New w/ @wjhenn: Pro-Trump groups openly boasted about plans to storm the Capitol for weeks (months)
Police & law enforcement didn't miss some big plot - they ignored the seriousness of the threat of domestic far-right extremists, as they've done for years time.com/5927215/capito…
Despite meticulous training and contingency plans for a host of scenarios from terrorist attacks to biohazards, the Capitol Police seemed to be unprepared when the threat arrived in the form of a mob of mostly white men carrying flags time.com/5927215/capito…
None of this should have come as a shock to law enforcement: crowds of often armed demonstrators, made up of many of the same right-wing groups who publicly planned the DC rallies, overcame police & stormed statehouses in Michigan, Idaho, etc this summer time.com/5927215/capito…
Former DHS analyst on the (often armed) far-right demonstrations at statehouses in 2020: “I thought this was a dry run for what we might see around the election or the inauguration. What we witnessed yesterday didn’t surprise me at all." time.com/5927215/capito…
This exact scenario is “culmination of years of federal government neglect of this threat...This is what happens when you neglect a threat & let it grow year after year, plot after plot, attack after attack" says former DHS analyst who warned of rightwing extremist threat in 2009
Relevant context: my and @wjhenn's TIME cover story from August 2019 on U.S. agencies' failure to address the rising threat of far-right extremism. "I’m afraid we’ve reached a tipping point where we’re in for this kind of violence for a long time.” time.com/5647304/white-…
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Followers of QAnon feverishly believed today would be the long-awaited “Great Awakening” — a day when top Democrats, including most of the people on that platform, would be rounded up and arrested, all part of Trump's secret plan. It's not squaring with what they just watched.
Incredible - the longtime admin of QAnon's online home, who propped up mass conspiracies for years, basically goes 'maybe the real Q was the friends we made along the way, ok well stay tuned for my next project!'
This report via @GlennaWPLG and her team, who found evidence to suggest three candidates in three Florida Senate district races "were shill candidates whose presence in the races were meant to syphon votes from Democratic candidates" local10.com/news/local/202…
A BBC reporter on air last night described the debate as "almost Shakespearean" and a German commentator on World Service just called it "a very dirty discussion between two very aggressive men."
The rest of the world is watching and clearly doesn't know what to make of this.
Let's look at a few of today's front pages/reactions around the world.
Der Spiegel in Germany: "Was war das denn jetzt?" (basically, "what the hell was that?")
Spain's El País: "Chaos and personal attacks mark the first debate between Trump and Biden"
Trump's comments were "a huge win for the Proud Boys, which we should remember is a group who views its mission as literally ‘fighting Antifa’ as part of its ’defense of the West,'" @MeganSquire0, who tracks data on the group, tells TIME. time.com/5894497/donald…
Members of the far-right group "are even debating whether to go ‘back to Portland,’ and how to proceed."
“They’ve now been blessed by the President on the world stage and the data shows they are extremely excited by this." time.com/5894497/donald…
The Proud Boys have already fashioned Trump's remarks into a logo (h/t @AlKapDC)
“Trump basically said to go fuck them up!” Proud Boys leader Joe BiggsB wrote on Parler, an alternative social media network that courts conservatives, after Trump's comments. “This makes me so happy.”
Before tonight's debate, Fox News' Chris Wallace said his job as moderator was not to fact-check either candidate in real-time: “My job is to be as invisible as possible."
But Trump seems to be pushing him to do it whether he wants to or not.
Biden recounts the sobering toll of the COVID pandemic in the U.S. and says it happened on Trump's watch: "When he was presented with that number he said 'It is what it is.'