC was denied (although she does not specify by whom), I'm wondering if she has references that I was unable to find. Note also HCR's January 8 post was deleted by Facebook, probably because she began the post suggesting a "conspiracy"...which I think is unnecessary to suggest.
You can see Cap Police open the gates. DC and Capital Police officers are posting on their SM accounts that there were mobers also off duty police flashing their badges to let them pass. Capital Police women Cortney Craft is one.
Acting Defense Secretary needs to be impeached now!
In many ways the path to unfreedom follows a pattern. It doesn't rhyme exactly, but what happened Wednesday does fit a pattern that Authoritarians have used in the past and recent past. Authoritarians are skilled at killing the story and those who try to tell what happened. Authoritarians are good at this, they know they need to hide the truth, or key parts of it to keep their deeds camouflaged.
Thank you Christina for your DC insightfulness. You bring up so many things that I hadn't thought but am not shocked - which says too much. I didn't know that the Capitol was a maze and they would have to know where they were going but of course it would be. Didn't think about stealing laptops - that would certainly tie in to the hacking breach. I heard that he was happy and that adds to everything - lack of police presence in any form or fashion. It seems as if there were some Capitol Police that must have been aware and let them *breach* the *barriers*, hold the door open for them and take selfies. Then there were obviously the others, like the Black policeman who was chased up the stairs, who had no idea what to do and were terrified - just like the rest of us.
I'm hoping that the Inauguration is moved indoors or someplace that is beyond safe. Can you imagine if something happened to Biden now?
It sounds like the idea of the 25th might be getting some traction especially with Chao and Devos resigning and breaking from Trump.
I've been holding my breath to experience joy until 1/20. I hope I wasn't too optimistic.
I believe that many of the Inauguration Day festivities were already scheduled to be virtual due to COVID-19 constraints (which the Biden-Harris team have been observing meticulously as a great example to those few of us [who probably don't need reminding] keeping up with their frequent announcements on the transition website). If the inauguration is completely virtual, that will bring on more conspiracy theories, so the swearing in will likely have to be in person. However, I'm hoping the number of invited attendees will be severely restricted - originally for health concerns, and now primarily out of concerns for security.
Trump needs to be removed from office before another attack. He cannot be allowed to have domain over the security forces that are supposed to be protecting the capitol and the country against his own coup!
Christina, thank you for sharing this truly chilling information. I would also like to share it without attribution if I may.
WOW. Thank You for the inside info and insights, as tragic as it is. May I copy and post?
No need to apologize. We appreciate you every day.
So after a long night, an early interview (Moyers), your usual exceptional talk in the afternoon, and then your amazing letter with your usual yard-long list of sources, you forgot to hit the Send button?! You're a real-life but very human Wonder Woman with her magic truth-telling rope. We can wait a couple of hours for you to hit the Send button! You are a bright and dear light, and your care is always FIRST.
Further proof that Heather Cox Richardson is human <3
we wouldn't have her any other way
Exactly.
Please, we love you. Get some rest.
We are all so grateful for you and your insights. I missed my newsletter this morning, but went to your Facebook page to find it. Please know that you are appreciated and supported.
You...you..slept!?! Good on you. TY for sharing so much of yourself with us! Sleep on!
No apologies necessary. You must be exhausted. We make too many demands on your intellect and emotional energy. Do not let us suck the life out of you.
For everything you do for us, you don't need to apologize. I'm thinking at some point you're going to take a 2 week break and just SLEEP. Thank you for continuing your work. It is helping a lot of us get through all this nonsense.
I’ll echo what it seems others are saying: your post is the first thing I look for in the morning (or early morning as the case sometimes is!) and when it wasn’t there today I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it on FB. Whew! I then realized how much I count on your stabilizing analysis to face the day! Thank you.
We all completely understand and always appreciate you and your efforts!
Why is no one talking about the felony murder rule whereby the murder of a capitol police officer is attributed to all members of the conspiracy including those who solicited the multiple felonies committed at the Capitol
Agree Stanley. 100%. This is horrible. This is was beyond the pale of a once decent society. We have to watch. This is not okay. 1/3 or more of our population think this was okay? 1/3 of the population is no longer a civilized society.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/09/us/officer-crushed-capitol-riot-video/index.html
thanks for this info! I was unaware of this rule.
This gives me a ray of hope. Please let it be so!
Human, ha - we all thought you were DIVINE❤️🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻
She is divine! 😉
My dear, we are ALL distracted these days! Friends of mine have been likening what many of us are feeling as similar to PTSD. This has been pretty traumatic for all of us who love this country and who had to witness the desecration of our nation's capitol, a hallowed space if there ever was one.
In the same vein, when seeing Congressmen and women hunkering down in place, scared to death, I couldn't help but think about so many of our nation's school children having to do similar things because of "active shooters". Maybe the next time legislation comes up about containing the spread of deadly firearms these legislators will remember how THEY felt during this event and imagine what our children have gone through/are going through.
Wednesday was a learning moment for EVERYBODY.
PTSD since November 2016 here. What is beyond PTSD?
I think it’s just TSD until the actual cause is removed, then it becomes Post. 😬
Gotta say, I didn’t realize how much I look forward to, and enjoy, your emails in my morning inbox until this morning. Thanks so much for everything you do. And I’ll take the email no matter what time it arrives!