D.C. news roundup: Insurrection, impeachment and an inauguration

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The first weeks of January saw an intense burst of news coming out of Washington, D.C., with a violent protest at the Capitol, impeachment charges against President Donald Trump and the formal inauguration of President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris

Capitol protest turns violent and deadly

A large group of supporters of Donald Trump stormed into the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6 during the certification of the 2020 presidential election votes. After months of claiming without evidence that the election was rigged, they took to the streets of capitol hill to protest.

The protests turned violent with the breaking of windows and blockades and physical altercations with police officers. This riot was responsible for five deaths and more injured. One police officer, Brian Sicknick, was killed after being beaten with a fire extinguisher by a rioter. Another, Michael Fanon, describes being stripped of his equipment and tasered while a bystander yelled for someone to “kill him with his own gun.”

Images of this raid have circled around the internet of those inside the capitol stealing items, taking pictures with police officers, and even sitting in the speaker of the House of Representative, Nancy Pelosi’s desk. The FBI has been asking for people to identify those pictured to make arrests. –Brooke Murphy


Trump impeached for historic 2nd time

President Trump was impeached for the second time through the vote on Jan. 13, less than a week before the end of his first term, making him the first president to be impeached twice in one term.

The House of Representatives voted on the impeachment, resulting in 10 House Republicans voting in favor.  Although this number seems insignificant, it is more than any other House defections during an impeachment vote.  According to a Jan. 14 article by NBC News, this led to most Republicans officially admitting that Joe Biden won the election, and confirmed no further opposition from Trump’s administration. –Lindsey Leitner


Biden, Harris inauguration proceeds without incident

America’s 46th president, Joe Biden and his Vice President, Kamala Harris, were sworn in peacefully to office Jan. 20 on the Capitol’s West Front, a ceremony that had much of the country on edge due to fears of violent protests and response since a mob stormed the Capitol Jan. 6. 

Due to suspected threats of violence and other safety precautions in place due to COVID-19 , the scaled-back inauguration took a different approach than in years past. But the inauguration was still live-streamed by many major news stations, in addition to being shared on platforms like Facebook Live, Twitter and YouTube.

Many people who spoke at the inauguration, including Lady Gaga, who sang the National Anthem, and Jennifer Lopez, who also gave a musical performance. Also 26 year old poet Amanda Gorman read her inaugural poem, “The Hill We Climb,” which she finished in the week after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

President Trump announced this past Friday that he would not attend Mr. Biden’s inauguration, and Biden called that decision “one of the few things he and I have agreed on.” But there were other previous presidents and their wives that attended the event, including George W. Bush and Laura Bush, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, along with Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton. –Sean Ryan