CAPITOL CRIME
Hunt for riot mob begins Security chiefs face sack
If Sergeant at Arms has not vacated by then, I will fire him
POLICE and politicians have vowed to hunt down every member of the mob who stormed the US Capitol.
Some have already been identified as being linked to conspiracy theorists QAnon. They include Jake Angeli, 32, who wore horns, a fur hat and face paint as he occupied the Senate dais. Angeli likes to bill himself as the QAnon Shaman. Richard “Bigo” Barnett, 60, who describes himself as a white nationalist online, was pictured with his feet on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk. He later said he wrote Pelosi
“a nasty note, put my feet up on her desk and scratched my balls”.
A rioter pictured smiling as he made off with a lectern has been identified as Adam Johnson, a psychology graduate from Bradenton, Florida.
The FBI yesterday appealed for help identifying the rioters, saying it was “accepting tips and digital media depicting rioting”.
A police source said: “The police, fuelled by some very angry politicians, are determined to hunt down every man and woman who entered the building and bring them to justice.”
But the “pathetic” police response to the violence, which led to four deaths, looks certain to cost security chiefs their jobs.
In a building with its own 2,000officer police department, rioters still managed to storm the Capitol.
One of f icer posed for a selfie with a rioter during the “attempted coup”, and police were f i lmed seeming to stand back as rioters f lowed inside, even appearing to open barriers to let them through.
Just 50 people were arrested out of the hundreds who stormed the Capitol building, some of them armed with long rifles.
Two suspected pipe bombs were also found, and yesterday a man of 70 was arrested near the Capitol with a firearm and petrol bomb materials. Senate Sergeant at Arms Mike Stenger and House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving are both under pressure to step down.
Senate Democratic Leader Chu c k Schumer said he would act when his party takes control this month.
He insisted: “If Senate Sergeant at Arms Stenger hasn’t vacated the position by then, I will fire him.”
Ohio representative Tim Ryan, who oversees the funding of the Capitol Police, promised action over the pitiful response to the angry mob.
He said: “There’s going to be a number of people who are going to be without employment very, very soon, because this is an
CHUCK SCHUMER DEMOCRAT SENATE CHIEF
embarrassment.” The police were also accused of racism as people compared the response to Wednesday’s violence with the way Black Lives Matters protests were dealt with last summer.
Compared to the 50 arrests on Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police Department made 289 arrests for riot-related events on June 1 alone.
After Wednesday’s violence, American football hero Shannon Sharpe tweeted: “Black protesters would be lying dead in front of the capitol building right now.”
Cori Bush, a Black Lives Matters protester in Ferguson, Missouri, said: “There are pictures of police officers just walking away. Had it been people who looked like me… We wouldn’t have made it up those steps. We would’ve been shot. We need to call it what it is. White supremacy.”
Before the riot on Wednesday,
Trump had told protestors should “fight” for him.
Despite promising he would join them, Trump retreated to the safety of the White House in his SUV and watched on TV as the violence exploded at the Capitol.
He later tweeted: “Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful.”
His words were roundly mocked, with thousands replying saying the police were on the side of the rioters.
His closest allies yesterday blamed the violence on Antifa “masquerading” as Trump supporters.
Former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin said: “I think a lot of it is the Antifa folks. Trump supporters don’t do these things.” they