Mega MAGA riot fears
State of emergency declared as armed Trumpists vow to create havoc
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump has declared a 13-day emergency in Washington DC after the FBI warned more armed protests were planned for the US Capitol and in 50 US state capitals ahead of president-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Even as investigators continue to track down suspects from last week’s storming of Congress, an identified armed group has said it plans to travel to Washington on January 16 and has vowed another violent
uprising if attempts are made to remove Mr Trump from office, according to a memo seen by America’s ABC News.
At least 10,000 members of the National Guard will be deployed on the streets of Washington by the weekend, and their ranks could swell to 15,000 by January 20, when Mr Biden formally takes office, the guard’s senior officer said.
A White House statement issued later stated that the President had also “ordered federal assistance to supplement the district’s response efforts” until January 24.
“The President’s action authorises the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management
Agency to co-ordinate all disaster relief efforts,” the White House statement says.
It comes as Mr Trump and his deputy Mike Pence met in the Oval Office – their first encounter since last week’s assault on the US Capitol. “The two had a good conversation,” an official said of the meeting.
According to the official, Mr Trump has no intention of resigning his office before his term comes to an end on January 20, even as the Democrats mounted a second impeachment bid against him. The official likewise indicated Mr Pence has no intention of invoking the 25th Amendment of the Constitution to remove Mr Trump as “unfit to discharge his duties”, as the Democrats are also demanding.
The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on Wednesday (AEDT) on a resolution calling for Mr Pence to invoke the 25th, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi will give him 24 hours to respond. When the resolution was immediately blocked by Republicans, Democrats moved to bring the impeachment proceedings to the floor in a bid to make Mr Trump the only commander in chief in history to be impeached twice. The impeachment article accuses Mr Trump of making repeated false claims about widespread election fraud and inciting his supporters to stop a vote on Mr Biden’s Electoral College victory in Congress, as well as pressuring Georgia’s Secretary of State to overturn Mr Biden’s victory.