Capitol Hill Violence: Marching Order to Donald Trump from White House
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 8: The Wednesday’s violence in the United States Capitol Hill that evoked world-wide condemnation for the president Donald Trump for instigating his supporters seems to have given him the final marching orders from the White House.
After holding on for more than two months to his oft-repeated charges that the November 3 presidential elections was a “fraud played on the US democracy,” Trump on Thursday finally agreed to bow out of the office on January 20 ensuring transfer of power to president-elect Joe Bidden in an “orderly and peaceful” manner, a situation seemed impossible before the Capitol Hill violence in which the death toll went up to five with the death of police officer Brian Sicknick who succumbed to injuries he sustained in preventing the Trump supporters storming into the Capitol building on Wednesday.
Though his supporters attempted to storm into the building at his prompting, Trump in a video message on Thursday night condemned the incident and promised to “prepare for the administration of President-elect Joe Biden.”
“The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy,” Trump said of the violence, which then had left four people, including a woman dead. “To those who engage in the acts of violence and destruction: you do not represent our country. And to those who broke the law: you will pay.”
The video followed a wave of resignations from his administration and calls from top congressional Democrats, former White House aides, business leaders, and even the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal for Trump’s removal from office over his role in inciting the insurrection. Members of Congress have also discussed impeachment.
Before throngs of his supporters marched on the Capitol, overwhelmed police barricades and broke into the building, Trump, in a fiery address at midday Wednesday, had exhorted his supporters to “stop the steal” and make a stand for his presidency. In egging on the mob, he repeated false claims of voter fraud even as both houses of Congress were preparing to certify Biden’s victory in the Electoral College vote.
But a changed Trump on Thursday called for “healing and reconciliation” and said he would turn his focus to the transition, in a message that appeared designed to quell growing alarm among even his closest allies and aides.
“A new administration will be inaugurated on Jan. 20th,” Trump said. “My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power.”
The video was released late on a day of mounting demands for his immediate departure from office — even though his term ends on Jan. 20. They included calls for his resignation, a new impeachment inquiry and for Vice President Mike Pence to undertake extraordinary constitutional measures to oust him.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer had suggested Pence and the Trump cabinet to invoke the Constitution’s 25th Amendment which provides an avenue for the president to be removed. Pence had not responded to the suggestion so far and the Democrats floated the option of impeachment proceedings.
Trump’s remarks in the video were a notable departure in tone from recent weeks, and the first instance of Trump condemning the violence without also expressing solidarity with his supporters or reiterating his many baseless charges of election fraud. Shortly before the violence broke out, Trump told demonstrators he would “never concede” an election that he claimed had been “stolen.”
But Trump still did not think it was end of his political journey. Hinting at a possible “second act,” he said, “Serving as your president has been the honor of my lifetime. And to all my wonderful supporters I know you are disappointed but I also want you to know our incredible journey is only just beginning.”
The video was the first post to the president’s Twitter account since the social media network suspended him over his initial response to the violence on Wednesday in which he said he sympathized with the frustration of rioters. He had also issued a much delayed appeal to his supporters to stop from rampaging the Capitol, even as congressional offices were ransacked and law enforcement officers were attacked.
Despite widespread frustration within the administration, many members of Trump’s inner circle signaled Thursday they planned to serve out the remaining two weeks of his term.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died of injuries suffered when Trump supporters stormed the legislative building. “Officer Sicknick was responding to the riots…and was injured while physically engaging with protesters,” police said in a late-night statement.
He succumbed on Thursday after being taken to hospital following his collapse upon returning to his divisional office, they added.
Metropolitan homicide officials will investigate the death of Sicknick, who joined the U.S. Capitol Police in 2008, along with the Capitol force and its federal partners, police said.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos resigned on Thursday, joining a growing list of aides leaving Trump’s administration in protest at the storming of the U.S. Capitol.
The police action against the Trump supporters outside the Capitol Hill has also brought into focus the stark contrast between the police’s response to the recent insurrection and the brutal use of force against Black Lives Matter (BLM) protestors last year.
The president-elect Joe Bidden was among the firsts to criticize the soft attitude of the Capitol police in dealing with the Trump supporters. In a national address on Thursday, Biden said, “No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesters yesterday, they would have been treated very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol. We all know that’s true. And it’s unacceptable. Totally unacceptable,” he said.
As videos and images of the recent riot began to emerge, Black Lives Matter activists who were involved in last year’s anti-racism protests expressed outrage over what they saw as a clear manifestation of the US’ unequal justice system.
The protests for racial justice spread across the United States last year following the death of George Floyd — a black man who died in Minneapolis after a police officer strangled him with his knee last May. President Donald Trump had ordered a tough response to the protests, deploying National Guard troops in several states to suppress the demonstrators.
Under orders from the Trump administration, the police and National Guard troops in June last year had brutally cracked down on a group of anti-racism demonstrators who were peacefully protesting near Lafayette Park in Washington DC. They used tear gas and force to try and disperse the group as President Trump was expected to walk from the White House through the park to a church nearby for a photo session.
In contrast, during the siege of the Capitol, not only the National Guard was deployed hours after the rioters had broken into the Capitol building on Wednesday, the police while used tear gas against the Trump supporters some law enforcement officials were also seen calmly reasoning with the rioters. Images of law enforcement officials patiently tending to injured protestors have also caused uproar amongst the BLM community, who did not receive the same treatment during last year’s protests when the law enforcement officials clashed with demonstrators. The brutality with which they attempted to crackdown on the protests earned them widespread condemnation from civil rights activists worldwide.
