Sydney McCall|Staff Writer
After an unprecedented four years, the Trump era came to an end on January 20, following the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. However, the transition to the next presidency was not without controversy.
Following the victory of Biden in November, former President Donald Trump, convinced his supporters that the election was stolen and claimed the election was rigged. He and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, spent months after the election filing lawsuits in battleground states that helped Biden win the election.
On January 6, Trump gave a passionate speech during a rally near the White House where he argued that the election was “stolen from you, from me, and from the country.” He urged his supporters to walk down to the Capitol in an attempt to “stop the steal” of the election.
Hours following his speech thousands of his supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol, one of the most important democratic institutions in America. Inside were rioters with baseball bats, bear spray and explosives.
Wearing Trump paraphernalia, they took over the Capitol halls, sending officials into hiding. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer died as a result of the attack.
Later that night, despite the violence, Congress confirmed Joe Biden’s win. Many of Trump’s longtime Republican supporters including Chris Christie, Mitch McConnell and Kelly Loeffler spoke out and condemned the violence as well as the role Donald Trump played in inciting the attacks.
On January 13, Donald Trump was impeached for “incitement of insurrection,” just one week before his term expired. In the same week, the former president was also banned indefinitely from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and several other social media sites.
In fear of more riots and attacks D.C. became a fortified city and Muriel Bowser, the city’s mayor, enacted a curfew. Almost every road in downtown D.C. was closed, and major metro stations were closed for days.
Thousands of National Guard troops from D.C., Maryland and Virginia guarded federal buildings and some even slept in the U.S. Capitol to ensure overnight protection.
“I came to DC to see a friend, and I have never seen the city that dead and scary,” said Xavier Wilson, a first-year strategic communications major at HU. “It was sad, seeing that all this security was to protect us from mainly domestic terrorism.”
Despite the chaos, Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris were still inaugurated and for the first time in 150 years, the outgoing president was not in attendance.
Even though Trump was not present, he said it was “a great honor” to serve as president.
The Hampton Script 