Newsweek - USA (2021-02-12)

48 NEWSWEEK.COM FEBRUARY 12

CHAPTER 9:

Democracy Inaction

8:00 PM: +ouse Majority /eader +oyer

tweets and encloses his Statement on the

• oint Session of Congress Reconvening
  for the (lectoral College Certiɿcation
  “TodayŠs insurrection at the 8 .S. Capitol
  complex was a direct attack on our democ-
  racy. It is shameful and despicable, but it
  will not prevent us from carrying out our
  Constitutional duties. Tonight, the +ouse and
  Senate will reconvene in a -oint Session of
  Congress to continue the (lectoral College
  certiɿcation. We will fulɿll our duty to the
  Constitution and the American people.
  “This is a dark day in our nationŠs history,
  but our democracy will prevail. -oe Biden
  and Kamala +arris will be conɿrmed as
  the next President and 9 ice President of
  the 8 nited States. When they are sworn
  into ofɿce on -anuary 20, I hope that day
  will mark the beginning of a new era for
  the American people in which we can
  come together as one nation and heal.”

8:06 PM: 9 ice President Pence reopens the

Senate, saying, “/etŠs get back to work.”

8:09 PM: -onathan Martin of The New York

Times tweets “An extraordinary scene just

outside the Senate. /awmakers deter-

mined to meet and police have surrounded

chamber, bomb-snifɿng dogs prowling.”

8:10 PM: 9 ice President Pence

speaks on Senate ʀoor

“To those who wreaked havoc today <ou

did not win. 9 iolence never wins. )reedom

wins, and this is still the peopleŠs house.

As we reconvene, the world will again

witness the resilience of our democracy.”

“Today was a dark day in the history

of the 8 nited States Capitol...We con-

demn the violence that took place here

in the strongest possible terms.”

8:21 PM: Rachel Chason of The Washing-

ton Post tweets “A few Trump supporting

stragglers, a whole lot of law enforcement

and media outside the Capitol now...”

8:22 PM: Sarah )erris of Politico

tweets “ThereŠs a police dog here in-

specting parts of Capitol building that

is wearing booties, which is apparently

to protect his paws from the glass.”

8:35 PM: Senate Majority /eader

McConnell speaks “The 8 nited States

Senate will not be intimidated. We will not

be kept out of this chamber by thugs, mobs

or threats. We will not bow to lawlessness

of intimidation. The 8 nited States and

the Senate will not be intimidated. We

are back at our posts. We will discharge

our duty under the Constitution for our

nation. And we are going to do it tonight.”

8:46 PM: Maj. *en. 2 mar -. -ones I 9 ,

Commanding *eneral, -oint )orce +ead-

TuartersśNational Capital Region 8 S

Army Military 'istrict of Washington,

tweets for the ɿrst and last time of the

day “I am not the commanding general for

'C National *uard. I am a regular Army

ofɿcer and currently command the Military

'istrict of Washington. Thank you.”

The tweet is misleading, for he is the joint

force commander for the overall military

command responsible for “defense

support of civil authoritiesŤ in the

District and commander of Joint Task

Force–National Capitol Region (JTF-

NCR), which was activated in March 2020

to prepare for all military contingencies

in Washington, DC.

8:47 PM: Marissa -. /ang of The Wash-

ington Post tweets “-ust witnessed

another arrest, though this crowd has

thinned out substantially. We are near-

ing  hours post curfew now. The man

who was arrested had a megaphone and

had been berating the cops for hours.

'idnŠt get a photo but seemed he walked