Thread by @PadmaLakshmi

A timeline:

Monday the @NatlParkService issued a permit to the pro-Trump "Women for America First" for a gathering of up to 30,000 ppl

This was the "March for Trump/Save America" rally where Trump, his son & lawyer encouraged ppl to take to the Capitol wjla.com/news/local/dc-…

Trump said to the rally filled with Proud Boys (designated a hate group by the @splcenter):

"We will never give up. We will never concede... Because you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong."

This "MAGA Civil War: Jan 6, 2021" was in the works since Dec. 19 when Trump tweeted:

“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th...Be there, will be wild!”

Ahead of the rally, @MayorBowser asked for a National Guard presence but was only guaranteed that the total deployment at any given time will be 114.

This was against an expected crowd of thousands.

cnn.com/2021/01/04/pol…

After Trump's speech urging them to go down Philadelphia Avenue to the Capitol, tens of thousands surrounded the building and some of the @CapitolPolice opened police barriers and took selfies with the terrorists:

As Congress evacuated, they broke down the doors, ran through the halls with Confederate flags & ransacked Senators' offices.

There was no call for backup- because D.C. is not a state, they were waiting on approval from @SecArmy and the @DeptofDefense.

After over 1.5 hours of this chaos the @SecArmy and @DeptofDefense DENIED a request by @MayorBowser to call in the @NationalGuard protect and restore order at the Capitol building:

And this is the outcome. A nation shaken, a Capitol overrun by domestic terrorists attempting to "stop the steal" of a legitimate election, all this in the name of and incited by the sitting President.

npr.org/sections/congr…