More security for the US Congress, penalties for threats against poll workers, fight against extremism. In Capitol Storm report, US lawmakers propose action to prevent rioting of January 6, 2021 from repeating itself. Some examples.
With the report on the Capitol storm of January 6, 2021, the investigative committee in Washington not only ended its work, the 845-page work is also the end of 2022 and, for some MPs, the end of their time in parliament. Because on January 3, the newly elected House of Representatives will meet. The recommendations of the committee members are therefore not very considerate: Ex-US President Donald Trump should no longer be allowed to hold public office in the future, according to the report.
Donald Trump at the center of the uprising
He is considered to be the linchpin of the events of two years ago, which were classified as an attempted coup. According to the 14th Amendment, someone who swore an oath to the Constitution but then participated in an insurrection against the Constitution or supported enemies of the Constitution could be barred from holding public office in the future, the document said.
The committee is calling on the US Congress to consider whether the individuals named in the final report, including some of Trump’s associates, can be constitutionally barred from holding public office at the state or state level. Trump has already announced that he wants to run again as the Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
The recommendation to ban the ex-president from political life is one of a total of eleven suggestions by the committee to ensure that an uprising against US democracy and the peaceful transfer of power like the one on January 6th does not happen again.
Here are some of the committee’s recommendations:
- Better ability for Congress to enforce subpoenas on witnesses and suspects. During the investigation, key January 6 figures such as Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows and Republican faction leader Kevin McCarthy refused to testify before members of Congress.
- Better protection for poll workers. Even before the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump and his supporters had claimed without any evidence that there would be mass election fraud. Those who suffered were campaign workers who had been threatened and approached by angry Trumpists. To protect them, security forces had to be stationed at some polling stations.
- The committee also recommends giving the Capitol Police, the security forces for the government district around Capitol Hill, more powers. On January 6, 2021, police officers were overwhelmed by the amount of people who stormed the Parliament building. 150 officers were injured in the uprising.
January 6, 2021
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- In the opinion of the committee, false information spread by the media and the public also contributed to the escalation on January 6, 2021. The right-wing extremist conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who incited the masses with “incendiary rhetoric”, is mentioned by name. “While individuals are responsible for their statements, Congress should continue to scrutinize the actions of media outlets that have radicalized their consumers,” the final report said.
- The “Insurrection Act”, the regulation according to which the US President can use the military against an uprising, is also to be put to the test. On January 6, 2021, far-right militias urged Trump to use this insurgency regime. For the future, the Committee wishes that the risks associated with the “Insurrection Act” should be better considered.
Step up the fight against extremists
- The committee also proposes reforming the electoral laws. Some of them date back to 1887. The goal must be that presidential elections cannot simply be overturned by the certification loops. The riot on January 6 was sparked by the fact that Vice President Mike Pence was to declare the election legal that day – which Donald Trump wanted him not to have done. Pence, however, refused the President’s “wish”.
- Right-wing extremist groups and conspiracy theorists played a crucial role in the black day for US democracy. The committee therefore recommends that both the federal government and the secret services scrutinize “all types of extremists” more closely in the future.
Sources: DPA, AFP, “”,
Source: Stern
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