At least 7 from NC arrested during insurrection at US Capitol

WASHINGTON (WNCN) – Washington Metropolitan police said at least seven people from North Carolina were among the dozens arrested during Wednesday’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Metro police released a list of those arrested during the riot and its aftermath with charges ranging from felony riot act to curfew violation.

All seven of those arrested from North Carolina face a curfew violation charge.

North Carolinians arrested Wednesday/Thursday

• Jere Brower, 45 – Curfew violation, Unlawful entry
• Earl Glosser, 40 – Curfew violation, Unlawful entry
• Lance Grames, 42 – Curfew violation, Unlawful entry
• Tim Scarboro, 33 – Curfew violation
• James Smawley, 27 – Curfew violation
• Jay Thaxton, 46 – Curfew violation
• Michael Jones, 23 – Curfew violation

Metro police also released photos of people who still need to be identified in connection with unrest-related offenses.

Wednesday began as a day of reckoning for President Donald Trump’s futile attempt to cling to power as Congress took up the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. It devolved into scenes of fear and agony that left a prime ritual of American democracy in tatters.

Trump told his morning crowd at the Ellipse that he would go with them to the Capitol, but he didn’t. Instead he sent them off with incendiary rhetoric.

“If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he said. “Let the weak ones get out,” he went on. “This is a time for strength.”

His lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told the crowd, “Let’s have trial by combat.”

What happened Wednesday was nothing less than an attempted coup, said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., a frequent Trump critic, said, “Today, the United States Capitol — the world’s greatest symbol of self-government — was ransacked while the leader of the free world cowered behind his keyboard.”

Sasse went on: “Lies have consequences. This violence was the inevitable and ugly outcome of the president’s addiction to constantly stoking division.”

Police said they recovered two pipe bombs, one outside the Democratic National Committee and one outside the Republican National Committee and a cooler from a vehicle that had a long gun and Molotov cocktail on Capitol grounds.

Yet Trump, in a video posted 90 minutes after lawmakers were evacuated, told the insurrectionists “We love you. You’re very special,” while asking them to go home.

Authorities eventually regained control as night fell.

Heavily armed officers brought in as reinforcements started using tear gas in a coordinated effort to get people moving toward the door, then combed the halls for stragglers, pushing the mob farther out onto the plaza and lawn, in clouds of tear gas, flash-bangs and percussion grenades.

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