abcde Thursday, January 7, 2021 TRUMP-INCITED MOB ATTACKS THE CAPITOL As president’s allies in Congress take last stab at overturning election, protesters bring chaos Lawmakers flee chambers with security overcome By Liz Goodwin and Jazmine Ulloa GLOBE STAFF WASHINGTON — A mob of President Trump’s supporters rushed barricades, scaled walls, brawled with police, and broke windows to storm the US Capitol on Wednesday after- noon, temporarily halting the congressional tallying of Electoral College votes that declare Joe Biden the next president. The attack on the Capitol put a horrifying exclamation point on Trump’s months-long campaign to overturn the results of the election in the face of repeated declarations by courts and state elections officials that he had lost. But the Trump-stoked insurrection was unsuccess- ful, as determined lawmakers returned to the Capitol Wednesday night and resumed the con- stitutional process of certifying Biden’s victory. Condemnations of the violence in Washing- ton poured in, from Trump’s former defense secretary Jim Mattis to all four living former presidents, while calls even arose in some quar- ters to invoke the 25th Amendment to strip Trump of power in his final two weeks in office. Before the siege on the Capitol, about 150 congressional Republicans planned to aid Trump’s scheme and formally object to Biden’s JOSE LUIS MAGANA/ASSOCIATED PRESS victory, lending oxygen to the conspiracy theo- After President Trump spoke to his supporters, they headed for the Capitol, where some scaled the west wall and pounded on entrances. ries of fraud that inflamed the rioters and put- ting a strain on the democratic norms that dic- MOB, Page A6 A reporter’s view from the inside: Where can I hide? By Jazmine Ulloa ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES GLOBE STAFF It was an unimaginable sight inside, as WASHINGTON — The shuffling in the Sen- the mob marched through the building. ate press gallery started a little after majority leader Mitch McConnell finished his scathing rebuke of President Trump’s baseless election fraud claims. The faint chants from pro-Trump protesters They’ve played outside were getting louder as more people streamed to the front of the Capitol building on Wednesday and Congress began the process with fire, and we of counting the electoral votes that would make Joe Biden the next president. Senate press staff said they had a plan to lock the gal- all get burned lery doors on the third floor should the security situation outside escalate. Yvonne Abraham It was all “just in case,” all very hypotheti- cal. COMMENTARY ANDREW HARNIK/ASSOCIATED PRESS Then, a warning from a crackly Capitol ra- In the House gallery, some people sheltered in place as the threat started to become clear. INSIDE, Page A7 Of course it came to this. Wednesday was one of the most shameful days in this nation’s history — one that was as inevitable as it was frightening. ª Democrats What we saw on Capitol Hill was an at- call for Trump to ‘A dark moment’ for country, Biden says tempted coup by a dangerous president and an unscrupulous, deluded, and entirely too-large be removed. A12. By Michael D. Shear In direct, forceful language, Biden elect said in remarks from Delaware as fragment of his following — incited to violence and Jim Tankersley called the scenes of chaos in the halls scenes of the armed takeover of the by his words and example. This ramshackle ª BLM activists NEW YORK TIMES of Congress “a dark moment” in the Capitol played out on television but real attempt at insurrection was enabled decry kid glove WASHINGTON — President-elect nation’s history, appealed for calm, screens. “It’s disorder. It’s chaos. It bor- by the president’s soulless and despicable allies treatment of Joe Biden denounced the storming of and made clear that he held Trump ac- ders on sedition, and it must end now.” in Congress, some of whom believe they can the Capitol on Wednesday as the vio- countable for instigating violence that The day had started as one of tri- ride the wild monster they’ve unleashed to the protesters. A8. lent expression of President Trump’s left members of both parties and allies umph for Biden and his party, with Republican nomination in 2024. refusal to accept defeat, calling it “an around the world appalled. Democrats coming off elections the Almost as incredible as the act itself was the ª World leaders assault on the citadel of liberty” and “At their best, the words of a presi- day before that sealed control of the slow-walk law enforcement response, with stunned by the saying the president had stoked the dent can inspire. At their worst, they Senate by picking up two seats in overwhelmed Capitol police seemingly left to violence. A12. mob with his brazen and false claims can incite,” Biden said. Georgia and Congress scheduled to ABRAHAM, Page A12 that the election had been stolen. “This is not dissent,” the president- BIDEN, Page A8 Better days ahead Hours after a marathon ses- sion to complete its term, Democrats win but Trump lie endures in Ga. Thursday: Sunny, seasonable. the Legislature was back for High 39-44. Low 25-30. a swearing-in ceremony. B1. Friday: More of the same. Victories change control of Senate even as many went to the polls the day before. High 36-41. Low 24-29. A man fatally shot by New- A key belief that fueled the insurrection High tide: 5:16 a.m., 5:44 p.m. ton police had attacked GOP voters still see fraud in presidential election on Wednesday — the unyielding commit- them with a knife and a fire ment to the lie that massive voter fraud cost Sunrise: 7:13 Sunset: 4:28 extinguisher, said the Mid- By Jess Bidgood Joe Biden is sworn in as president on Jan. Trump the election — is not only the prove- Weather and Comics, B5-6. dlesex district attorney. B1. GLOBE STAFF 20. nance of the mob that occupied the building Obituaries, C10. KENNESAW, Ga. — As Wednesday Then the spotlight swung to Washington, where this country makes its laws. It has be- The White House is bidding dawned, Republicans in this state assessed D.C., to the violent takeover of the US Capitol come a widely accepted orthodoxy in the Re- VOL. 299, NO. 7 to undo some civil rights the wreckage of their party’s failure in the by rioters consumed by the fantasy that the publican Party, fostered by top officials and * protections for people of Georgia Senate races, in which Democrat 2020 election was stolen from President held not just by fringe extremists but rank- Suggested retail price color, which could have a Raphael Warnock was declared the winner Trump. and-file voters who live everywhere from ru- $3.00 ripple effect on others. A2. over Republican Kelly Loeffler, and Demo- But attention to the images of the mob ral to urban America — a fact that will pose a crat Jon Ossoff defeated Republican David shattering windows in the Capitol, scaling its grave risk to the fabric of American democ- A local doctor warned about Perdue. It was a stunning double loss that walls, and roaming its corridors, could over- racy long after the Capitol was cleared. allergic reactions after get- will give Democrats unified control of the shadow a dark truth about America in 2021, “I have written letters to my congressman ting a COVID vaccine. B1. House, the Senate and the White House after one that was clear as Republicans in Georgia GEORGIA, Page A5 A2 The Boston Globe THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021 World/Nation Justice seeks to roll back civil rights protections An 11th-hour partment would continue to nar- practices having “the effect of” or comment, as is typically re- comment. Last fall, the Department of rowly enforce the law’s protec- subjecting individuals to dis- quired in the federal rule-mak- A widely cited example of dis- Housing and Urban Develop- bid by Trump’s tions when it could prove inten- crimination. ing process, citing an exception parate impact has been the Jim ment completed a rule that tional discrimination, but no The move is the latest in the for matters related to agency Crow-era literacy tests that some would have weakened anti-dis- administration longer in instances of a policy or Trump administration’s efforts loans, grants, and contracts be- states created as a condition to crimination policies regulating practice at issue having a “dispa- to pare back civil rights protec- cause the rule covers organiza- vote. The tests did not ask about the mortgage industry. By Katie Benner rate impact” on protected tions. It has curtailed other regu- tions that receive federal fund- race and so seemed neutral on The move drew a highly un- and Erica L. Green groups. lations, reversed affirmative ac- ing. their face. But they dispropor- usual request from the country’s NEW YORK TIMES Civil rights groups say that tion policies, and cut govern- Should the revised language tionately prevented Black people four biggest banks — which WASHINGTON — The the disparate-impact rule is one from voting because they had would benefit from the proposed Trump administration has em- of their most important tools for long been forced out of schools changes — that the department barked on an eleventh-hour bid showing discrimination because The move is the latest effort in the and could not read. The tests are avoid rewriting the require- to undo some civil rights protec- it takes into account patterns of generally thought of as discrimi- ments.