Good afternoon, this is Rick Howard with The Daily Beast. It's Wednesday, January 13th, and these are the top stories the ChiChi team is watching right now. It's been exactly a week since right-wing extremists ambushed the U.S. Capitol.
As the House of Representatives began to debate President Trump's second impeachment Wednesday, hundreds of troops with the National Guard were stationed around the building to prevent another insurrection. Metal detectors were set up outside the House floor after Democrats expressed concern to CNN that some of their Republican colleagues could bring firearms inside. It's been exactly a week since right-wing extremists ambushed the U.S. Capitol.
As the House of Representatives began to debate President Trump's second impeachment Wednesday, hundreds of troops with the National Guard were stationed around the building to prevent another insurrection. Metal detectors were set up outside the House floor after Democrats expressed concerns to CNN that some of their Republican colleagues could bring firearms inside. Capitol Police officials are taking no chances this time around. They briefed House Democrats late Monday about a series of potential threats, including plans for the, quote, largest armed protest ever to take place on American soil, and an alleged plot to either block Democrats from reaching the Capitol, or kill them outright so that Republicans could take over the government.
Democrats were also reportedly warned about a more general threat for violence against politicians and police. Lindsay Schubert, a program director of a group that tracks extremists in the Pacific Northwest, says the country is, quote, in an extremely dangerous period for political violence, and it's hard to say exactly what will happen or when it might happen. But everything we're seeing gives us great cause for concern. Extremism experts have focused on January 17th, the Sunday before Inauguration Day, as well as Inauguration Day itself, and the days surrounding it as potential flashpoints for violence.
One Inauguration Day threat includes a so-called Million Militia March that encourages armed Trump supporters to descend on Washington, D.C. A flyer circulating online that calls for, quote, an armed march on Capitol Hill and all state capitals on the 17th, has been cited as proof of the protest. However, the Gateway Pundit, a right-wing hoax blog, suggested the January 17th protest was, supposedly, a deep state plot to trap Trump supporters. That paranoia has rippled to the state level.
A Minnesota group that has recently organized Stop the Steel events at the state's Capitol issued a Facebook warning to followers about the January 17th event. The group told the Daily Beast that it advised people to stay home that day. The boogaloo movement, a far-right and libertarian coalition, that longs for a civil war, has been promoting the event since last month. But it seems as if some members have reassessed their participation in it after the January 6th riot.
Fear that Trump supporters are walking into a trap or could be implicated in violence has ramped up as the FBI and federal prosecutors pursue more people allegedly involved in the Capitol riot. But that has still not stopped the mob of pro-Trump conspiracy theorists from initiating another event for January 16th. Organizers claim they will, quote, begin the process of exterminating the Democrat ideology from America, prevent Joseph Biden or any other Democrat from being inaugurated as President of the United States of America, and capture and detain all Democrat politicians, both current and former, who played a role in Biden's victory. This is quite troubling.
A retired Navy SEAL is in hot water with the FBI after he posted a video boasting about how proud he was after, quote, breaching the Capitol. According to ABC News, Adam Newbold is a retired Reserve SEAL special warfare operator who says he now uses his expertise to train civilians and police in tactical shooting. In his video, Newbold said the riots were part of a so-called positive revolution and described how rioters had to, quote, destroy doors and windows to gain access to the Capitol building. Well, a week later, the 45-year-old is not as bold as he was before.
He told ABC News that he was cooperating with the FBI, acknowledging that his life has, quote, been completely turned upside down. He admitted that nothing good came from the riot. Well, duh. Getting the COVID-19 vaccine is not necessarily a walk in the park for some older Americans.
William Slay, a 92-year-old resident outside of Houston, Texas, said his struggle to get the preventative care involved weeks of phone calls and emails to the governor's office, his county health department, hospitals, pharmacies, and doctor's offices. But he still had no success. Slay posted about his predicament on Nextdoor, the hyperlocal social networking service for neighborhoods, and found someone to help him find information about the vaccine. In Sarasota, Florida, singers told the Daily Beast that the various ways to register for appointments online remain simply too difficult to manage.
Donnie Garner, who is 87 years old, told the Daily Beast on Monday that she was only able to get an appointment after seeking the help of five separate family members all over the country who were able to navigate an online system that Garner described as complicated and confusing. Lucy Caldwell, a 33-year-old who works in Washington, D.C., told the Daily Beast that she helped her 81-year-old Arizona-based grandmother sign up for a vaccine after she had similar issues. Caldwell said it's, quote, really pathetic on the whole. These states have had months to prepare for this.
It's awful to think of a poorly built website being the difference between someone, especially elderly Americans, being able to get back to their normal lives. These stories are just a portion of how startlingly unavailable the vaccine remains to some of America's most vulnerable and how often the elderly need someone younger and more tech-literate to help them get a shot. In many cases, their slightly younger peers have a leg up on them. Seriously, WTF.
A Wisconsin teenager is facing murder charges after he allegedly admitted that after his girlfriend gave birth in her bathtub, he took the newborn girl, put her in a snow-covered tree, and shot her in the head. Logan Kruppenberg Anderson, who is 16, is being charged as an adult and held in lieu of a $1 million bail. This story is all the way messed up. According to court documents, Kruppenberg Anderson initially told cops that he put the baby in a backpack and then gave her to someone he met through Snapchat to be delivered to an adoption agency.
After further questioning, however, the teen allegedly confessed he actually left the naked newborn in a fallen tree, claiming he wept at the sound of her cries as he walked away. But police said that after the medical examiner discovered a bullet wound in the baby's head and a shell casing, Kruppenberg Anderson admitted that he shot the child twice in the head. Who gave this kid a gun? New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday morning that the city is severing all financial ties with the Trump Organization.
Following last week's pro-Trump riot at the Capitol, the mayor told MSNBC the city's legal team assessed that, quote, if the leadership of a company is engaged in criminal activity, we have the right to sever the contract. Inciting an insurrection against the United States government clearly constitutes criminal activity. So the city of New York will no longer have anything to do with the Trump Organization. The mayor explained that the company has made around $17 million from its very city contracts.
The partnerships include two Central Park ice skating rinks and a carousel, as well as the Trump golf links at Ferry Point. That's all for today. Check out every week in the morning and afternoon for more of the news you need to know. Find us wherever you listen to podcasts.