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US Senate meets under tight security after new extremist threat
Washington (AFP) - Armed US National Guard troops patrolled the US Capitol on Thursday after officials warned of a new attack plot by extremists, but the feared show of force by those still angry over Donald Trump's election defeat did not materialize. While the House of Representatives opted to cancel its session, the Senate carried on with business as usual, as troops kept watch along the razor-wire perimeter fence encircling the grounds. Officials had warned that just two months after a deadly storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters, militia groups and QAnon followers had discussed a fr...
AFP
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US police warn of new militant plot to 'breach' Capitol
Washington (AFP) - US police said they have bolstered security in Washington after intelligence uncovered a possible plot to "breach the Capitol" on Thursday, when some conspiracy-believing supporters of Donald Trump predict he will be inaugurated for another presidential term. The threat comes nearly two months after Trump supporters, including QAnon followers, stormed the Capitol building and laid siege to Congress, in an attack that left five people dead and shook the citadel of American democracy. Some followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory believe Trump was cheated out of a second term ...
AFP
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Two Trump Pentagon officials blamed for poor reaction to Capitol attack
Washington (AFP) - Two top Pentagon officials who were chosen by former president Donald Trump were blamed in a Senate hearing Wednesday for the slow security reaction to the January 6 Capitol assault. Witnesses told the hearing that a nearly three-and-a-half hour delay in deploying the national guard against the attack by Trump supporters was because deployment authority was held only by then-acting secretary of defense Christopher Miller and then-secretary of the army Ryan McCarthy, both political allies of the White House. Washington's metropolitan national guard commander Major General Wil...
AFP
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Director defends FBI actions ahead of US Capitol riot
Washington (AFP) - The FBI director on Tuesday defended his bureau's handling of intelligence ahead of the January 6 US Capitol riot, while telling lawmakers of an alarming recent spike in domestic terrorism cases. Christopher Wray faced a grilling from members of Congress in his first testimony since the deadly insurrection by supporters of then-president Donald Trump, particularly over whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation underestimated the danger. As he sought to show the bureau was taking the threat seriously, he said it has dramatically increased its probes of domestic extremist gr...
AFP
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Violent clashes at Myanmar demonstrations as more sanctions imposed
People demonstrating against the military coup in Myanmar clashed with pro-military protesters on Thursday, while the military regime faced more sanctions from Britain and was blocked by Facebook. In the largest city, Yangon, supporters of the coup pelted pro-democracy protesters with stones, leaving several people injured, according to eyewitnesses cited by news portal Frontier Myanmar. Ma Su, a resident, told Frontier Myanmar that the pro-military group was also carrying knives and batons. People on social media speculated that the military paid the group to cause unrest and make it seem lik...
DPA
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Intel failures compounded US Capitol riot, senators hear
Washington (AFP) - The deadly US Capitol riot on January 6 exposed devastating security and intelligence weaknesses, with military authorities reacting too slowly to calls for National Guard backup against an overwhelming mob, security officials told Congress Tuesday. Among the most serious lapses revealed: the Federal Bureau of Investigation sent US Capitol Police a report on the eve of the unrest warning that extremists groups were coming to Washington "ready for war," but the document did not reach USCP leadership. And lawmakers also heard that military officials had been "reluctant" to sen...
AFP
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Officials point to security, intel failures in US Capitol riot
Washington (AFP) - The deadly US Capitol riot on January 6 exposed devastating security and intelligence weaknesses, with military authorities reacting too slowly to calls for National Guard backup against an overwhelming mob, security officials told Congress Tuesday. In the first Senate hearing on the security failings, featuring US Capitol Police and Washington police chiefs and congressional sergeants at arms, the officials acknowledged they were blindsided by lack of intelligence and response coordination to the worst domestic insurrection since the Civil War. In compelling testimony they ...
AFP
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More 'Oath Keepers' charged in assault on US Capitol
Washington (AFP) - The US Justice Department charged six more members of the extremist Oath Keepers group Friday for taking part in the January 6 attack by Donald Trump supporters on the US Capitol. They were added to the case of three other Oath Keepers already charged as the department seeks to demonstrate a conspiracy behind the violent attack, which temporarily shut down the US legislature and left five people dead. All were charged with conspiracy to obstruct an official government proceeding, damaging federal property and unlawfully entering a federal building. The Justice Department sai...
AFP
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Trump sued for Capitol attack under 'Ku Klux Klan Act'
Washington (AFP) - A senior Democratic congressman sued former president Donald Trump Tuesday, accusing him of violating the 19th century "Ku Klux Klan Act" by supporting the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. Bennie Thompson accused Trump, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and extremist groups the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers of violating the 1871 act by supporting efforts to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden as the new US president. Thompson, who is Black and the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, cited a law originally created to protect the rights of African Americans after t...
AFP
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Trump critics call for permanent Facebook ban of ex-president
New York (AFP) - Calling Donald Trump a "clear and present danger," scholars and civil rights advocates on Friday urged Facebook to permanently ban the former US president from the platform. Critics of the social media company along with strong advocates of unfettered political discourse called on Facebook's oversight board to endorse the decision to boot Trump from the platform in the aftermath of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. A public comment period ended Friday with more than 9,000 submissions regarding the case, according to the board. The social network itself has asked the inde...
AFP
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