Monday, January 11, 2021

US Insurrection 2021: In the Wake

Five days after the storm of the Capitol by followers of the outgoing head of the Executive in the US a few things have become widely known. Five people have died as a result of last Wednesday's attempted insurrection. Two Capitol police and three insurgents succumbed to injuries or medical related injuries. There were widespread inconsistencies regarding policy that led to much of the breakdown of security at the Capitol, reaching as far as the the Pentagon and the National Guard. The heads of the Capitol police have said they will resign. 

There has not been an official explanation of what has happened with these events or this whole episode from the Executive or, from DC Security. Trump's preferred platforms for disseminating information have been cut off so he no longer has access to twitter. Parler, the platform popular with conservatives since the November 3 elections, has also shut down. This is a result of the major tech companies that supply its users the means via cell phone to access that platform having cut off access to it. The CEO of Parler announced Monday the company was suing Amazon for ending its support of the platform.

The Speaker of the House has asked the Vice-President to invoke the 25th Amendment which would remove President Trump from participating in active measures in that office. Madame Speaker has also stated that if the Vice-President will not do this by 11am today - Monday - then she is prepared to call for a voice vote in the House to approve Articles of Impeachment already drawn up against the President. When Madame Speaker called for a unanimous consent vote, a Republican member blocked the motion.

Meanwhile, it seems as though a major hack on an administrative level has occurred with Parler just prior to its shutting down, exposing the personal data of certain users on the platform. Seventy terabytes of user data including personal identifying information has reportedly been opened up which means anyone, including the Government or the FBI, now has access. Thousands of photos and video and the personal information of user data had been uploaded to the platform and other forms of social media throughout the last few months but particularly in the days around the January 6 storm of activity. 

As a result, there have been reports all weekend that hundreds of criminal cases have been opened, scores of arrests made by the FBI, and a rush of deletions of said material by the insurgency participants. Apparently a number of these individuals have also been put on 'no-fly' lists as suspected domestic terrorists. Also, individual politicians have begun denying their involvement, up to and including the President, professing a need for healing, unity. Many see these as merely moves by complicit members who are seeking impunity and immunity for themselves rather than unity for the country.


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