WASHINGTON, D.C. – That the smooth and peaceful transfer of power from President Donald J. Trump’s Administration to Joseph Biden’s has been anything but, as of press time, is one of the few certainties in the post-Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol here.
Upon his most recent impeachment, we will see whether Mr. Trump has done the unlikely in less than seven days to his term: resignation, take early leave and/or issue more executive orders that the Biden Administration and the 117th Congress will be left to undo.
We will meanwhile learn of more stories of heroism, horror and/or collapse by an under-supported U.S. Capitol Police force against some 1,000 individuals who fought and called them “traitors” and “cowards.”
We will learn more of the identities of those who rushed past the police barricades, entered the halls and, while seeking for officials’ heads from Vice President Mike Pence on down, desecrated the Capitol.
We will know how tightly secured Washington and 50 state capitals – including Trenton – by law enforcement against real or rumored similar stormings Jan. 17-20.
And we will see New Jersey and “Local Talk” area connections among the above developments.
There are 90 members of the New Jersey Army National Guard, for example, left their West Orange Armory for the District of Columbia Jan. 9-10. The Troop B 102nd Cavalry members are among a contingent of 500 troops from the Blackwood, Egg Harbor, Mount Holly and Teaneck armories who were called to help the Capitol and Washington, D.C. police security needs.
It is not known if 102nd Cavalry Troop B are deployed within the Capitol, helping to retrieve evidence and removing debris, or at Washington intersections, directing traffic or something in between.
The first National Guard troops had arrived at the Washington Mall after sunset Jan. 6 – hours after Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser’s call for them to Pence.
The West Orange National Guard left before Gov. Phil Murphy (D-Rumson) ordered all U.S. and New Jersey flags be lowered to half-staff Jan. 11. Murphy was paying tribute to South River native and Capitol Police Sgt. Brian Sicknick, who had died Jan. 7 from injuries suffered while “physically engaging” with the insurrectionists.
Sicknick, 42, who moved to Springfield, Va. when he joined the Capitol police in 2008, had toured Saudi Arabia in 1999 and Kyrgyzstan in 2003 as part of the Air National Guard out of Fort Dix-Ft. McGuire Joint AFB.
Capitol steps footage shows Sicknick being struck in the head after a rioter had thrown a fire extinguisher at him and several officers. Sicknick later complained of pain while back at a USCPD office that night and was taken to a local hospital.
Central New Jersey Congress members have asked that Sicknick be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. A GoFundMe.com page has been established so his family can pay for funeral expenses.
The Capitol’s U.S. flag, which was briefly replaced by a Trump 2020 banner Jan. 6, was lowered to half-staff Jan. 6 in tribute to Sicknick. The White House’s flag was so lowered Jan. 10.
Sicknick and a second USCPD officer, who reportedly committed suicide, are among six who have so far died from the Capitol storming. Another 55 Capitol officers from a force of 2,000, including 10 still hospitalized, were injured. (Insurrectionist and civilian injury counts were not immediately available.)
The FBI, on Jan. 11, has released a “before” video of “Extinguisher Man:” The bearded man holding the fire bottle is distinguished by a grey backpack and a “CFD” woolen cap.
“Extinguisher Man” is not the only one of the trespassers, vandals, thieves, assaulters and murderers found and sought for among the insurrectionists. The suspects range from social media celebrities to state legislators, veterans, public safety officers, an Olympic swimmer, a son of a judge – and a South Jersey man.
A Leonard Guthrie, of Lower Township, was among the 68 people Capitol Police had arrested by Jan. 7. The Guthrie under arrest (there are two Cape May County residents listed with the same name) was charged with unlawful entry.
Guthrie told Philadelphia’s WCAU NBC News 10 Jan. 8 that he had crossed a police line at the rally “as civil disobedience,” but did not enter the Capitol.
“Trump told everybody, ‘Go over to the Capitol, let them hear your voice,’ ” said Guthrie, while wearing a “We the People – Have Had Enough” baseball cap. “This was about revival – not kicking doors.”
What some of the pro-Trump protesters-turned-criminals had sought to disrupt was the joint Congressional counting of Electoral College votes. New Jersey’s Congressional Delegation – 11 House Representatives and both Senators – were present when shots were being fired and rioters were at their chambers’ doors.
Capitol officers halted the vote count at about 2:30 p.m. and sequestered legislators into secured areas for the next four hours. Their staff and aides also took shelter after one chief of staff discovered that her office’s “panic button” was “torn out” ahead of time.
Members the likes of Cory Booker (D-Newark) and Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) were among those who traded Tweets with the outside world while sequestered. Several colleagues were also watching the mayhem unfold and dissipate on televisions.
“I was in the (House) Chamber as people attempted to breach it,” said Sherrill. “The Capitol police barricaded the doors and we sheltered in place. Once we had a secure exit, we left the Capitol and I’m now in a secure place.”
“I just spoke on the Senate floor,” said Sen. Booker. “Grateful to the Capitol Police for keeping us safe. We must complete our Constitutional duty and start to repair our democracy.”
Cong. Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-Newark) was back home that Wednesday – but made his observations known.
“I’m home safe and away from this chaos but this’ a sad day for America,” Tweeted Payne. “Every American who loves this country should be horrified and ashamed about what’s happening right now.”
Payne later posted a photo of National Guard soldiers standing rank and file on Washington federal steps last summer.
“The picture is actually the Lincoln Memorial but the point’s valid,” added Payne. “I want to find out why the responses to the BLM protests and today’s riot at the U.S. Capitol building were treated so differently.”
Congress was given the “all clear” and completed the Electoral College vote count by 4 a.m. Jan. 7. Biden was certified as “POTUS 46” with 306 electoral votes. (At least 270 votes were needed.)
Not all Congress members who left the Capitol early Jan. 7 returned Jan. 11-13 for the impeachment votes. Cong. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) was back home with mild symptoms of the COVID-19 Coronavirus after testing positive Jan. 11.
“I was sheltering with several colleagues who refused to wear masks,” said Coleman, 75, and a lung cancer survivor.
“I’m thinking of you,” responded Sherrill. “I was in the crowded secure location with you as they were walking around without masks after the attack on the Capitol. The selfishness of our colleagues has got to end now.”
Congress members and staffers returned Monday morning to find a temporary nine-foot-tall perimeter fence surrounding the Capitol. They were also greeted by metal detectors at the chambers’ entrances. Several Republican legislators, some of whom were not wearing masks, either walked around the detectors or rushed through them as a group.
One Congressman, while waiting his turn though the detector, noticed red spots on the floor among the hallway debris.
“Is that blood on the floor?” the legislator asked an attending Capitol Police officer.
“Yes, that’s blood,” said the officer. “There’s blood all over the Capitol.”
