Some counter-protesters have begun showing up outside statehouses to send a message against the far-right groups that have threatened to disrupt the inauguration of the president-elect, Joe Biden.
There was a stepped-up law enforcement presence at the capitol in Columbia, South Carolina, as authorities across the country prepared for potential unrest in the days leading up to Joe Biden’s inauguration. Photograph: Meg Kinnard/AP
Any demonstrations so far today add up to dribs and drabs, a situation most in America surely hope will prevail for the rest of the day, the week and beyond.
In Columbia, South Carolina, a group of about half a dozen people stood on the opposite side of the Statehouse lawn from pro-Trump loyalists, with one holding a sign that read: “What are you so PROUD of, BOYS?”
It was a reference to the far-right Proud Boys. The groups did not appear to be interacting, The Associated Press reports.
In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Stephen Rzonca, who lives a few minutes from the state Capitol, said he came to greet any possible demonstrators, although there were none as of midday.
“I’m fundamentally against the potential protesters coming here to de-legitimize the election, and I don’t want to be passive in expressing my disapproval of them coming into this city,” Rzonca said.
And before demonstrators arrived in Lansing, the Michigan state capital, a truck showed up with a sign supporting Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer, who was the target of a foiled kidnapping plot last year.
At the US Capitol, in Washington, DC, as federal officers, District of Columbia police and National Guard troops patrolled the area, a lone protester walked the sidewalk wearing a sign that said “Renounce Trump!”
“Look at this world that has been created by Trump,” said the woman, a retiree who lives in the area. She said she was afraid to reveal her name, gesturing at the barricades and largely empty streets.
Members of the Minnesota National Guard drive by the Minnesota Capitol building before an expected gathering of Trump supporters in St. Paul. Photograph: Kerem Yucel/AFP/Getty Images
Talking of the US’s vaccination administration program, which got off to a very rocky start in December by falling majorly short of the government’s own stated goal of vaccinating 20m people by the end of 2020 (it achieved about a tenth of that in the end), West Virginia is becoming a leader.
Pharmacist Ric Griffith stands in his family’s business in Kenova, WV. Photograph: John Raby/AP
Griffith & Feil Drug has been in business since 1892, a family-owned, small-town pharmacy. This isn’t their first pandemic, The Associated Press reports.
More than a century after helping West Virginians confront the Spanish flu in 1918, the drugstore in Kenova, a community of about 3,000 people, is helping the state lead the nation in Covid-19 vaccine distribution.
West Virginia has emerged as an unlikely success in the nation’s otherwise chaotic vaccine administration program, largely because of the state’s decision to reject a federal partnership with the CVS and Walgreens pharmacy chains and instead enlist ‘mom-and-pop’ pharmacies to vaccinate residents.
More shots have gone into people’s arms per capita across West Virginia than in any other state, with at least 7.5% of the population receiving the first of two shots, according to federal data.
West Virginia was the first in the nation to finish offering first doses to all long-term care centers before the end of December, and the state expects to give second doses at those facilities by the end of January.
“Boy, have we noticed that. I think the West Virginia model is really one that we would love for a lot more states to adopt,” said John Beckner, a pharmacist who works at the Alexandria, Virginia-based National Community Pharmacists Association, which advocates for pharmacies across the country.
It’s early in the process, but that has not stopped Republican governor Jim Justice from proclaiming that the vaccine effort runs counter to preconceived notions about ‘the Mountaineer State’.
“Little old West Virginia, that was thought of for hundreds of years, you know, as a place where maybe we were backward or dark or dingy,” Justice said last week. Instead, it turns out that “West Virginia has been the diamond in the rough,” Justice said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
Some 250 local pharmacists set up clinics in rural communities. The fact that residents who may be wary of the vaccine seem to trust them makes a difference.
“As my uncle always told me, these people aren’t your customers, they’re your friends and neighbors,” said Ric Griffith, the pharmacist at Griffith & Feil in Kenova, and also mayor of the town near the Kentucky state line.
As the US finds itself on the cusp of 400,000 deaths from the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic a year ago, incoming president Joe Biden has put out another plain-speaking plea for Americans to wear face masks to help prevent the spread of the disease.
“I know masks have become a partisan issue — but it’s a patriotic act. Experts say wearing a mask from now until April will save more than 50,000 lives,” the Democratic leader just tweeted.
I know masks have become a partisan issue — but it’s a patriotic act. Experts say wearing a mask from now until April will save more than 50,000 lives.
This hour, the Johns Hopkinscoronavirus research center in Baltimore, the global statistics that the Guardian follows most closely, reports that the US has reached 396,549 recorded deaths from Covid-19, and 23.8m cases, by far the highest figures in the world.
The next highest death toll is Brazil, with just over 209,000 deaths. The UK is the fifth highest (after third-placed India and fourth-placed Mexico), with almost 90,000 deaths. The pandemic has never been under control in the US as a nation at any time in the last 12 months.
Earlier this weekend, Biden reiterated that things were getting worse and that would continue before things become fundamentally better as vaccinations rein in the outbreak.
Dr. Fauci says the U.S. is “weeks away, not months away” from considering the approval of new coronavirus vaccines, adding that President-elect Biden's goal of 100M vaccinations in his first 100 days is "absolutely a doable thing." https://t.co/4hwMp9NXBP - @MeetThePress
Trickles of armed right-wingers beginning to cluster
Small groups of pro-Trump demonstrators, some armed, have begun gathering outside statehouses, including in Michigan, Ohio and South Carolina this afternoon.
Two demonstrators with rifles standing outside the state Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, today. Photograph: Paul Sancya/AP
The nation is on tense, high alert for any unrest that could on any scale echo the violence of January 6 at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, as both chambers of Congress were in session to certify Joe Biden’s presidential election victory over Donald Trump in (it bears repeating as often as possible) what local, state and federal officials called “the most secure” election in American history.
In Lansing, Michigan, state police troopers walked around the state Capitol grounds as a small group of demonstrators stood near a chain-link fence surrounding the 142-year-old building, The Associated Press reports this afternoon.
Several National Guard vehicles were on a nearby street. One armed man falsely gave his name as Duncan Lemp, a Maryland man who was killed in a no-knock police raid and became a martyr for a loose network of gun-toting, anti-government extremists.
A supporter of Trump wore a red “Make American Great Again” hat while standing on the lawn with a “Don’t Tread On Me” flag. The back of his shirt read: “PATRIOT NOT RACIST NOT TERRORIST.”
In Columbus, Ohio, about two dozen people, several carrying long guns, gathered outside the Capitol as dozens of state troopers and National Guard members guarded multiple points around the Statehouse, including every entrance. Nearly every business around the downtown capital square was boarded up.
Several dozen people were gathering at the South Carolina Statehouse, some carrying American flags.
It was not immediately clear if some in the group in downtown Columbia, SC, were also counter-protesters supportive of the incoming Biden-Harris administration.
The Capitol itself has been surrounded with metal barricades for several days, and state lawmakers have announced they will not hold their scheduled in-person session this week because of the possible unrest.
This is Joanna Walters in New York taking over the live blog from my colleague Tom Lutz. Do stay tuned for what is likely to be a lively/tense/chilly afternoon in US political news.
Here’s a quick summary of main events so far today:
Incoming Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock, a day before the US annual holiday celebrating the life of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, returned to the pulpit at the church where he and MLK served as pastor. Warnock’s victory in the Georgia run-off election earlier this month helped hand control of the US Senate to the Democrats in the Biden-Harris administration.
More than a third of governors have called outNational Guard troops to help protect their state capitols and aid local law enforcement officers. Several governors have issued states of emergency, and others closed their capitols (state legislatures)to the public until after Biden’s inauguration day on Jan 20, 2021, in a bid to ward off right-wing extremist Donald Trump-loyalists.
Top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauciasserted that Joe Biden’s promise to carry out 100m coronavirus vaccinations in his first 100 days in power is “absolutely a doable thing”.
Downtown Washington, DC, is in a militarized almost-total lockdown this weekend, through the inauguration. The Guardian’s Julian Borger and Lois Beckett are on assignment in the nation’s capital and report that the White House, the US Capitol, the National Mall and several blocks on either side, are sealed off by thousands of national guard troops.
Joe Biden will sign a series of executive orders in his first days in office, taking on the damage done at home and abroad by Trump, including on the economy, the coronavirus, immigration and the climate crisis.
Away from the capital, the Capitol and the capitols in the state capitals (a sentence I’ve always dreamt of writing, at least since the days of A-level US politics), one of Georgia’s two new Democratic senators has been doing his old day job, the Associated Press reports…
A day before the nation’s annual holiday celebrating life of the Rev Martin Luther King Jr, Senator-elect Raphael Warnock returned to the pulpit at the church that was King’s spiritual home, calling for the nation to adhere to “God’s vision of equity”.
Warnock’s wide-ranging holiday message included a tribute to King and a remembrance of his last days organising an anti-poverty crusade before he was shot dead in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.
“The tragedy is that the minimum wage had more purchasing power in 1968 than the minimum wage does in 2021,” he said at one point.
Warnock decried the pain and death of the Covid-19 pandemic. And he called the 6 January attack on the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump “an unthinkable attack on the very house of the people by those who are driven by the worst impulses, stirred up by demagogues.”
Election victories over incumbent Republicans by Jon Ossoff and Warnock ensured a 50-50 Senate split, positioning Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the tie-breaking vote for Democratic control. But Ossoff and Warnock cannot join the chamber until Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger certifies the final vote tally. Raffensperger, a Republican, has said he could act as soon as Tuesday.
Warnock didn’t mention the outgoing president by name in his sermon but included clear criticisms of Trump as he named “crooked places” he said God seeks to make straight.
“You don’t like the facts? Just create some ‘alternative facts,”’ Warnock said, referencing a term once used by former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway. “Just exchange science for fiction, or your own imagination.”
Things are quiet so far at the Michigan state capitol, which saw fierce protests last year over Covid-19:
Reporting on @MSNBC, @DashaBurns says none of the main militia organizers are at the Capitol in Lansing, Mich. About 200 people gathered, outnumbered by Nat’l guardsmen and police
The Associated Press has news from capitols around the country as they prepare for pro-Trump protests on Sunday:
More than a third of governors had called out the National Guard to help protect their state capitols and aid local law enforcement officers. Several governors issued states of emergency, and others closed their capitols to the public until after Biden’s inauguration day.
Some state legislatures also canceled sessions or pared back their work for the coming week, citing security precautions. Texas, where police in riot gear guarded the Capitol on Sunday, was among the states closing their capitol grounds through the inauguration.
“The Texas Department of Public Safety is aware of armed protests planned at the Texas State Capitol this week and violent extremists who may seek to exploit constitutionally protected events to conduct criminal acts,” said Steve McCraw, the agency’s director.
A supporter of Donald Trump walks past Austin’s Texas state capitol on Saturday. Photograph: Eric Gay/AP
More than 100 troopers in riot gear were stationed outside the Capitol in Austin earlier this week as lawmakers began a new legislative session. In Richmond, Virginia police braced for possible demonstrations early Sunday, with security fencing erected around the Statehouse.
In Columbus, Ohio, nearly every business around the downtown capitol square was boarded up. In Lansing, Michigan, police with dogs patrolled on foot, and a helicopter hovered overhead. In Atlanta, armored vehicles were stationed on Capitol grounds.
Wisconsin national guard troops armed with rifles, shields and body armor arrived near the state Capitol on Sunday morning. A man who drove a vehicle up the steps of the Capitol building was arrested overnight for driving while intoxicated.
Away from today’s protests, Victoria Bekiempis has news of the fight against Covid-19 as deaths from the virus approach 400,000 in the US:
Joe Biden’s promise to carry out 100m coronavirus vaccinations in his first 100 days in power is “absolutely a doable thing”, Dr Anthony Fauci said on Sunday.
The president-elect has announced ambitious initiatives to combat Covid-19 and its economic toll, seeking to overcome the struggles and failures of the Trump administration, which has presided over a slow start to the biggest vaccination drive in US history.
The challenge is steep: Ron Klain, the incoming White House chief of staff, told CNN on Sunday, Biden’s team projected another 100,000 deaths from Covid-19 in the first five weeks of the administration.
Ashley Van Dyke receives a Covid-19 shot as a mass-vaccination of healthcare workers takes place at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Photograph: Irfan Khan/AFP/Getty Images
According to Johns Hopkins University, by Sunday morning 23,760,523 cases and 395,855 deaths had been recorded in the US.
“It’s going to take a while to turn this around,” Klain said.
Fauci, the top US infectious disease doctor, told NBC’s Meet the Press: “I can tell you one thing that’s clear is that the issue of getting 100m [vaccination] doses in the first 100 days, is absolutely a doable thing. What the president-elect is going to do is where we need be, to invoke the [Defense Production Act] to get the kinds of things they need, whatever they may be, be they tests, be they vaccines or what have you.
“In other words, to just not be hesitant to use whatever mechanisms we can to get everything on track and on the flow that we predict. But the feasibility of his goal is absolutely clear, there’s no doubt about it. That can be done.”
Julian Borger and Lois Beckett are on the ground in Washington DC as the capital – and the US as a whole – prepares for a day of protest. Here is their latest update:
In Washington, a large area including the White House, the Capitol, the National Mall in between, and several blocks on either side, was sealed off by thousands of national guard troops. High steel fences on concrete stands protected key government buildings.
Members of the national guard have been mobilized on the streets of Washington DC. Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
In the run-up to Wednesday’s inauguration, 20,000 troops will garrison the city, from national guards from DC and neighbouring states. By several measures, it is a bigger response than the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. The scenes of recent days, with large numbers of soldiers resting in the corridors of the Capitol, have not been seen since the Civil War.
The protected area was divided into a highly restricted “red zone” and around that a “green zone”, accessible to its residents, an echo of the Iraq war, and the fortified government and diplomatic area in central Baghdad.
By lunchtime on Sunday, the city was quiet, with white supremacist militia leaders telling their followers to stay away.
In an email to supporters Thursday, Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, joined other extremists in begging Trump to declare martial law, but he also told supporters they should not gather at state capitols to protest, warning them of “false-flag traps.”
Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the neo-fascist Proud Boys, told USA Today that his group was not mobilizing as part of inauguration protests, saying, “I feel like this part of the battle is over.”
