The events of the Capitol on January 6 changed the face of America
Blind loyalty to Trump topples American democracy to the bottom
Overrun of the Capitol by rioters.
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Donald Trump.
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On January 6, 2021, a mob of protesters supporting then-US President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in an attempt to prevent lawmakers from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election, which was won by his rival, presidential candidate, Joe Biden.
Five people died in the chaos, either shortly before, during or after the event, including a police officer on the Capitol.
Lawmakers of both political parties, including Vice President Mike Pence, had to flee the chamber of Congress in search of safety.
After being accused of inciting his supporters to riot, Trump became the first president to be impeached (and acquitted) twice.
Subsequently, the accusation reached more than 600 people for their role in the riots, and the House of Representatives established an independent committee to investigate this attempt to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.
Video documenting the events
This week, the Justice Department released a three-hour video recording of the battle between rioters and police at the US Capitol on January 6, in which rioters brandished guns, officers were badly beaten, and a rioter died on the steps of the Capitol.
The attack on Lower West Terrace was one of the fiercest confrontations between the Capitol Police and the mob.
The police held out the rioters until the building was cleared without allowing the rioters to get inside the building.
Some officers at the time said they did not know that the Capitol had already been breached in other areas.
And it all started when the officers retreated and rushed to help each other, while other officers inside were washing their eyes with water from the spray of chemicals fired at them by the rioters.
The rioters rallied behind them, and they coordinated their attack.
The Justice Department released the videos after CNN and other news outlets filed a lawsuit seeking access to the events.
It is the longest video of the riots released by the government so far.
attack
As soon as the rioters reached the stage prepared for President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, all the officers who were next to them withdrew into the tunnel to line up, pepper spraying the rioters as they entered.
During the attack, rioters punched and kicked officers on the front line.
Inside the tunnel, rioters pushed the police back, beating them with flagpoles and batons, pepper-spraying them, taking riot shields and killing an officer at a door, while banging on walls, chanting and filming the assault with their phones.
A rioter pulled Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanon from among the police and wrapped his arm around his neck. The policeman with the gun the policeman was carrying.
Fanon said he had a heart attack and lost consciousness during the attack.
Police later managed to push the rioters to the edge of the tunnel entrance for more than half an hour of the attack, using pepper spray and batons.
However, after a long confrontation with the police, the rioters began a second attack on the officers.
At the entrance to the tunnel, troublemaker Roseanne Boyland, a supporter of Q-Anon, fell to the ground.
She died of an accidental overdose, according to the head of the capital's medical examination department.
In response to her friends' plea for help, prosecutors said that two officers entered the crowd to help the woman.
Two other officers were dragged into the crowd, where they were severely beaten with an inverted American flagpole and other weapons.
One was attacked with pins in the head and taken to hospital to stop the bleeding, and the other was hit in the face and shoulder, according to court documents.
arms
In this brutal attack, the rioters not only used weapons, but also used everything that fell into their hands to attack the police, as they beat them with metal poles, threw furniture and loudspeakers at them, sprayed fire equipment and pepper spray on them, used crutches, and attacked the police with punches and legs .
The rioters also used police belongings, including riot shields, and batons to assault the police.
In one of the video clips, a rioter can be seen throwing fireworks at the police.
arrests
Prosecutors have arrested and charged dozens of rioters for their role in the gray battle inside the Lower West Terrace tunnel.
Robert Morse, who prosecutors allege planned to set up his own militia, is being held in prison and will face trial after a judge accused him of using his training as an Army soldier to help organize and lead a mob inside a tunnel.
Eight others have been charged, including Patrick McCaughey, who was seen in a video beating Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges in a door, and former US State Department official Federico Klein.
All nine pleaded not guilty.
The accusation in the attack also included Albuquerque Head, who allegedly dragged Fanon into the crowd.
So is Daniel Rodriguez, who prosecutors say hit Fanon in the neck.
The defendants, Jeffrey Saboul, Jack Whiton and Ronald McCabe, formed part of the indictment along with six other troublemakers after they were accused of dragging the officers into the crowd.
Wheaton later boasted to his friends, "I fed him to the crowd," referring to the officer, according to court files.
Two defendants who were part of the tunnel crowd have already been sentenced.
Devlin Thompson, who admitted throwing a megaphone at police officers and hitting another officer in the hand with a baton, was sentenced to four years in prison.
Robert Palmer, who used a fire extinguisher, a plank and a pole to attack police, was sentenced to more than five years in prison.
Both confessed to assaulting a dangerous weapon.
Trump maintains confidentiality of documents and records that may incriminate him
Trump has asked the Supreme Court to prevent White House records from being turned over to a congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol by his supporters.
Trump asked the nation's highest court to suspend a federal appeals court ruling this month, which rejected his attempt to keep documents and records secret.
Trump, accused of fomenting the attack on Congress, is seeking to exercise his privilege as a former president to keep White House records that might relate to the attack a secret.
The appeals court agreed with a lower court this month that if President Biden waives executive privilege on the records, the records could be turned over to the commission investigating violence committed by Trump supporters.
In a Supreme Court filing, Trump's lawyers said that "a former president has the right to executive privilege, even beyond his tenure."
They criticized Congress' demand for the records, calling a Democratic-controlled House committee calling for an investigation a "political adversary."
Trump's lawyers said, "Congress may not investigate the classified presidential papers of a former president for political ends."
"In an increasingly partisan political climate, such registration requests will become the norm regardless of the ruling party," they said.
Trump's lawyers defended the executive privilege, saying it affects "the ability of presidents and their advisors to reliably provide and receive full and frank advice, without concern that communications will be made public to achieve a political objective."
The US Court of Appeals agreed to delay the release of the White House records until the former Republican president's lawyers can submit their appeals to the Supreme Court.
Trump's lawyers have asked the conservative-majority Supreme Court to schedule a hearing on whether the inquiry's request is constitutional and to prevent the documents from being released in the meantime.
Public interest
In its ruling, the Court of Appeal said that "the right of a former president certainly does not have more weight than the right of the incumbent."
The court added that "in this case, Biden, as chief of the executive branch, recognizes that Congress has demonstrated an urgent need for these particular documents, and that their disclosure is in the best interests of the nation."
The appeals court said the public interest is above Trump's, with respect to records held by the National Archives.
• After being accused of inciting his supporters to riot, Trump became the first president to be impeached (and disavowed) twice.
• This week the Department of Justice allowed the broadcast of a three-hour video recording of the battle between rioters and police at the Capitol on January 6, in which they brandished weapons and beat officers.
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