Every thing you need to know about US Capital Hill Siege

Capitol Hill in D.C. is home to the U.S. Capitol Building and the Supreme Court. It has long been the historical landmark of the country. Because of its stature, it often becomes a primary region for protest and occasional violence.

Over its two centuries as the seat of government, the U.S. Capitol has seen countless protests, along with occasional bombings, shootings, fights between lawmakers, and, in 1814, conflagration at the hands of British troops.

In 1998, a gunman breached Capitol Hill’s security and killed two police offers. In 1983, six members of the Resistance Conspiracy opposed US actions in Grenada and Lebanon exploded a bomb in a Senate corridor.

The infamous US Capitol Hill Siege took place on January 6, 2020, when hundreds of Trump supporters tear down metal barricades and stormed the Senate with the sole intention to obstruct the constitutional process. The siege lasted four hours until the protestors were caught, and the whole ruckus subsided.

Donald Ritchie, historian emeritus of the U.S. Senate, later said in an interview,

“I’ve never encountered a protest where people broke into the building and tried to stop the proceedings. That’s totally out of character for American protests.”

It has also been dubbed as the worst security breaches in US history. At least four people died on the US Capitol grounds Wednesday, and 52 people were arrested after the violence broke out.

So let’s take a look at what actually happened at Capitol Hill and who instigated the entire riot.

Overview of Capitol Hill Riot

It all started when Donald Trump began claiming that the election had been “rigged” by “radical democrats,” urging his supporters not to accept the election results.

Joe Biden, a Democrat candidate, won the 2020 US election by 306 against 232 votes of Donald Trump, a Republican candidate. Talking about electoral votes by state, Biden took a solid lead of 203 against Trump’s 77 votes. No doubt, Joe Biden is the clear winner. But following the counting of the popular vote in late 2019, Trump claimed that the election was rigged. He even forced some constituencies to recount the vote.

Trump, in one of his speeches, said,

“We will never give up. We will never concede. It doesn’t happen. You don’t concede when there’s theft involved.”

On Wednesday morning on January 6, he made a 70-minute speech where he urged his supporters to take a step following his rally. He called the outcome of the election “this egregious assault on our democracy,” and his supporters should “walk down to the Capitol.”

Afterward, the people carrying Trump 2020 flag broke into Capitol Hill Building and draped a Trump flag over the Capitol balcony. Inside the building, members of Congress were counting the electoral votes.

Trump posted a tweet urging his supporters to stop the violence, but it was too late. The protestors had already hurled into the building, assaulting officers and vandalizing.

More than 60 people were arrested. Many of the protestors broke in and stole items like government laptops and even assaulted officers. So far, 55 suspects with various offenses have been charged, where eight suspects face gun charges.

D.C. police officials also say two pipe bombs were recovered, one outside the Democratic National Committee and one outside the Republican National Committee. Police found a cooler from a vehicle that had a long gun and Molotov cocktail on Capitol grounds.

Following the incident, Trump shared a message on social media.

“It’s time to go home now. I know your pain. I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us.”

We all know what happened after that; both Twitter and Facebook blocked Trump’s account. Not long after this, many lawmakers and politicians started calling for Trump’s impeachment. Many of them blamed Trump for inciting the violence.

President-elect Joe Biden tweeted,

“What we are seeing is a small number of extremists dedicated to lawlessness. This is not dissent; it’s a disorder.”

What laws were broken at Capitol Hill?

Michael Sherwin, U.S. attorney for D.C., told reporters on Thursday that prosecutors filed 55 cases, 15 of which involve federal crimes, related to the riots — with more to come. The charges range from unlawful entry to possessing firearms and Molotov cocktails.

Many of the protestors who were caught could face sentences up to 20 years. It entirely depends on the prosecutors to determine, based on evidence, how to take this matter through in the court. One of the many things that they would need to establish is if it happened on the spur of the moment or how much it was organized.

Many people are asking if Trump will be held accountable for inciting the riot. As for President Trump being charged with inciting the riots, Stanford University law professor David Sklansky said that.

“That would be unlikely. Despite his speech just before, in which he exhorted his supporters to fight, it would be difficult to prove that he intended to have people illegally enter the Capitol by force or violence. “

Not soon after the riot, Judiciary chair Nadler supported invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump immediately. However, the 25th Amendment would require Vice President Mike Pence and most sitting Cabinet secretaries to invoke the power to remove Trump from office immediately.

Nadler added,

“There must be consequences. Those consequences must be commensurate with the offense, and they must begin with the president of the United States.”

FBI Washington Field Office received more than 4,000 tips, including digital media, to help identify rioters. Facial recognition software is being used to identify the rioters. Washington’s Acting U.S. Attorney Mike Sherwin said his office would consider bringing charges against anyone who played a role in the Capitol’s mob attack, including Trump.

The Fate of Outgoing President Donald Trump

This isn’t the first time the lawmakers asked for Trump’s impeachment. Trump’s impeachment was initiated on December 18, 2019, when the House of Representatives approved articles of impeachment on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate acquitted Trump of these charges on February 5, 2020.

Trump’s impeachment came after a formal House inquiry alleged that he had solicited foreign interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election to help his re-election bid, and then obstructed the inquiry itself by telling his administration officials to ignore subpoenas for documents and testimony.

If the impeachment article is initiated following the Capitol Hill riot, it will mark the second time in his presidency with only 2 weeks left to end of his presidency.

Here is what you need to know –To impeach Trump, a total of 216 votes are required from the House of Representatives — or a simple majority plus one. A trial is then heard in the Senate, where the US Chief Justice presides. A full two-thirds of the 100 senators must vote to impeach.

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