Does Trump fear more riots at Biden inauguration? POTUS declares emergency in Washington DC
Monday saw President Donald Trump issue a dramatic declaration for Washington DC amid growing fears of violent clashes as Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20 looms large. Trump ordered federal agencies to provide help to the local law enforcement after the violent riots that saw the Capitol being stormed last week. According to The U.S. Sun, DC Mayor, Muriel Bowser wrote to Trump seeking an emergency declaration.
An emergency declaration hands the rights to the government to beef up its powers in required areas. The declaration is done for multiple reasons that include natural disasters and civil unrest. The site stated that this move by Trump was concerning, especially with fears on how to keep Biden's inauguration safe and riot-free. His emergency declaration states that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) can provide the required assistance from Monday through January 24.
The declaration stated: "Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment, and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, limited to direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 100 percent Federal funding." This update comes as a required measure after last week's devastating riots that saw the death of five including a Capitol officer.
According to The Hill, the secret service has plans to put the security measures in place a week before the ceremony, while the DC National Guard plans to have at least a minimum of 10,000 troops on the ground by the weekend. These developments also come amid Trump's impeachment calls growing extensively after House Democrats move to have him impeached after claiming he incited last week's riots. The House is expected to vote on an article of impeachment on Wednesday.
The aftermath of the riots also saw Trump's social media accounts permanently suspended. A message was posted shortly saying: "After a close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence." Trump, however, went on to tweet from the official POTUS account.
"Twitter employees have coordinated with the Democrats and the Radical Left in removing my account from their platform, to silence me - and YOU, the 75,000,000 great...patriots who voted for me," he wrote. He also accused it of going "further and further in banning free speech". He ended the post by saying, "we will not be SILENCED!" Other developments after the riots were the resignation of Trump's staffers.
Post the riots, Trump finally acknowledged that a new administration would be sworn in on January 20.
