US Capitol under siege

[Skywatcher]

@cochrane

The Hold My Beer Putsch

Perpetrated by the Coup Clutz Clan.

[Broomstick]

Supported by a Gravy Seal Team

[OttoDaFe]

With legal advice from the Keystone Kounsellors.

[eschereal]

I though it was the Qoup Qlutz Qlan

[Hatchie]

Someone on Twitter identified Fire Extinguisher Man, by name, a man from Chicago who bore some resemblance.

Except it wasn’t him. But predictably, he (the wrong guy) has been instantly targeted for undeserved abuse from all quarters.

There are good reasons to be Very Careful when crowdsourcing investigations like this. If you think you recognize a person of interest, please don’t dash to your laptop and post his/her vitals on your favorite online happy hunting ground. Because (professionals know this) people are often wrong. Not you of course, but people.

Call the cops, or the FBI, and let them sort it out. Lives are so easily ruined.

[Riemann]

@Hatchie

Fire Extinguisher Man

Who exactly is Fire Extinguisher Man? I thought it had emerged that the guy wearing the CFD wool cap was somebody of interest, but not the guy throwing a fire extinguisher at cops in the video. Is there a clear photo of the thrower?

[MikeF]

It appears to me the guy in the CFD hat threw the extinguisher. The shirts match, in any case. The thing is, the thrown extinguisher may not be the same incident that killed the officer.

[JRDelirious]

@Euphonious_Polemic

They can stay in the Republican party and vote to impeach (and convict if in the senate). Or they can side with the cop-killing terrorist seditionists.

Choose. Now.

197 have chosen. Either out of complicity or cowardice, same effect.

[Tamerlane]

@MikeF

The thing is, the thrown extinguisher may not be the same incident that killed the officer.

It is not, according to the account of his arrest.

[Skywatcher]

Y’all Q-da?

[Guest-starring_Id]

Starting at just past the 6-minute mark William Brangham talks to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel about the the incredibly real and imminent dangers that that states’ legislators will be facing. Fucking shitty - quite the scary chat.

[Guest-starring_Id]

ETA - er I mean Nick Schifrin

[asahi]

Yeah, I saw that.

No need to repeat the guy’s name here but while scrolling through twitter, I saw that people were thinking that CFD stood for Chicago Fire Department, which it now evidently did not. I had wondered then whether or not this might turn into another case of internet posse run amok, and it did.

[Miller]

@mhendo

First, if a person is making an argument against free speech in the modern world, and their first resort is the hoary old “fire in a crowded theater” quote from the Schenck case, then you know that they basically have no idea how free speech jurisprudence actually works in the United States.

If you want to cite Holmes’ argument in Schenck , then you are aligning yourself with a pretty unsavory decision. Do you know what Holmes was doing when he wrote about fires in crowded theaters? He was upholding a prison sentence imposed on a guy for distributing leaflets encouraging people to oppose the military draft. It’s an absolutely terrible ruling, completely odious, and is understood as such by most modern constitutional scholars. Holmes himself effectively repudiated his own majority opinion a few years later.

Even more importantly, for legal purposes, Schenck was overturned by Brandenburg v. Ohio in the 1960s, and no possible interpretation of the free speech standards set by the courts would disallow a protest outside the houses of Congress, no matter what happened to be going on inside at the time. In fact, the first amendment to the constitution not only establishes broad freedom of speech rights, but it explicitly establishes the right to assemble and petition the government about your grievances.

Okay, so what I’m getting here is, it’s not illegal for me to yell “fire” in a crowded theater?

Damn, just my luck to learn this in the middle of a pandemic, when all the theaters are closed!

[MikeF]

@Tamerlane

It is not, according to the account of his arrest .

Fuck that guy. I hope he gets the maximum sentence.

[CalMeacham]

@Miller

Okay, so what I’m getting here is, it’s not illegal for me to yell “fire” in a crowded theater?

Damn, just my luck to learn this in the middle of a pandemic, when all the theaters are closed!

And you can yell “Movie!” in a Firehouse without consequences.

[Ducks and runs, yelling “Movie!”]

[not_what_you_d_expect]

As we begin to see more video and hear from the police officers who were attacked, it is even more clear how awful this really was.

This video is just stunning to me. I’m so grateful for this guy. What a hero.

The Lincoln Project (ProjectLincoln)

[Elmer_J.Fudd]

Best part is the last line which is effectively the opposite of “good people on both sides.” - “Fuck you for even being there.”

[asahi]

I am wondering if McConnell is hedging his impeachment verdict for this reason. He probably doesn’t want any part of another impeachment and wants to acquit and be done with it. But he also might realize that the forthcoming videos and testimony are going to be so awful that he might have no other choice.

[Ike_Witt]

Another thing, in the Controversial encounters between law-enforcement and civilians thread there are a lot of cops who say they shot a guy with a sandwich because they were in fear for their lives. There is now some great footage of cops who really should be fearful for their lives NOT spraying lead like deranged lunatics.