Joe Biden’s declaration: America’s democracy ‘is rising anew’
President Joe Biden declared Wednesday night that “America is rising anew” as he called for an expansion of federal programs to drive the economy past the pandemic and broadly extend the social safety net on a scale not seen in decades. In his first address to Congress, he pointed optimistically to the nation’s emergence from the coronavirus scourge as a moment for America to prove that its democracy can still work and maintain primacy in the world. Speaking in highly personal terms while demanding massive structural changes, the president marked his first 100 days in office by proposing a $1.8 trillion investment in children, families, and education to help rebuild an economy devastated by the virus and compete with rising global competitors. His speech represented both an audacious vision and a considerable gamble. He is governing with the most slender of majorities in Congress, and even some in his own party have blanched at the price tag of his proposals. At the same time, the speech highlighted Biden’s fundamental belief in the power of government as a force for good, even at a time when it is so often the object of scorn. “I can report to the nation: America is on the move again,” he said. “Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength.” While the ceremonial setting of the Capitol was the same as usual, the visual images were unlike any previous presidential address. Members of Congress wore masks and were seated apart because of pandemic restrictions. Outside, the grounds were still surrounded by fencing after insurrectionists in January protesting Biden’s election stormed to the doors of the House chamber where he gave his address. The nationally televised ritual raised the stakes for his ability to sell his plans to voters of both parties, even if Republican lawmakers prove resistant. The president is following the speech by hitting the road to push his plans, beginning in Georgia on Thursday and then on to Pennsylvania and Virginia in the days ahead. “America is ready for takeoff. We are working again. Dreaming again. Discovering again. Leading the world again. We have shown each other and the world: There is no quit in America,” Biden said. This year’s scene at the front of the House chamber also had a historic look: For the first time, a female vice president, Kamala Harris, was seated behind the chief executive. And she was next to another woman, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The first ovation came as Biden greeted “Madam Vice President.” He added, “No president has ever said those words from this podium, and it’s about time.” The chamber was so sparsely populated that individual claps could be heard echoing off the walls. Yet Biden said, “I have never been more confident or more optimistic about America. We have stared into an abyss of insurrection and autocracy — of pandemic and pain — and ‘We the People’ did not flinch.” At times, the president plainly made his case for democracy itself. Biden demanded that the government take care of its own as a powerful symbol to the world of an America willing to forcefully follow its ideals and people. He confronted an issue rarely faced by an American president, namely that in order to compete with autocracies like China, the nation needs “to prove that democracy still works” after his predecessor’s baseless claims of election fraud and the ensuing attack on the U.S. Capitol. “Can our democracy overcome the lies, anger, hate, and fears that have pulled us apart?” he asked. “America’s adversaries – the autocrats of the world – are betting it can’t. They believe we are too full of anger and division and rage. They look at the images of the mob that assaulted this Capitol as proof that the sun is setting on American democracy. They are wrong. And we have to prove them wrong.” Biden repeatedly hammered home that his plans would put Americans back to work, restoring the millions of jobs lost to the virus. He laid out an extensive proposal for universal preschool, two years of free community college, $225 billion for child care, and monthly payments of at least $250 to parents. His ideas target frailties that were uncovered by the pandemic, and he argues that economic growth will best come from taxing the rich to help the middle class and the poor. Biden’s speech also provided an update on combating the COVID-19 crisis he was elected to tame, showcasing hundreds of millions of vaccinations and relief checks delivered to help offset the devastation wrought by a virus that has killed more than 573,000 people in the United States. He also championed his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, a staggering figure to be financed by higher taxes on corporations. His appeals were often emotive and personal, talking about Americans needing food and rental assistance. He also spoke to members of Congress as a peer as much as a president, singling out Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republicans’ leader, to praise him and speaking as one at a professional homecoming. The GOP members in the chamber largely stayed silent, even refusing to clap for seemingly universal goals like reducing childhood poverty. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said, in the Republicans’ designated response, that Biden was more rhetoric than action. “Our president seems like a good man,” Scott said. “But our nation is starving for more than empty platitudes.” The president spoke against a backdrop of the weakening but still lethal pandemic, staggering unemployment, and a roiling debate about police violence against Blacks. He also used his address to touch on the broader national reckoning over race in America, urging legislation be passed by the anniversary of George Floyd’s death next month, and to call on Congress to act on the thorny issues of prescription drug pricing, gun control, and modernizing the nation’s immigration system. In his first three months in office, Biden has signed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill — passed without a single GOP vote — and has
Database will track officer complaints, disciplinary action
Alabama will create a database to track disciplinary actions and excessive force complaints against law enforcement officers, a measure aimed at weeding out “bad apples” in the profession. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday signed the bill to create a state database to track law enforcement officers’ employment history, disciplinary actions, use of force complaints, and reassignments for cause. Nationwide, there have been calls for greater transparency in policing following the high-profile shootings and deaths of unarmed African Americans with states taking a variety of actions. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted Tuesday in the death of George Floyd, whose killing sparked nationwide protests. Democratic Rep. A.J. McCampbell, a former police officer, sponsored the Alabama bill and said it was aimed at preventing bad actors from moving “from one city to the next city.” “We have great officers. But it’s just like any other profession, you have great actors and you have bad actors. This is an opportunity to weed out the bad actors,” McCampbell, D-Demopolis, said. McCampbell said the governor had helped work on the legislation. The House of Representatives approved the bill 95-4 vote. The Senate approved the bill on a 26-0 vote. The database would not be public. It would be for law enforcement use only, including for police agencies to review a job candidate’s background. “It would make it more difficult for someone who has got a checkered past to hop from law enforcement agency to law enforcement agency. It builds a database so we can sort of weed out the bad apples that everyone continues to talk about,” state Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, said Wednesday during a news conference of the Alabama House Democratic Caucus. Former President Donald Trump in June signed an executive order to encourage better police practices and establish a database to track officers with excessive use-of-force complaints. While Alabama lawmakers approved the database creation with few dissenting votes, other policing bills have stalled in the GOP-dominated Legislature. A bill that would establish uniform procedures for the release of police body cameras and dash-camera footage has not gotten a committee vote. Bills that would track officer-involved shootings and mandate uniform investigative procedures also stalled in past years. The Alabama Senate has approved a bill that would require police to collect racial data during traffic stops — a measure intended to prevent the targeting of minority motorists — but the bill has not gotten a vote in the Alabama House. “We support law enforcement. However, we strongly believe law enforcement should be held to a higher standard and their actions should be fair and responsible,” England said. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Merrick Garland announces sweeping police probe after George Floyd verdict
The Justice Department is opening a sweeping investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis after a former officer was convicted in the killing of George Floyd there, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Wednesday. The decision comes a day after the former officer, Derek Chauvin, was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death last May, a verdict that set off a wave of relief across the country. Floyd’s death had led to months of mass protests against policing and the treatment of Black people in the United States. The Justice Department was already investigating whether Chauvin and the other officers involved in Floyd’s death violated his civil rights. “Yesterday’s verdict in the state criminal trial does not address potentially systemic policing issues in Minneapolis,” Garland said. The new investigation is known as a “pattern or practice” — examining whether there is a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing — and will be a more sweeping review of the entire police department. It may result in major changes to policing in the Minnesota city. It will examine the use of force by police officers, including force used during protests, and whether the department engages in discriminatory practices. It will also look into the department’s handling of misconduct allegations and its treatment of people with behavioral health issues and will assess the department’s current systems of accountability, Garland said. The Minneapolis police said in a statement that the chief, Medaria Arradondo “welcomes this investigation” and will fully cooperate with federal prosecutors. Arradondo “understands that the intent of this inquiry is to reveal any deficiencies or unwanted conduct within the department and provide adequate resources and direction to correct them,” the statement said. A senior Justice Department official said prosecutors chose to announce the investigation a day after the verdict because they did not want to do anything to interfere with Chauvin’s trial. The official would not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Three other ex-Minneapolis police officers charged in Floyd’s death will be tried together beginning Aug. 23. The official said their trial is far enough off that officials believed it was still appropriate to make the announcement Wednesday, even though the defendants are awaiting trial on state charges. It’s unclear whether the years under investigation will begin when Floyd died or before. Garland said a public report would be issued if the department finds a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing. The government also could bring a lawsuit against the police department, which in the past have typically ended in settlement agreements or consent decrees to force changes. The Minneapolis Police Department is also being investigated by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, which is looking into the police department’s policies and practices over the past decade to see if it engaged in systemic discriminatory practices. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said city officials “welcome the investigation as an opportunity to continue working toward deep change and accountability in the Minneapolis Police Department.” The city council also issued a statement supporting the investigation, saying its work had been constrained by local laws and that it welcomes “new tools to pursue transformational, structural changes to how the City provides for public safety.” The Justice Department official said attorneys from the department’s civil rights division are in Minneapolis, working with the U.S. attorney’s office and speaking with community groups and others. Floyd, 46, was arrested on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill for a pack of cigarettes at a corner market. He panicked, pleaded that he was claustrophobic, and struggled with police when they tried to put him in a squad car. They put him on the ground instead. The centerpiece of the case was bystander video of Floyd, handcuffed behind his back, gasping repeatedly, “I can’t breathe,” and onlookers yelling at Chauvin to stop as the officer pressed his knee on or close to Floyd’s neck for what authorities say was about 9 1/2 minutes, including several minutes after Floyd’s breathing had stopped and he had no pulse. Floyd’s death May 25 became a flashpoint in the national conversation about the deaths of Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement and sparked worldwide protests. At trial, Chauvin’s defense attorney persistently suggested Chauvin’s knee wasn’t on Floyd’s neck for as long as prosecutors argued, suggesting instead it was across Floyd’s back, shoulder blades, and arm. The Justice Department had previously considered opening a pattern or practice investigation into the police department soon after Floyd’s death, but then-Attorney General Bill Barr was hesitant to do so at the time, fearing that it could cause further divisions in law enforcement amid widespread protests and civil unrest, three people familiar with the matter told the AP. Garland said the challenges being faced “are deeply woven into our history.” “They did not arise today or last year,” Garland said. “Building trust between community and law enforcement will take time and effort by all of us, but we undertake this task with determination and urgency knowing that change cannot wait.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Senators want Confederate tax to fund Black history
Two Alabama state senators say they want to divert part of a statewide property tax tied to the legacy of the Confederacy to preserve and promote Black history in the state. Alabama imposed the tax to fund pensions for Confederate soldiers and their widows, and still collects it today, the only tax directly tied to the Confederacy. Most of the revenue is used for other purposes, but 1% goes to preserve and operate the state’s Confederate Memorial Park in rural Mountain Creek. The Chilton County site between Montgomery and Birmingham was the site of a home for indigent Confederate veterans and their widows. Sen. Clyde Chambliss tells The Montgomery Advertiser that he and Sen. Bobby Singleton will sponsor a bill this year that will preserve funding for the park, but require that the state spend an equal 1% on Black history sites. That would be more than $500,000 a year for each purpose. The owner of a $100,000 house who utilizes Alabama’s homestead exemption pays 10 cents a year for the park’s upkeep. “It is imperative that we remember all of our history and learn from both the good and the bad,” said Chambliss, a Prattville Republican. “I will continue working with all that want to share my love of history, to protect, enhance and restore symbols that will help us avoid the mistakes of the past and move our state forward in a positive direction.” Singleton, a Greensboro Democrat and African American, didn’t respond to requests for comment. Lawmakers in the past have tried unsuccessfully to remove the park’s funding. Some places in Alabama and across the South have removed Confederate monuments in the last year after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis brought nationwide protests against racial injustice. But removing monuments more than 50 years old in Alabama remains illegal under a state monument protection law. The Advertiser reports the bill would also establish a process where Confederate memorials and statues that have been removed from public property in Alabama be moved to the park and displayed. It’s unclear how that would work with the current law. The last Confederate veteran died at the home in 1934, leaving seven widows as residents. The state closed the home in 1939, instead paying welfare to five remaining widows. In 1964, lawmakers created Confederate Memorial Park as a “shrine to the honor of Alabama’s citizens of the Confederacy.” The park, run by the Alabama Historical Commission, came amid centennial observances of the Civil War, but also amid resistance to the Civil Rights movement by Alabama’s segregationist government. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Protest bill approved, even with objections
Alabama lawmakers approved a bill — filed after the tumultuous summer protests — to stiffen penalties for participating in riots and traffic-blocking demonstrations. The approval came over the objections of Black lawmakers who said they feared it would be used to jail and intimidate demonstrators. The GOP-dominated House of Representatives voted 74-25 for the bill, sending it to the Alabama Senate. The bill’s sponsor said the legislation is needed to crack down on violent behavior, but advocacy groups and Black lawmakers have raised concerns about the vagueness of what could be considered a riot. The approval followed an emotional debate in which speakers recalled America’s storied history of social movements as well as the recent police shootings that ignited widespread protests. Republican Rep. Allen Treadaway, a retired Birmingham assistant police chief, proposed the bill after a summer protest in Birmingham in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. That particular protest turned destructive and led to multiple businesses being burned and damaged. “As we watched across the country this past summer, a lot of the cities burned, and officers were assaulted and even protestors injured and hurt. That came to Birmingham, came to several of our cities in Alabama,” Treadaway said. The bill would change the definition of a riot and define new crimes of assault against a first responder, aggravated riot, and traffic interference. It would allow police to hold arrested individuals in jail for 24 hours without bond. Treadaway said the bill is aimed only at people “hell-bent” on doing damage. Democrats expressed concern about that the stiff penalties are aimed at silencing dissent. “People use their First Amendment right to talk about how they were wronged, how other groups of people were wronged, and to change those wrongs into rights. That’s who we are as a country,” said Rep. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove. Alabama law currently defines participating in a riot as wrongfully engaging “in tumultuous and violent conduct and thereby intentionally or recklessly causes or creates a grave risk of public terror or alarm.” The approved bill defines a riot as “the assemblage of five or more persons resulting in conduct creating an immediate danger of damage to property or injury to persons.” Republicans voted to cut off a Democratic filibuster on the bill and force a vote. A Democratic bill that would create a database of police shootings has stalled in the Alabama Legislature. Another to require the keeping of racial data on traffic stops has never reached final passage. Floyd’s death in Minneapolis set off a wave of sometimes-violent protests across the country. The Black man was pronounced dead after a police officer pressed his knee against his neck for about nine minutes. The incident was widely seen after being captured by bystander video. “We watched someone get murdered on TV, and we can’t get even get an audience for a bill where we all acknowledge there is a problem with policing,” said Rep. Chris England, a former prosecutor who heads the Alabama Democratic Party. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
House committee advances protest bill after changes
Alabama lawmakers on Tuesday advanced a revised bill that would stiffen penalties for participating in a riot or demonstrations that block traffic, a proposal that drew criticism for its broad definition of what could be considered a riot. The bill’s sponsor said the measures are needed to crack down on violent behavior, but advocacy groups and Black lawmakers have raised concerns that the legislation could be used to silence peaceful demonstrators. The House Judiciary Committee approved the bill on a 9-3 vote that was split along party lines with Republicans voting for the bill and Democratic representatives against it. The bill now moves to the House floor. Republican Rep. Allen Treadaway, a retired Birmingham assistant police chief, proposed the bill after a summer protest in Birmingham in the wake of George Floyd’s death turned destructive and led to multiple businesses being burned and damaged. “It’s about protecting lives,” Treadaway said. “We’re talking when you start burning buildings, you start looting stores and assaulting police officers, these new laws kick in.” Shay Farley, interim deputy policy officer for the southeast with Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund, said this bill is “clearly designed to instill fear in would-be protesters and silence dissent.” “This is a threat to all who engage in peaceful protest, whether they march for a conservative cause, a liberal action, or something in between,” Farley said in a statement. “History has shown us that the First Amendment protects the right to make people uncomfortable.” The revised proposal would change the definition of a riot and define new crimes of assault against a first responder, aggravated riot, and traffic interference. It would allow police to hold offenders for 24 hours without bond. Alabama law currently defines participating in a riot as wrongfully engaging “in tumultuous and violent conduct and thereby intentionally or recklessly causes or creates a grave risk of public terror or alarm.” The approved bill defines a riot as “the assemblage of five or more persons resulting in conduct creating an immediate danger of damage to property or injury to persons.” Treadaway’s original proposal would also have included substantially obstructing law enforcement or other government function within the definition of riot, but that was dropped during negotiations. The approval followed an emotional public hearing last week where speakers recalled Alabama’s history of using force against civil rights demonstrators and recent arrests during protests against police use of force. Rep. Chris England, a former prosecutor who heads the Alabama Democratic Party, said he appreciated the compromises Treadaway made on the bill but still had concerns and wanted to see additional work on the bill. Rep. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, noted that the state just marked the 56th anniversary of Bloody Sunday where state troopers beat voting rights demonstrators who were marching on Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge. Coleman said the actions of those demonstrators in 1965, which included being in a public roadway, paved the way for freedoms enjoyed by people today. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama protest bill draws criticism, gets delayed
Alabama lawmakers on Tuesday delayed action on an anti-riot bill that would stiffen penalties for participating in “tumultuous” protests that pose a threat, a proposal minority lawmakers and opponents said would be used to silence Black demonstrators. The House Judiciary Committee sent the bill to a subcommittee after Black lawmakers raised concerns about the bill’s vague definition of what could be considered a riot. They recalled Alabama’s history of using police dogs, fire hoses, and arrests to break up civil rights protests. Rep. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, told her fellow committee members that no one supports looting or violence but said this proposal could be used as “a tool to keep people from peacefully protesting.” “All of us in here who come from communities of color, especially in Alabama — Black folks — know this bill will be used primarily against our folks. We already know it,” Coleman said. Republican Rep. Allen Treadaway, a retired Birmingham assistant police chief, proposed the bill after a summer protest in Birmingham — in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis — turned destructive and led to multiple businesses being damaged. “Folks are coming into the cities hellbent on destruction,” Treadaway said. “We are taking a strong position toward the lawbreakers. Those that are looting … trying to burn the city down in this case.” The bill would hand down minimum 30-day jail sentences for participating in what the bill defines as a riot. The crime of aggravated riot, when substantial injury or damage is done, would be a felony. The bill defines a riot as “a tumultuous disturbance in a public place or penal institution by five or more persons assembled together and acting with a common intent which creates a grave danger of substantial damage to public, private, or other property or serious bodily injury to one or more persons, or substantially obstructs a law enforcement or other government function.” Rep. Chris England, a former prosecutor who heads the Alabama Democratic Party, said the new definition of riot is vague and could lead to people being arrested for merely saying something an officer finds objectionable. “This definition of a riot becomes I don’t like what you just said, so I’m taking you and all your friends into custody— peaceful or not. You don’t have to do anything overt to violate this definition. It’s all about the (officer’s) perspective into what they think you are saying or what your intent is,” England said. England told Treadaway said there also a need for a “critical conversation about the lack of relationship between law enforcement and communities of color.” “Nobody wants to see looting, a window blown out, and police officers attacked and hurt. Nobody wants to see that. And also, everybody understands how difficult it is to be a law enforcement officer. But also, I want to tell you how difficult it is at times to be a Black American in this country,” England said. Opponents of the bill said it harkened back to the days of Alabama police officers trying to silence civil rights protesters. “I’m a child of the 60s. This bill took me back to Bull Connor. …I could see the dogs that he sicced on my brother who got arrested three times. I could see those hoses,” said Rep. Mary Moore, who participated as a teen in the 1963 children’s march in Birmingham. Connor was the city’s public safety commissioner who directed officers to use force to halt the demonstration. Police dogs and fire hoses were turned on youths taking part in the protest. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Lawmaker seeks harsher penalties for riots, defunding police
An Alabama lawmaker wants to stiffen penalties for participating in a riot–including making it a felony in some cases — a proposal that drew sharp criticisms from some lawmakers who said it was an overreaction to historic protests. Republican Rep. Allen Treadaway, a retired Birmingham assistant police chief, on Wednesday introduced the bill that would stiffen penalties for participating in a riot that turned violent or destructive. Treadaway said he began drafting the bill after a summer protest in Birmingham — in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis — turned destructive and led to multiple businesses being damaged. “This summer what I saw was so alarming,” Treadaway, R-Morris said. “That situation was hijacked. People could have died. Police officers were attacked,” Treadaway said he is not talking about peaceful protests but said law enforcement needs additional tools to deter people “who are hell-bent on destruction.” Under the bill, a person arrested for participating in a riot, blocking traffic during a protest, or assaulting a first responder would have to wait 48 hours in jail before being eligible for bail. Treadaway said that is to give time to defuse the situation. The bill would create the new felony crime of aggravated riot for knowingly participating in a riot that causes property damage or harm to a person. A person convicted of the crime, which would be a class C felony, would face a mandatory minimum sentence of six months in prison. The bill would also create the crime of assault against a first responder, making it a felony to injure a first responder during a riot or to spit or throw bodily fluids on a first responder. Repeat offenses of obstructing traffic with sit-ins and marches would also become a felony. It would also prohibit giving state money to local governments that defund their police department. The bill drew sharp criticism from some Black lawmakers “What this bill is trying to simply do is shut folks’ mouths,” Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, said. “Black Lives Matter protesting out in the street, they want to snatch them up, throw them in a paddy wagon, charge them, keep them 48 hours before they can go before the judge and then find them guilty,” Smitherman said. Rep. Chris England, who also chairs the Alabama Democratic Party, said violence and property damage should be condemned in the strongest terms, but he said there is frustration that the underlying issues that led to the protests have not been given any consideration. Floyd died after a police officer put his knee on his neck for several minutes. “We want the same sort of condemnation that we all give to violence and rioting to some of the underlying issues,” England, D-Tuscaloosa, said. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Capitol Police rejected offers of federal help to quell mob
Three days before supporters of President Donald Trump rioted at the Capitol, the Pentagon asked the U.S Capitol Police if it needed National Guard manpower. And as the mob descended on the building Wednesday, Justice Department leaders reached out to offer up FBI agents. The police turned them down both times, according to senior defense officials and two people familiar with the matter. Despite plenty of warnings of a possible insurrection and ample resources and time to prepare, the Capitol Police planned only for a free speech demonstration. Still stinging from the uproar over the violent response by law enforcement to protests last June near the White House, officials also were intent on avoiding any appearance that the federal government was deploying active duty or National Guard troops against Americans. The result is the U.S. Capitol was overrun Wednesday and officers in a law enforcement agency with a large operating budget and experience in high-security events protecting lawmakers were overwhelmed for the world to see. Four protesters died, including one shot inside the building. The rioting and loss of control have raised serious questions over security at the Capitol for future events. The actions of the day also raise troubling concerns about the treatment of mainly white Trump supporters, who were allowed to roam through the building for hours, while Black and brown protesters who demonstrated last year over police brutality faced more robust and aggressive policing. AP video “This was a failure of imagination, a failure of leadership,” said Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, whose department responded to several large protests last year following the death of George Floyd. “The Capitol Police must do better and I don’t see how we can get around that.” Acevedo said he has attended events on the Capitol grounds to honor slain police officers that had higher fences and a stronger security presence than what he saw on video Wednesday. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said that as the rioting was underway, it became clear that the Capitol Police were overrun. But he said there was no contingency planning done in advance for what forces could do in case of a problem at the Capitol because Defense Department help was turned down. “They’ve got to ask us, the request has to come to us,” said McCarthy. U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, under pressure from Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and other congressional leaders, was forced to resign. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asked for and received the resignation of the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, Michael Stenger, effective immediately. Paul Irving, the longtime Sergeant at Arms of the House, also resigned. “There was a failure of leadership at the top,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. The U.S. Capitol had been closed to the public since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now killed more than 360,000 people in the U.S. But normally, the building is open to the public and lawmakers pride themselves on their availability to their constituents. It is not clear how many officers were on-duty Wednesday, but the complex is policed by a total of 2,300 officers for 16 acres of ground who protect the 435 House representatives, 100 U.S. senators, and their staff. By comparison, the city of Minneapolis has about 840 uniformed officers policing a population of 425,000 in a 6,000-acre area. There were signs for weeks that violence could strike on Jan. 6, when Congress convened for a joint session to finish counting the Electoral College votes that would confirm Democrat Joe Biden had won the presidential election. On far-right message boards and in pro-Trump circles, plans were being made. The leader of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys was arrested coming into the nation’s capital this week on a weapons charge for carrying empty high-capacity magazines emblazoned with their logo. He admitted to police that he had made statements about rioting in Washington, local officials said. Both Acevedo and Ed Davis, a former Boston police commissioner who led the department during the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, said they did not fault the responses of clearly overmatched front-line officers, but the planning and leadership before the riot. AP video “Was there a structural feeling that well, these are a bunch of conservatives, they’re not going to do anything like this? Quite possibly,” Davis said. “That’s where the racial component to this comes into play in my mind. Was there a lack of urgency or a sense that this could never happen with this crowd? Is that possible? Absolutely.” Trump and his allies were perhaps the biggest megaphones, encouraging protesters to turn out in force and support his false claim that the election had been stolen from him. He egged them on during a rally shortly before they marched to the Capitol and rioted. His personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, a former New York mayor known for his tough-on-crime stance, called for “trial by combat.” McCarthy said law enforcement’s intelligence estimates of the potential crowd size in the run-up to the protests “were all over the board,” from a low of 2,000 to as many as 80,000. So the Capitol Police had set up no hard perimeter around the Capitol. Officers were focused on one side where lawmakers were entering to vote to certify Biden’s win. Barricades were set up on the plaza in front of the building, but police retreated from the line and a mob of people broke through. Lawmakers, at first unaware of the security breach, continued their debate. Soon they were cowering under chairs. Eventually they were escorted from the House and Senate. Journalists were left alone in rooms for hours as the mob attempted to break into barricaded rooms. Sund, the Capitol Police chief, said he had expected a display of “First Amendment activities” that instead turned into a “violent attack.” But Gus Papathanasiou, head of the Capitol Police union, said planning failures left officers exposed without backup or equipment against surging crowds of rioters. “We were lucky
Joe Biden to name judge Merrick Garland as attorney general
President-elect Joe Biden has selected Merrick Garland, a federal appeals court judge who in 2016 was snubbed by Republicans for a seat on the Supreme Court, as his attorney general, two people familiar with the selection process said Wednesday. In picking Garland, Biden is turning to an experienced judge who held senior positions at the Justice Department decades ago, including as a supervisor of the prosecution of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The pick will force Senate Republicans to contend with the nomination of someone they spurned in 2016 — refusing even to hold hearings when a Supreme Court vacancy arose — but Biden may be banking on Garland’s credentials and reputation for moderation to ensure confirmation. Biden is expected to announce Garland’s appointment on Thursday, along with other senior leaders of the department, including former homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco as deputy attorney general and former Justice Department civil rights chief Vanita Gupta as associate attorney general. He will also name an assistant attorney general for civil rights, Kristen Clarke, the president of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, an advocacy group. Garland was selected over other finalists including Alabama Sen. Doug Jones and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. The people familiar with the process spoke on condition of anonymity. One said Biden regards Garland as an attorney general who can restore integrity to the Justice Department and as someone who, having served in the Justice Department under presidents of both political parties, will be respected by nonpartisan career staff. If confirmed, Garland would confront immediate challenges, including an ongoing criminal tax investigation into Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, as well as calls from many Democrats to pursue inquiries into Donald Trump after he leaves office. A special counsel investigation into the origins of the Russia probe also remains open, forcing a new attorney general to decide how to handle it and what to make public. Garland would also inherit a Justice Department that has endured a tumultuous four years and would likely need to focus on not only civil rights issues and an overhaul of national policing policies after months of mass protests over the deaths of Black Americans at the hand of law enforcement. It was unclear how Garland’s selection would be received by Black and Latino advocates who had advocated for a Black attorney general or for someone with a background in civil rights causes and criminal justice reform. But the selection of Gupta and Clarke, two women with significant experience in civil rights, appeared designed to blunt those concerns and offered as a signal that progressive causes will be prioritized in the new administration. Garland would also return to a Justice Department radically different than the one he left. The Sept. 11 attacks were years away, the department’s national security division had not yet been created and a proliferation of aggressive cyber and counterintelligence threats from foreign adversaries have made counties like China, Russia, and North Korea top priorities for federal law enforcement. Monaco brings to the department significant national security experience, including in cybersecurity — an especially urgent issue as the U.S. government confronts a devastating hack of federal agencies that officials have linked to Russia. But some of the issues from Garland’s first stint at the department persist. Tensions between police and minorities, an issue that flared following the 1992 beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles, remain an urgent concern particularly following a summer of racial unrest that roiled American cities after the May killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. And the FBI has confronted a surge in violence from anti-government and racially motivated extremists. That is a familiar threat to Garland, who as a senior Justice Department official in 1995 helped manage the federal government’s response to the bombing of a government building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people. The bomber, Timothy McVeigh, was later executed. Garland has called the work the “most important thing I have done” and was known for keeping a framed photo of Oklahoma City’s Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in his courthouse office in Washington. At the time of the bombing, Garland was 42 and principal associate deputy attorney general, a top lieutenant to Attorney General Janet Reno. He was chosen to go to Oklahoma City, the highest-ranking Justice Department official there, and led the prosecution for a month until a permanent lead prosecutor was named. Garland was selected over other contenders for the job including former Alabama senator Doug Jones, who lost his Senate seat last month, and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. It is rare but not unprecedented for attorneys general to have previously served as judges. It happened in 2007 when President George W. Bush picked Michael Mukasey, a former federal judge in Manhattan, for the job. Eric Holder, President Barack Obama’s first attorney general, had also previously been a Superior Court judge. Garland was put forward by former President Barack Obama for a seat on the Supreme Court in 2016 following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, but Republicans refused to hold hearings in the final year of Obama’s term. The vacancy was later filled by Justice Neil Gorsuch during the Trump administration. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to let the nomination move forward in the Senate in the final months of Obama’s tenure. He was criticized by Democrats this fall when he took the opposite approach toward confirming President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Amy Coney Barrett. He said the difference this time around was that the White House and Senate were controlled by the same political parties. One year later, after the firing of FBI Director James Comey, McConnell actually floated Garland’s name as a replacement for that position, though Garland was said to be not interested. Garland has been on the federal appeals court in Washington since 1997. Before that, he had worked in private practice, as well as a federal prosecutor, a senior official in the Justice Department’s criminal division, and as
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed wants to honor Civil Rights lawyer Fred Gray
Fred Gray has long been a part of the Civil Rights movement. At just 24 years old, he helped defend Rosa Parks after her refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus sparked the bus boycott and the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. He also is known for his work with school desegregation after Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and for the Gomillion v. Lightfoot ruling that declared gerrymandering as a means of disenfranchising African Americans unconstitutional. Mayor Steven L. Reed of Montgomery now wants to find ways to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the city’s bus boycott, and he wants one of those to be to rename the street Gray grew up on. Gray grew up in Montgomery and moved to Jeff Davis Avenue, a street named for the president of the Confederacy, at 6 years old. As a boy, the significance of the name was lost on him. “I never thought about who Jeff Davis was, probably didn’t know anything about him until I got in high school,” he stated in a New York Times article. But as a young man, he became determined “to destroy everything segregated.” Mayor Reed’s call to change the street name has a caveat. A law Governor Kay Ivey signed into law in 2017 prohibits a change to the street. The Alabama Memorial Preservation Act states, “No architecturally significant building, memorial building, memorial street, or monument which is located on public property and has been so situated for 40 or more years may be relocated, removed, altered, renamed, or otherwise disturbed.” Those between 20 and 40 years old may only be disturbed in certain circumstances. In 2019, the law was ruled an unconstitutional violation of the right to free speech, and the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that it couldn’t be enforced. The penalty for violating the law was fixed at a $25,000 fine. Cities have been paying the $25,000 fine and have been taking down statues at a record pace since the controversial killing of George Floyd in May. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin ordered the removal of a monument in Linn Park, stating the fine was less costly than continued civil unrest. A confederate monument in Huntsville was also removed in October and was reassembled in the Confederate burial section of a city-owned cemetery. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has pledged to uphold the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, stating in a video, “I urge my fellow Alabamians to take note of those casting votes and spending their tax dollars to violate a law of this state. It is now a question of when not if these same leaders will cast aside yet another law—being guided only by the political winds of the moment.” Despite the threat of a $25,000 fine, Mayor Reed is moving forward with the plan. He wants Gray to be present to see name change. “I don’t believe you should wait for people to die before you give them their flowers,” Reed stated. At 90 years old, the name change would help solidify Gray’s name in history and honor his life’s work. “This is about honoring those people who deserve to be honored,” Reed said in an interview. “And maybe confronting some of those who were honored at a previous time who never should have been.”
Pandemic deaths and economic fallout are top Alabama story
A biological threat that once seemed far removed from Alabama dominated both state news and everyday life like nothing else in 2020. The coronavirus pandemic was the state’s top news story of the year, and its effects will linger into the New Year and beyond. Here is a look at that and other Top 10 Alabama news stories of the year: CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC A pandemic that spread waves of death and misery across the globe killed more than 4,100 people in Alabama, sickened thousands more and ravaged the state’s economy like nothing else in decades. A springtime of school closings and business shutdowns was followed by months of mask-wearing and social distancing. A midsummer surge in cases eased, but that was followed by a fall spike that health experts say will keep killing people at least into 2021. Unemployment dropped after hitting a high of 12.9% in April, when nearly 217,000 people lost their jobs statewide. Yet the prospects for continuing improvement could be tied to how well people heed health precautions and the success of a vaccination program that is just beginning. SENATE ELECTION Republican Tommy Tuberville reasserted the GOP’s lock grip on Alabama by defeating Democratic Sen. Doug Jones after stopping a comeback bid by Jeff Sessions for the party’s nomination. Faced with a crowded primary field that included President Donald Trump’s first attorney general, the retired football coach emerged from a runoff against Sessions to run a campaign that consisted of embracing Trump at all turns. The tactic worked to perfection in deeply conservative Alabama: Tuberville trounced Jones in November to oust the only state Democrat holding statewide office. RACIAL RECKONING The fallout from a police killing hundreds of miles away from Alabama helped erase vestiges of the state’s white supremacist past with stunning swiftness. Confederate monuments were removed and college buildings were renamed following the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. A night of violence after a demonstration in Birmingham set the stage for the removal of an obelisk honoring Confederate soldiers and sailors. Monuments also came down in Mobile, Montgomery, and Huntsville, and protests were held elsewhere. The Alabama Department of Archives and History acknowledged its past role in perpetuating racism and so-called lost cause ideals in a sign of systemic change that once seemed unlikely. ALABAMA PRISONS Longstanding complaints over violence, dilapidated buildings, and inadequate care in Alabama’s prisons resulted in a Justice Department lawsuit claiming men’s lockups are so bad they violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Calling the state’s prison system one of the most understaffed and violent in the nation, the department asked a court to require unspecified changes to improve conditions. The court fight will last at least into 2021, as Alabama said it plans a vigorous defense in court. The state also is moving ahead with a $900 million plan to have companies build three new, giant prisons that will be leased by Corrections. TROPICAL WEATHER Hurricane Sally blasted the Alabama coast, leaving widespread damage and knocking out power for weeks in some areas, during a record-setting year of tropical weather. Sally made landfall as a Category 2 storm at Gulf Shores on Sept. 16, pummeling the coast with fierce winds and as much as 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rain. Officials said the damage was worse in places than from Hurricane Ivan, which landed a direct hit on the same area in 2004. Crews spent weeks removing mountains of debris that lined roadsides. The hurricane season was so busy forecasters had to turn to the Greek alphabet after running out of assigned names. JOHN LEWIS Alabama native and longtime U.S. Rep. John Lewis was honored with events in Troy, Selma, and Montgomery following his death at age 80 in July. A wagon drawn by two horses carried Lewis’ body across Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge, where he and other voting rights marchers were attacked by Alabama state troopers in 1965. A long line of people later waited to pay respects to Lewis as he was honored at Alabama’s Capitol. A native of rural Pike County near Troy, Lewis had moved to Georgia and represented Atlanta in Congress for decades. DEADLY MARINA FIRE Eight people were killed in a horrific fire that swept through a north Alabama marina near the Tennessee River in Scottsboro. The January blaze at Jackson County Park Marina began in the middle of the night and quickly engulfed a dock where people who lived aboard boats were sleeping. Five children and teens were among the dead, and the victims included six members of one family. The fire was later determined to be an accident, but a federal report said it was worsened by the marina’s “limited fire safety practices.” HUBBARD REPORTS TO PRISON The long saga of disgraced Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard finally ended behind bars. The one-time Republican leader reported to prison in September four years after jurors convicted him of ethics violations. Then a judge reduced Hubbard’s sentence from four years to 28 months at the request of the defense after part of his conviction was overturned earlier this year. Prosecutors accused Hubbard of leveraging his powerful Statehouse office to obtain clients and investments for his private businesses, and he was automatically removed from office when he was found guilty in 2016. Six of his 12 felony convictions were thrown out on appeal. DEMOCRATIC FIGHT A lawsuit for control of the Alabama Democratic Party ended with new leadership but the same old results. Long given up for dead in a reliably red state, the party found itself at the center of a court fight over control of the organization in late 2019. The battle ended in February when a judge dismissed the lawsuit filed by longtime leader Nancy Worley to prevent the new party chair, state Rep. Chris England, from taking control. Newly invigorated, the party fielded a slate of candidates with hopes of winning new seats in the November election. Instead, Democrats didn’t claim any new statewide offices and lost the one they had when Sen. Doug Jones lost to Republican Tommy Tuberville. CLOTILDA The state committed to spend $1 million to preserve the
