2021 US Capitol Protests

US authorities have revealed possible plans by extremists for another attack on the Capitol this Thursday. "We have received intelligence showing possible plans by an identified militia to infiltrate the Capitol on Thursday, 4 March," Capitol Police in Washington wrote in a statement. Police were prepared for possible threats against members of Congress or the Capitol complex, it said. The Capitol Police did not say who exactly had planned the attack.

On Wednesday evening, the US House of Representatives brought forward a vote scheduled for this Thursday. A House spokeswoman confirmed that there would be no more votes this session week after Wednesday night. The Washington Post reported that the Senate - the other chamber in Congress - still planned to meet at the Capitol on Thursday.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News' Bret Baier on Thursday that he would "absolutely" support Donald Trump if he became the "nominee of the party" in 2024. McConnell recently criticised the former President, saying his actions around the Capitol insurgence were "a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty." Trump responded by calling McConnell "a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack."

"I'm pretty sure he will win the nomination," Utah Sen. Mitt Romney told The New York TimesTuesday. "I look at the polls and the polls show that, among the names being floated as potential contenders in 2024, if you put President Trump in there among Republicans, he wins in a landslide."

says Congress will establish an "outside, independent" commission to investigate "the facts and causes" of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by Donald Trump's supporters, so US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"As we prepare for the Commission, it is also clear from General Honoré's interim reporting that we must put forth a supplemental appropriation to provide for the safety of Members and the security of the Capitol," Pelosi wrote.

The alternative social network Parler has reopened after a month offline. In a press release, the company announced that the site is now accessible for users with existing accounts and will accept new signups starting next week.

Parler also said it had appointed Mark Meckler as its interim Chief Executive, replacing John Matze who was fired by the board this month.

The social network had gone dark after being cut off by Amazon, Google, and Apple, with the companies accusing the app of failing to police violent content related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Parler said its new technology cut its reliance on "so-called Big Tech" for its operations.

Jessica Watkins, the leader of American far-right anti-government militia organization Oath Keepers who planned and led the US Capitol siege, "indicated that she was awaiting direction from President Trump", the Justice Department reports.

The filing states: "As the inauguration grew nearer, Watkins indicated that she was awaiting direction from President Trump. Her concern about taking action without his backing was evident in a November 9, 2020, text in which she stated, 'I am concerned this is an elaborate trap. Unless the POTUS himself activates us, it’s not legit. The POTUS has the right to activate units too. If Trump asks me to come, I will. Otherwise, I can’t trust it.'"

After a 230-199 vote, the House of Representatives has voted to strip Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments, following uproar over her past incendiary comments and apparent support of violence against Democrats.

Greene had promoted baseless QAnon conspiracy theories and endorsed violence against Democrats. Still, before the vote, she said she regretted her views, which included claims that school shootings and 9/11 were staged.

The Proud Boys, an all-male, far-right group, became the subject of intense scrutiny by law enforcement agencies in both countries in the wake of the Capitol insurrection on 6 January.

"Their violent actions and rhetoric are fueled by white supremacy, anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia, Islamophobia and misogyny, and unfortunately, often in combination of all of the above," said Public Safety Minister Bill Blair at a news conference Wednesday.

In addition to the Proud Boys, Canada also added The Base, Attomwaffen Division and the Russian Imperial Movement to its terror organisations' list.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went live on Instagram on Monday, recounting the events of the Capitol insurrection on January 6.

Ocasio-Cortez said she was and her legislative director were in her office when they heard "huge violent bangs" on the door and she then hid in the bathroom behind the door.

"I start to hear these yells of 'Where is she, where is she?' and I just thought to myself, they got inside. This was the moment where I thought everything was over," Ocasio-Cortez said. It later turned out that the man banging on her door was a Capitol Police officer.

In a national terrorism bulletin warning, the US Department of Homeland Security warned of heightened domestic terror threat across the United States following the attacks on the US capitol on January 6.

"Throughout 2020, Domestic Violent Extremists (DVEs) targeted individuals with opposing views engaged in First Amendment-protected, non-violent protest activity. DVEs motivated by a range of issues, including anger over COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results, and police use of force have plotted and on occasion carried out attacks against government facilities," the bulletin read. "DHS is concerned these same drivers to violence will remain through early 2021 and some DVEs may be emboldened by the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. to target elected officials and government facilities."

Only five Republican senators voted with the 50 Democrats to continue the impeachment proceedings against the former American president Donald Trump for "incitement of insurrection" at the US Capitol. The other GOP members considered it unconstitutional, making a conviction unlikely as it would take two-thirds of Senators (67 in total) to convict Trump.

Facebook has referred the final decision of Trump's account suspension to its oversight board, an external institution set up to review the company's "most difficult and significant decisions." The board's final decision can not "be overruled by CEO Mark Zuckerberg or anyone else at Facebook."

"We believe our decision was necessary and right," so Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president of global affairs and communications. "Given its significance, we think it is important for the board to review it and reach an independent judgment on whether it should be upheld."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the House will transmit article of impeachment "soon", but did not provide any further details on when the trial might begin.

"I’m not going to be telling you when it is going," so Pelosi. "The other questions are about how a trial would proceed. We are ready."

Joseph Biggs, one of the leaders of the far-right group Proud Boys, was arrested in Florida for his role in the insurrection of the US Capitol. He faces charges of obstruction of a proceeding, entering restricted grounds and disorderly conduct.

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor that President Donald Trump helped provoke the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol, blaming the president directly for the attack on the Capitol.

"The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people," so McConnell.

Two members of the U.S. Army National Guard have been found to have ties to fringe right group militias. Consequently, they will be removed from the security mission to secure Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration.

No plot against Biden was found.

After Amazon, Google, and Apple forced Parler offline, the social network managed to make an online comeback on Sunday, even if not fully operational.

Parler's CEO John Matze wrote a post on the platform saying: "Our return is inevitable due to hard work, and persistence against all odds."

The social networking site went dark when Amazon stopped providing it cloud hosting services after it was revealed the platform was used to help organize the Capitol Hill attack on Jan. 6, which left five people dead.

Rudy Giuliani has announced he won't be part of Donald Trump's legal team when Trump faces his second impeachment trial for "incitement of insurrection" in the US Senate, citing to his involvement in the "Save America Rally" on January 6 where he called for a "trial by combat".

“Because I gave an earlier speech. I am a witness and therefore unable to participate in court or Senate chamber,” Giuliani told ABC News.

A study by the US Crisis Monitor based on around 13,000 demonstrations across the US since April 2020 shows that the police use force three times more often on left than right-wing demonstrators.

Barack Obama used this data in a statement to justify why Trump supporters were not stopped at the Capitol: The use of police force against predominantly white demonstrators is now demonstrably significantly reduced.

After the FBI issued a warning of potential violence in all 50 state capitals ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on January 29, state officials are preparing for potentialyl armed and violent protests. National Guard forces have been activated in California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Florida. Washington, DC is bracing for further violent protests following the attack on the US Capitol earlier this month.

The FBI is also investigating US military personnel in preparation for Joe Biden's inauguration. The US military authorities cannot rule out that an attack on the President-elect may come from within its own ranks. All 25,000 National Guards transferred to Washington would have to undergo a security clearance.

The inauguration will take place after the events around January 6th under the strictest security measures.