Capitol storming is commemorated: 725 people indicted, search for political leaders continues | Abroad

On January 6, 2021, President Donald Trump delivered a speech in the morning, not far from the Capitol. There he repeated for the umpteenth time that the Democrats had stolen the election victory from him by committing fraud. He also stated, among other things, that his supporters had to fight for their lives (“fight like hell”) if they wanted to have another country.

After Trump’s speech, hundreds of his supporters marched toward the Capitol. They also included members of the far-right militias Proud Boys, Three Percenters and Oath Keepers. The rioters broke through the police barricades, including the Senate hall and the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. Shots were heard and the militants destroyed or stole equipment.

Trump continued to write on Twitter during the attack that the United States is demanding the truth, but ultimately called for calm. Only later did he also distribute a video message, in which he continued to speak about fraud. “I know how you feel, but go home. And go in peace,” it sounded.

Five people died just before, during or after the attack. A 35-year-old Trump supporter was hit by a police bullet while trying to break into the Capitol. A police officer died of a stroke the following day. Two more died of natural causes, one person died of a drug overdose. More than 100 people were injured and the attack is said to have caused $1.5 million in damage to the parliament building.

It turned out afterwards that the authorities ignored warnings about violence and that the security at the Capitol was insufficient. Trump would also have refused to deploy the National Guard in a timely manner.

In the end, after the storming, Congress still validated the election results, proclaiming Joe Biden and Kamala Harris the winners of the election. Democrats started impeachment proceedings against Trump, but it was blocked by the Republican majority in the Senate. He did lose his profiles on social media because, according to those platforms, he was responsible for the violence.

In the past year, 725 people were charged in connection with the attack, according to The Washington Post. The vast majority of them – 640 people – are held accountable for entering a locked federal building or the area around it. 225 people were charged with violence or resistance to their arrest. Other complaints included possession of a deadly weapon, use of a dangerous weapon against the police and violence against the media.

Seventy perpetrators of violence have already been convicted: 31 of them have been jailed, 18 have been placed under house arrest and 21 have been given conditions. The longest prison sentence was for Robert Scott Palmer. He was jailed for more than five years, in part for throwing a wooden plank and an empty fire extinguisher at the police. Jacob Chansley, the ‘QAnon Shamaan’ with the famous horns on his head, was sentenced to 41 months in prison.

In addition to the judicial investigations, a Commission of Inquiry was set up in the House of Representatives. About a hundred people have already been questioned here, dozens of people have been summoned. Among them are many well-known figures, such as counselor Steve Bannon, ex-chief of staff Mark Meadows, spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany, top adviser Stephen Miller and security adviser Michael Flynn. The commission is also asking for documents to be released that would reveal what happened before and during the storming. Trump has been trying unsuccessfully to block that release for a long time and went to the Supreme Court in December.

Various media have already released details of what happened around that January 6. For example, ‘The Guardian’ wrote that a PowerPoint presentation was circulating with plans to commit a coup, Ivanka Trump would have asked her father to intervene during the storming and Fox personality Sean Hannity would have texted before January 6. and expressed concern to Trump’s chief of staff about what might happen.

To mark the first anniversary of the storming, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris deliver a speech from Saturday Hall in the Capitol. Donald Trump had also announced that he would make a speech, but eventually postponed it to January 15. Even a year after the facts, the ex-president continues to insist that fraud was committed and he calls his defeat “the crime of the century”.

There will also be a minute of silence and a moment of prayer in the Capitol. Politicians who attended will talk about their experiences. Finally, a panel discussion will take place.

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