,J ‘Impeachable offenses’ reason to resignDonald Trump should resign as support for the drive to...
Transcript of ,J ‘Impeachable offenses’ reason to resignDonald Trump should resign as support for the drive to...
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WASHINGTON — Two Repub-
lican senators now say President
Donald Trump should resign as
support for the drive to impeach
him a second time is gaining mo-
mentum in his final days in office
after the deadly riot at the Capitol
by a violent mob of Trump sup-
porters.
Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylva-
nia on Sunday joined Alaska Sen.
Lisa Murkowski in calling for
Trump to “resign and go away as
soon as possible.” Murkowski,
who has long voiced her exasper-
ation with Trump’s conduct in of-
fice, told the Anchorage Daily
News on Friday that Trump sim-
ply “needs to get out.”
Toomey said that even though
he believes Trump committed im-
peachable offenses in encourag-
ing loyalists in the Capitol siege on
Wednesday, he did not think there
was enough time for the impeach-
ment process to play out. Toomey
said that resignation was the “best
path forward, the best way to get
this person in the rear view mirror
for us.” He was not optimistic that
Trump would step down before hisBRYNN ANDERSON/AP
Two Republican senators are saying President Donald Trump, shown at a rally in Georgia last Monday, should resign after Wednesday’s deadlyriot at the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.
Associated Press
Republicans Toomey,Murkowski call forTrump to step down
‘Impeachable offenses’ reason to resign
SEE RESIGN ON PAGE 9
ly concentrated in the industries
that have suffered most because
they involve the kind of face-to-
face contact that is now nearly im-
possible: Restaurants, bars and ho-
tels, theaters, sports arenas and
concert halls.
With the virus transforming con-
sumer spending habits, econo-
mists believe some portion of these
service jobs won’t return even af-
WASHINGTON — Ten months
into America’s viral outbreak, low-
income workers are still bearing
the brunt of job losses — an unusu-
al and harsh feature of the pan-
demic recession that flattened the
economy last spring.
In December, the nation shed
jobs for the first time since April.
Once again, the layoffs were heavi-
ter the economy has regained its
footing. That trend will likely fur-
ther widen the economic inequali-
ties that have left millions of fam-
ilies unable to buy food or pay rent.
Typically in a recession, layoffs
strike a broad array of industries —
both those that employ higher- and
middle-income workers and those
Job losses again hit US economy unequallyAssociated Press INSIDE
Remote learningextended forDODEA schoolsin Germany
Page 5SEE LOSSES ON PAGE 6
Volume 79 Edition 189 ©SS 2021 MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas
stripes.com
MILITARY
Air Force strivingfor impartiality inpunishmentsPage 3
NATION
DOD: No plan setwith Capitol Policeto handle mobPage 7
FACES
Netflix’s ‘Cobra Kai’pickup a boon toseries’ viewershipPage 18
Top cornerbacks could play crucial role in national title game ›› Page 24
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PAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, January 11, 2021
BUSINESS/WEATHER
NEW YORK — Deutsche Bank
agreed Friday to pay fines and pe-
nalties of about $130 million to
avoid a criminal prosecution on
charges it participated in a foreign
bribery scheme to win business in
Saudi Arabia.
Lawyers for the bank waived its
right to face an indictment on con-
spiracy charges during a telecon-
ference with a federal judge in
New York City.
According to court papers,
Deutsche Bank bribed intermedi-
aries to make deals in Saudi Ara-
bia between 2009 and 2016, label-
ing the payments as “referral
fees” for consultants. In one in-
stance around 2012, the bank paid
one of its fixers $1,087,538 “and
caused those payments to be false-
ly recorded in the company’s
books, records and accounts,” the
papers said. Other intermediaries
demanded financing for a yacht
and for a house in France as com-
pensation, the papers said.
The penalties against Deutsche
Bank included a criminal fine of
$85,186,206 and a payment of
$43,329,622 to settle a related U.S.
Securities and Exchange Com-
mission action, prosecutors said.
A Deutsche Bank spokesper-
son, Dan Hunter, declined to com-
ment on the specifics of the case.
But he said that the deferred pros-
ecution agreement showed that
the bank was taking responsibility
for its actions and that its cooper-
ation with federal authorities “re-
flect our transparency and deter-
mination to put these matters
firmly in the past.”
Deutsche Bank to pay $130M on bribery chargeAssociated Press
Bahrain66/63
Baghdad64/41
Doha70/55
Kuwait City65/50
Riyadh64/46
Kandahar49/17
Kabul41/24
Djibouti80/72
MONDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Mildenhall/Lakenheath
41/32
Ramstein29/19
Stuttgart28/22
Lajes,Azores60/57
Rota50/37
Morón48/35 Sigonella
59/51
Naples51/47
Aviano/Vicenza35/24
Pápa33/27
Souda Bay67/63
Brussels39/30
Zagan32/26
DrawskoPomorskie 32/29
MONDAY IN EUROPE
Misawa34/17
Guam83/50
Tokyo34/26
Okinawa59/56
Sasebo44/38
Iwakuni44/38
Seoul30/8
Osan30/16
Busan39/23
The weather is provided by the American Forces Network Weather Center,
2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.
TUESDAY IN THE PACIFIC
WEATHER OUTLOOK
TODAYIN STRIPES
American Roundup ...... 11Classifieds .................. 13Comics .........................16Crossword ................... 16Faces .......................... 18Opinion ........................ 14Sports .................... 19-24
Military rates
Euro costs (Jan. 11) $1.20Dollar buys (Jan. 11) 0.7941British pound (Jan. 11) $1.33Japanese yen (Jan. 11) 101.00South Korean won (Jan. 11) 1,069.00
Commercial rates
Bahrain (Dinar) 0.3769Britain (Pound) 1.3562Canada (Dollar) 1.2712China (Yuan) 6.4754Denmark (Krone) 6.0893Egypt (Pound) 15.6996Euro 0.8189Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7556Hungary (Forint) 294.42Israel (Shekel) 3.1826Japan (Yen) 103.93Kuwait (Dinar) 0.3036
Norway (Krone) 8.4449
Philippines (Peso) 48.07Poland (Zloty) 3.69Saudi Arab (Riyal) 3.7517Singapore (Dollar) 1.3261
So. Korea (Won) 1,094.09Switzerland (Franc) 0.8865Thailand (Baht) 30.13Turkey (New Lira) 7.3911
(Military exchange rates are those availableto customers at military banking facilities in thecountry of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., purchasing British pounds in Germany), check withyour local military banking facility. Commercialrates are interbank rates provided for referencewhen buying currency. All figures are foreigncurrencies to one dollar, except for the Britishpound, which is represented in dollarstopound, and the euro, which is dollarstoeuro.)
INTEREST RATES
Prime rate 3.25Interest Rates Discount rate 0.25Federal funds market rate 0.093month bill 0.0830year bond 1.86
EXCHANGE RATES
-
Monday, January 11, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3
MILITARY
The Air Force has begun track-
ing the demographics of some dis-
ciplinary actions to determine if
punishment is meted out impar-
tially.
Commanders have been told to
collect airmen’s rank, age, gender,
race and ethnicity in “lesser disci-
plinary actions,” including admin-
istrative counseling, admonish-
ments and reprimands, and sub-
mit the data to installation staff
judge advocates, the Air Force
said in a statement Tuesday.
Names and other personally
identifiable information will not
be included in the data, and
courts-martial and nonjudicial
punishment will not be included in
the data-gathering, it said.
The move follows an Air Force
inspector general report publish-
ed last month, which found racial
disparities in the military justice
system for Black service mem-
bers of the Air Force and Space
Force. They were far more likely
to be investigated, arrested, face
disciplinary actions and be dis-
charged for misconduct, the re-
port said.
All service branches are grap-
pling with bias in the ranks, an is-
sue the Pentagon said it would ad-
dress after George Floyd’s death
in May led to nationwide protests.
Floyd, a Black man, died after a
white police officer in Minneapo-
lis held a knee to his neck for near-
ly 9 minutes, leaving Floyd unable
to breathe.
By tracking demographic data,
commanders will be able to see
disciplinary trends in their orga-
nizations, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Rock-
well, the judge advocate general
for the Department of the Air
Force, said in a statement.
The Air Force has consistently
monitored Article 15 and court-
martial data, but not lesser disci-
plinary actions, Rockwell said.
Separately, the Air Force has
ordered commanders to review
official and unofficial unit em-
blems, morale patches, mottos,
nicknames, coins and other forms
of unit recognition “to ensure an
inclusive and professional envi-
ronment,” the service said.
Any visual representation, sym-
bols or language that are consid-
ered derogatory to any race, gen-
der, sexual orientation, ethnicity,
religion, age or disability status
must be removed by commanders
at the squadron level and above, it
said.
The service also said last week
that it has directed commanders
who get low scores on “command
climate” surveys in categories re-
lating to diversity, inclusion, be-
longing or equal opportunity, to
take steps to fix the problems
identified in the survey within 60
days of receiving the results.
Air Force moves toensure impartialityin its punishments
BY JENNIFER H. SVAN
Stars and Stripes
[email protected]: @stripesktown
Marine Regiment, said in a state-
ment.
The Marines have been a regu-
lar presence in Norway since the
Cold War and continue to keep
large stockpiles of weapons in
Norwegian caves. The Marine
mission in Norway expanded
three years ago when the Corps
More than 1,000 Marines and
sailors arrived in Setermoen,
Norway for Arctic warfare train-
ing, Marine Corps Forces Europe
and Africa said Friday.
The Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based
Marines are part of a rotational
force that trains with the Norwe-
gian military and other NATO al-
lies.
“The opportunity to strengthen
this historic relationship with the
Norwegian Army and improve
our Arctic warfare proficiency is
invaluable to the readiness of our
forces,” Lt. Col. Ryan Gordinier,
commander of 3rd Battalion, 6th
launched six-month rotations that
involved keeping Marines in Nor-
way all year, with back-to-back
rotations.
But in October, the Marines
ended the continuous rotations,
opting instead for a more periodic
training regimen that offered
added flexibility. At the time, the
Marines also said the shift would
enable shorter, but larger troop
rotations.
On the latest rotation, Marines
were all tested for the coronavi-
rus upon arrival in Norway to
mitigate health risks, the Corps
said.
PHOTOS BY WILLIAM CHOCKEY/U.S. Marine Corps
Above and below, Marines with Marine Rotational ForceEurope 21.1, Marine Forces Europe and Africa,maneuver through snow during a coldweather livefire training event in preparation for Exercise ReindeerII in Setermoen, Norway, on Nov. 20. This month, more than 1,000 Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C.,arrived in Norway to also build winter warfare skills.
Marines arrive in Norwayfor Arctic warfare training
Stars and Stripes
South Korea has shipped anoth-
er two million masks for coronavi-
rus protection to veterans across
the globe who defended the coun-
try during the Korean War seven
decades ago.
South Korea started shipping
masks to 22 nations on Dec. 17 and
plans to distribute them to veter-
ans through its embassies abroad,
South Korea’s Ministry of Patriots
and Veterans Affairs said in a
news release Wednesday.
One million masks are intended
for American veterans who ac-
counted for more than 90% of the
United Nations forces during the
war, the release stated. The rest
will be distributed to 21 other na-
tions based on the number of sur-
viving veterans and current coro-
navirus conditions.
Each mask will be paired with a
70th anniversary of the Korean
War sticker carrying a message,
“Stay Strong,” featuring a pair of
hands, palms together, represent-
ing South Korea and the United
States.
This particular shipment marks
the second time South Korea has
sent masks for veterans since the
beginning of the coronavirus pan-
demic.
In the early stages, exporting
face masks was heavily regulated
by the government due to a global
shortage. Authorities later autho-
rized a shipment to veterans,
claiming it wouldn’t disrupt the
domestic supply.
In May, South Korea, at the time
reporting new cases daily in sin-
gle-digits, shipped one million
masks to war veterans with a
message that the nation had not
forgotten those who helped it sev-
en decades ago, the release said.
American veterans received ap-
proximately 500,000 masks to
help fight the infectious disease
while the other remainder was
meant for war veterans in other
countries including Britain, Cana-
da and Turkey.
The war, which began on June
25, 1950, when North Korean com-
munist troops invaded the U.S.-
backed South, was the first mili-
tary action of the Cold War.
More than 36,000 Americans
died, 103,284 were wounded in ac-
tion and more than 7,500 remain
unaccounted for.
S. Korea ships 2 million moremasks to Korean War veterans
BY MATTHEW KEELER
Stars and Stripes
[email protected]: @MattKeeler1231
A staff sergeant with the 2nd In-
fantry Division died Tuesday
when his military vehicle over-
turned during training at the Ro-
driguez Live Fire Complex out-
side Pocheon, South Korea, ac-
cording to 2nd ID on Friday.
Staff Sgt. James Wento, 34, of
Lynn, Mass., was a wheeled me-
chanic with the 2-2 Assault Heli-
copter Battalion, 2nd Combat Avia-
tion Brigade at Camp Hum-
phreys.
Medical personnel pronounced
Wento dead at the scene, accord-
ing to the news release. The acci-
dent is under investigation, ac-
cording to the Army.
“Staff Sgt. Wento was an ex-
traordinary soldier, leader and fa-
ther,” battalion commander Lt.
Col. Bridget Dalziel said in the
news release. “He was an impor-
tant member of the 2-2 Assault
Helicopter Battalion family and
will be sincerely missed.”
Wento enlisted in 2009, accord-
ing to the Army. He completed
two combat deployments to Af-
ghanistan, and during his service
earned the Combat Action Badge
and Army Commendation Medal
with two bronze oak leaf clusters.
Rollover in South Koreakills Army staff sergeant
Stars and Stripes
Wento
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PAGE 4 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, January 11, 2021
WAR ON TERRORISM
BAGHDAD — The U.S. Treasu-
ry on Friday imposed sanctions on
a prominent Iraqi politician and
security official, accusing him of
serious human rights abuses.
The Treasury said Falih al-Fay-
yadh stands accused of “directing
and supervising the killing of
peaceful Iraqi demonstrators” in
2019 and must be held account-
able.
He is the chairman of the Pop-
ular Mobilization Forces, an um-
brella of mostly Shiite militias, in-
cluding powerful Iran-backed
groups, and served as national se-
curity advisor. The umbrella
group was formed in 2014 to coun-
ter Islamic State, following a fatwa
from Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Ali al-
Sistani.
There was no immediate com-
ment from al-Fayyadh.
The growing influence of the
Shiite group over Iraqi state affairs
—particularly its Iran-backed ele-
ments — has alarmed U.S. offi-
cials.
Al-Fayyadh was targeted under
the Magnitsky Act, passed by Con-
gress in 2012 initially in response to
the death of Russian lawyer Sergei
Magnitsky, who died in prison af-
ter exposing a tax fraud scheme in-
volving Russian officials. The law
named after him was expanded
and allows the United Statesto tar-
get any foreigner accused of hu-
man rights violations and corrup-
tion.
Anti-government protesters in
Iraq have long accused Iran-linked
militias of targeting them during
mass demonstrations that began in
October 2019, when thousands ral-
lied against corruption, unemploy-
ment, poor public services and oth-
er grievances. More than 500 peo-
ple were killed during the month-
slong protests, many of them
demonstrators shot by Iraqi secu-
rity forces.
The protests have since died
down, due to the violent crack-
down, kidnappings and targeted
assassinations of activists, as well
as due to the coronavirus lock-
downs.
Al-Fayyadh has been the head of
the Shiite militias during this time
and continues to hold the post.
Though Iran-backed groups func-
tioning under the umbrella stand
accused by activists and the U.S.,
no official investigation has ever
been conducted to identify the per-
petrators of the killings of protes-
ters.
It is also unclear how much in-
fluence al-Fayyadh had over the
operations of individual militia
groups, leading some Iraqi offi-
cials to speculate over the political
implications of the latest sanctions.
Al-Fayyadh’s deputy, powerful
militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Mu-
handis, was considered far more
influential over activities of Iran-
backed groups in Iraq. Al-Muhan-
dis was killed in a Washington-di-
rected drone strike last year that
targeted and killed top Iranian
general Qassim Soleimani outside
the Baghdad airport.
US sanctions Iraqi politician over rights abusesAssociated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan — A road-
side bomb exploded in Afghanis-
tan’s capital Sunday, killing at
least three people in a vehicle, the
latest attack to take place even as
government negotiators are in Qa-
tar to resume peace talks with the
Taliban.
Tariq Arian, spokesman for the
interior minister, said a spokes-
man for the ministry’s public pro-
tection forces — a security force
—was one of the three killed in the
attack. One other person was
wounded he said.
No one immediately claimed re-
sponsibility for the attack.
Islamic State has claimed re-
sponsibility for multiple attacks in
the capital in recent months, in-
cluding on educational institu-
tions that killed 50 people, most of
them students. ISIS has also
claimed responsibility for rocket
attacks in December targeting the
major U.S. base in Afghanistan.
There were no casualties.
Taliban militants have mean-
while continued their insurgency
against government forces while
keeping their promise not to at-
tack U.S. and NATO troops.
Sunday’s attack comes as Af-
ghan negotiators are to resume
talks with the Taliban aimed at
finding an end to decades of re-
lentless conflict. Frustration and
fear have grown over a spike in vi-
olence that has combatants on
both sides blaming the other.
The stop-and-go talks between
the Taliban and the government
come amid growing doubt over a
U.S.-Taliban peace deal brokered
by the administration of outgoing
President Donald Trump. An ac-
celerated withdrawal of U.S.
troops ordered by Trump means
just 2,500 American soldiers will
still be in Afghanistan when Presi-
dent-elect Joe Biden takes office
this month.
Biden has advocated for keep-
ing a small intelligence-based
presence in Afghanistan, but Tali-
ban leaders have flatly rejected
any foreign troops.
Official: Roadside bomb kills several in KabulAssociated Press
RAHMAT GUL/AP
Afghan security personnel remove a damaged car after a bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday.
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s
petroleum ministry on Sunday
blamed U.S. sanctions for forcing
it to cut its distribution of fuel and
diesel by up to 24% because of de-
lays in arrival of needed supplies.
The war-ravaged nation is al-
ready facing a severe economic
crisis that has caused major
shortages in wheat and fuel prod-
ucts. Long lines have formed out-
side of gas stations and bakeries
as the government rationed what
it has, further deepening the
crunch felt by Syrians.
The economic hardship has on-
ly intensified during the pandem-
ic, with restrictions designed to
limit the spread of the coronavi-
rus and tighter U.S. and western
sanctions against the government
of President Bashar Assad, who
remains in office despite a crush-
ing 10-year civil war.
The United States and other
western countries have intensi-
fied sanctions against Assad and
his government and allies, blam-
ing them for the killings of hun-
dreds of thousands of civilians
during a brutal war that began in
2011 when government troops
crushed protests against his rule.
Damascus says the sanctions are
only making life harder for civil-
ians.
The civil war has torn Syria
apart, left more than half of the
population displaced and large
parts of the country out of govern-
ment control. It has also crippled
the centralized economy, in-
creased unemployment and
raised inflation.
Assad’s government relies al-
most exclusively on crude oil
from Iran, a key ally of Damascus
which has also sided with Syrian
troops in the war. Tightening U.S.
sanctions on Iran have added to
the crisis in Syria.
A financial crisis in neighbor-
ing Lebanon, which had offered
an economic lifeline for isolated
Syria and a smuggling route, only
made matters worse.
Once before last year, the Syr-
ian government announced de-
lays in supplies amid shortages
and partially lifted subsidies on
certain fuel products.
In a statement Sunday, the Syr-
ian ministry of petroleum and
mineral resources said it will cut
the amount of diesel and fuel it is
distributing to the government-
controlled provinces by 17% and
24%, respectively, until new sup-
plies arrive. It offered no date for
lifting the rationing.
“These measures are because
of delays in the arrival of fuel
products supplies because of the
unjust U.S. sanctions against our
country,” the ministry said.
“They are to ensure that we can
continue to secure the needs of
our citizens and manage the
available reserves as best as pos-
sible.”
The cost of one liter of unsub-
sidized gasoline sells at 1,050 Syr-
ian pounds on the black market
while the subsidized price is 450
Syrian pounds.
Long queues at gas stations and
hours of waiting have become a
daily reality, and many opted for
walking or parked their private
vehicles. Others have reported
reducing consumption of diesel
for heating by more than half in
the cold winter months.
Kayed Youssef, a 54-year old
government employee in Damas-
cus, said he has not moved his car
in 10 days.
“I only move it in extreme ne-
cessity,” he said.
It gets harder for those outside
the capital. In the southwestern
city of Sweida, fuel has not ar-
rived since Thursday, Syrian
Snack, an online news site, re-
ported.
The head of the public compa-
ny for fuel products distribution,
Ahmed Shamaat, said the reduc-
tion will be temporary until sup-
plies arrive. He declined to give a
date though, saying they are due
to arrive “soon ... depending on
circumstances.”
Syria temporarily cuts supplies of fuel in order to meet shortagesBY ALBERT AJI
Associated Press
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Monday, January 11, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 5
VIRUS OUTBREAK
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germa-
ny — Students at Defense Depart-
ment schools in Germany will con-
tinue with remote learning until
the end of January at the earliest,
education officials said Friday.
The first day back in the class-
room will be Monday, Feb. 1, said
Stephen Smith, spokesman for the
Department of Defense Educa-
tion Activity-Europe. Ankara Ele-
mentary/High School in Turkey
will also extend remote learning
until Feb. 1, he said.
Students enrolled in DODEA’s
virtual learning program are not
yet affected by the schedule
change.
DODEA’s 34 schools in Germa-
ny transitioned to remote learning
on Dec. 16, the first day that Ger-
man schools were closed as the
government tightened the coun-
try’s coronavirus restrictions.
Classes were set to resumeJan. 19.
But the start date was pushed
back after German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and the heads of
Germany’s 16 federal states an-
nounced Tuesday that the coun-
try’s lockdown was being extend-
ed by three weeks, starting Jan. 11,
as the host nation struggles to stop
the spread of the coronavirus.
The date for resuming in-school
learning at DODEA schools in
Germany and Turkey remains
fluid, Smith said. It could change,
depending on local circumstances
and host nation guidance.
DODEA schools in Germanywill extend remote learning
[email protected]: @stripesktown
BY JENNIFER H. SVAN
Stars and Stripes
RUSSELL TOOF / U.S. Army
A student at Vogelweh Elementary School listens during a lesson inApril 2020.
All U.S. military travelers head-
ing overseas on orders must test
negative for the coronavirus no
more than three days before de-
parting the United States, accord-
ing to a Navy administrative mess-
age Thursday.
The Defense Department man-
date requires service members,
Defense Department civilian em-
ployees, contractors and family
members to have proof of a nega-
tive test result for COVID-19 with-
in 72 hours of departing for their
destination. COVID-19 is the re-
spiratory disease associated with
the coronavirus.
“Many countries now require
negative test results before arriv-
al,” Chief of Navy Personnel Adm.
John Nowell Jr. said in the mess-
age. Proof of a negative test pro-
vides a measure of insurance
against being refused travel out-
side the U.S. or denied entry to an-
other country, he said.
South Korea on Friday started to
require incoming travelers, in-
cluding people covered by the sta-
tus of forces agreement with the
U.S., to provide proof of a negative
test. Japan has the same require-
ment, but U.S. military travelers
were not required to provide that
proof, according to U.S. Forces Ja-
pan.
The U.S. commands in both
countries mandate tests for their
people upon arrival, along with
subsequent tests and a mandatory
quarantine period.
Under the new requirement,
military travelers must “take re-
sponsibility” and arrange their
own tests, according to Nowell.
The military has designated
testing sites at Walter Reed Na-
tional Military Medical Center in
Bethesda, Md., and at Madigan Ar-
my Medical Center at Joint Base
Lewis-McChord, Wash., but trav-
elers are expected to ensure they
meet all requirements.
The Army in August began re-
quiring all soldiers and their fam-
ilies to test negative and quaran-
tine two weeks before leaving the
U.S.
The Air Force in November be-
gan randomly selecting up to 15%
of passengers on Patriot Express
flights from Seattle and Baltimore
for testing before takeoff. The Pa-
triot Express is a government-con-
tracted passenger service be-
tween the U.S. and overseas bases.
Military hospitals may provide
free tests for service members and
their dependents who bring their
overseas orders to a scheduled ap-
pointment, according to the mess-
age.
Results of tests by commercial
providers are also acceptable.
Travelers must pay the fees if
they’re tested at a non-military
site, but may submit a reimburse-
ment claim. The military’s Tricare
health insurance “does not fund
strictly travel-based tests,” ac-
cording to the policy.
Those who test positive must im-
mediately quarantine. An entire
family of travelers must quaran-
tine if one member tests positive,
according to the DOD policy.
The Navy recommends molecu-
lar tests, such as polymerase chain
reaction, or PCR tests, but will ac-
cept rapid antigen tests, according
to the policy. Antigen tests “detect
specific proteins from the virus”
and can produce a false positive
result if the patient has ever had
the coronavirus, according to the
Federal Drug Administration.
Because entry requirements
vary between countries, travelers
should verify the specific require-
ments at their destination “to
avoid delays, fines or other com-
plications upon arrival,” accord-
ing to the Navy message.
Those who have been vaccinat-
ed against the coronavirus are not
exempt from the testing require-
ment, according to Nowell.
Further information about the
requirement is available at the Na-
vy Personnel Command website.
Defense Department requires test before all overseas travel from USBY CAITLIN DOORNBOS
Stars and Stripes
[email protected]: @CaitlinDoornbos
Surveys have shown high ap-
proval ratings for the 66-year-old
Merkel during the pandemic. She
has taken a science-led, safety-
first approach that has helped her
center-right party into a strong
poll lead, although Germany has
BERLIN — The coronavirus
pandemic is colliding with politics
as Germany embarks on its vacci-
nation drive and one of the most
unpredictable election years in the
country’s post-World War II histo-
ry.
After months of relatively har-
monious pandemic management,
fingers are being pointed as the
center-left junior partner in Chan-
cellor Angela Merkel’s coalition
government takes aim at what it
says has been a chaotic start to vac-
cinating the population.
The discord is likely a sign of the
times to come. An electoral mara-
thon in Germany starts in mid-
March, when two of six state elec-
tions scheduled this year will be
held, and culminates on Sept. 26,
when voters choose a new national
parliament. Germany’s choices
will help set the tone for Europe in
the coming years.
Merkel, who has led Germany
since 2005, plans to step down at
the September election. It’s the
first election since post-war West
Germany’s inaugural vote in 1949
in which there is no incumbent
chancellor seeking another term.
struggled since the fall to get the
coronavirus under control.
“We can be glad in Germany and
Europe to have such an experi-
enced chancellor as Angela Mer-
kel in this pandemic,” Health Min-
ister Jens Spahn said Wednesday.
But with the new year, the end of
the Merkel era is looming closer.
This week, the center-left Social
Democratic Party, which only re-
luctantly entered a coalition with
the longtime leader after Germa-
ny’s last election, latched onto
frustration with the slow start of
vaccinations to open political hos-
tilities.
“It was always clear that the
start of vaccinations would be the
point at which we would see the
end of the tunnel,” the party’s gen-
eral secretary, Lars Klingbeil,
said. “And now we see that we are
in a much worse position than oth-
er countries. We ordered too little
vaccine. There is barely a pre-
pared strategy.”
The responsibility for that, he
said, lies with Spahn, a rising star
in Merkel’s Christian Democratic
Union. Finance Minister Olaf
Scholz, who is Merkel’s vice chan-
cellor and the Social Democrats’
candidate for chancellor in this
year’s federal election, reportedly
sent Spahn a list of questions about
vaccine-related issues.
Spahn rejected the criticism,
saying that politicians must learn
from mistakes but that Germany’s
vaccination campaign is going ac-
cording to expectations.
“It has been clear for weeks and
months ... that we would have too
little vaccine in the beginning” be-
cause production capacities are
still limited, he said, not because
too little was ordered.
The health minister also noted
that a deliberate decision was
made to vaccinate the most vul-
nerable people in nursing homes
first, and that process is relatively
time-consuming.
COVID-19 collides with politics as German election year startsBY GEIR MOULSON
Associated Press
MATTHIAS BALK/AP
Excursionists cavort on the frozen Nymphenburg Canal in front ofNymphenburg Palace, Munich, Germany, on Sunday.
-
PAGE 6 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, January 11, 2021
VIRUS OUTBREAK
with lower-paid staff — as anxious
consumers slash spending. Econo-
mists had worried that the same
trend would emerge this time.
Instead, much of the rest of the
economy is healing, if slowly and
fitfully. Factories, while not fully
recovered, are cranking out goods
and have added jobs every month
since May. Home sales have
soared 26% from a year ago, fueled
by affluent people able to work
from home who are looking for
more space. That trend has, in
turn, bolstered higher-paying jobs
in banking, insurance and real es-
tate.
“Such differences in ... employ-
ment loss between the highest- and
lowest-wage workers are almost
certainly unprecedented among
U.S. recessions over the past 100-
plus years,” Brad Hershbein, an
economist at the Upjohn Institute
for Employment Research, and
Harry Holzer, an economist at Ge-
orgetown University, concluded in
a new research paper.
On the surface, the December
jobs report the government issued
Friday was dismal: The economy
lost 140,000 jobs. It was the sixth
straight month in which hiring has
slumped from the previous month.
Unemployment remained stuck at
a still-high 6.7%.
But the negative number
stemmed entirely from a brutal
loss — nearly 500,000 jobs — in a
category that includes restau-
rants, bars, hotels, casinos and en-
tertainment.
State and local governments al-
so cut workers. So did hair salons
and other personal services. There
were layoffs, too, in education.
Nearly every other industry
added jobs. Construction gained
51,000, financial services 12,000.
Transportation and warehousing
companies, beneficiaries of a
surge in e-commerce and delivery
services amid the pandemic,
gained nearly 47,000.
Job losses have “definitely been
very heavily concentrated in cer-
tain industries — much more so
than prior recessions,” Hershbein
said in an interview.
Once the coronavirus vaccines
become distributed more widely,
and the latest government aid
package is pumped into the econo-
my, most analysts expect a solid
recovery to kick in this summer.
The incoming Biden administra-
tion, along with a now fully Demo-
cratic-led House and Senate, will
also likely push additional rescue
aid and spending measures that
could accelerate growth.
Economists note that the $2 tril-
lion aid package the government
enacted in March, which included
generous unemployment benefits
and aid to small companies, did
more to prevent layoffs from
spreading than many analysts had
expected.
But a big unknown overhangs
the 2021 economy: Will the eco-
nomic recovery come fast enough,
and be robust enough, to absorb
many of the Americans who lost
jobs in the hospitality industries
into more resilient sectors of the
job market?
The trend has upended the lives
of people like Brad Pierce of West
Warwick, R.I. Pierce had gradual-
ly built a career as a stand-up co-
median, only to see it derailed by
the pandemic and restrictions on
the bars he performed in.
Now, he wonders if that life will
ever return. Even when the bars
where Pierce worked had reo-
pened, they couldn’t offer live en-
tertainment because of coronavi-
rus restrictions. Some of these
venues, he fears, won’t survive.
“I have days where I think it will
come back, and days where I think,
‘Well, I guess I’ll never work
again,’ ” Pierce said.
Losses: With unemployment sohigh, experts predict slow recoveryFROM PAGE 1
DAVID GOLDMAN/AP
Comedian Brad Pierce loads the dishes at home in West Warwick, R.I.
LONDON — Britain’s health
secretary said Sunday that every
adult in the country will be offered
a COVID-19 vaccine by the au-
tumn as the U.K. ramps up its
mass vaccination program amid a
huge surge of infections and hos-
pital admissions.
More than 600,000 people age
80 and over will begin receiving
invitations this week to get the cor-
onavirus shot at new large-scale
vaccine centers around England.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock
said that officials were “on track”
to reach its target of inoculating
about 15 million people in the most
vulnerable groups by the middle
of February.
The vaccination drive comes as
the U.K. sees a steep increase in
infections and record numbers of
COVID-19 patients being hospital-
ized, with many experts warning
that the situation is more dire than
it was when the country went into
its first lockdown last spring. The
Office of National Statistics esti-
mated that 1 in 50 people in En-
gland had the virus in the most re-
cent week.
Daily reported deaths hit a re-
cord high Friday, at 1,325, and in
total around 81,000 people have
died after testing positive for CO-
VID-19. That’s the highest in Eu-
rope and comes just behind the
U.S., Brazil, India and Mexico.
Hancock said that more than
200,000 people are being vaccinat-
ed in England every day, and that
by autumn, the entire adult pop-
ulation should have been offered a
jab.
“We’ve got over 350 million dos-
es on order — they’re not all here
yet. We’re rolling them out as fast
as they get delivered,” he told the
BBC. “But we are going to have
enough to be able to offer a vac-
cine to everyone over the age of 18
by the autumn.”
UK boosts vaccine push;every adult by autumn
BY SYLVIA HUI
Associated Press
In a growing consensus, reli-
gious leaders at the forefront of
the anti-abortion movement in the
United States are telling their fol-
lowers that the leading vaccines
available to combat COVID-19 are
acceptable to take, given their re-
mote and indirect connection to
lines of cells derived from aborted
fetuses.
One outspoken foe of abortion
based in Dallas, Southern Baptist
megachurch pastor Robert Jef-
fress, has called the vaccines a
“present from God.”
“To ask God for help but then
refuse the vaccine makes no more
sense than calling 911 when your
house is on fire, but refusing to al-
low the firemen in,” Jeffress said
via email. “There is no legitimate
faith-based reason for refusing to
take the vaccine.”
The Rev. Al Mohler, president
of the Southern Baptist Theologi-
cal Seminary, also has celebrated
their development.
“I will take it not only for what I
hope will be the good of my own
health, but for others as well,” he
said on his website.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops, which says fighting abor-
tion is its “preeminent” priority,
said last month that getting vacci-
nated against the coronavirus
“ought to be understood as an act
of charity toward the other mem-
bers of our community,” accord-
ing to a statement by the chairmen
of its Committee on Doctrine and
Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
The bishops said it is morally
acceptable for Catholics to use ei-
ther of the two vaccines approved
for use in the U.S. — made by Pfiz-
er and Moderna — despite a “re-
mote connection to morally com-
promised cell lines.” This entailed
the use of fetal cell lines for lab
tests seeking to confirm the vac-
cines’ effectiveness.
Another leading vaccine, made
by AstraZeneca and approved for
use in Britain and some other
countries, is “more morally com-
promised,” and should be avoided
if there are alternatives available,
the bishops said.
Coinciding with the USCCB,
four bishops in Colorado issued
their own statement taking a
somewhat more negative stance
on AstraZeneca, describing it as
“not a morally valid option.”
AstraZeneca used a cell line
known as HEK293 to develop its
vaccine. According to the Oxford
University team that developed it,
the original HEK293 cells were
taken from the kidney of an abort-
ed fetus in 1973, but the cells used
now are clones of the original cells
and are not the original fetal tis-
sue.
As the first vaccines neared ap-
proval last year, some Catholic
bishops warned they might be
morally unacceptable. Among
them was Bishop Joseph Brennan
of Fresno, Calif., who urged Ca-
tholics not to jump on the “vaccine
bandwagon.”
He later modified his stance,
saying that due to health risks for
individuals and communities,
“Catholics may ethically decide
for serious reasons to utilize such
vaccines.”
Also questioning the vaccines
was Bishop Joseph Strickland of
Tyler, Texas, who has depicted
any use of aborted fetuses in vac-
cine development as evil and says
he won’t take any of the currently
available vaccines.
“The Church has said that un-
der some circumstances receiv-
ing the vaccine is permissible and
I do not dispute that,” he said via
email. “The Church has also said
we should vigorously call for mor-
ally produced vaccines, and I urge
those who take the vaccine to join
that mission and demand
change.”
CHARLES REX ARBOGAST/AP
A Catholic pastor receives the first of the two PfizerBioNTechCOVID19 vaccinations, Dec. 23 at a hospital in Chicago.
Anti-abortion faithleaders support useof COVID-19 vaccines
BY DAVID CRARY
Associated Press
-
Monday, January 11, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 7
NATION
WASHINGTON — A small
quick-reaction force assembled
by the Defense Department to as-
sist if needed during protests in
Washington on Wednesday did
not immediately respond when a
pro-Trump mob stormed the Cap-
itol because of a lack of planning
with Capitol Police over how it
might be deployed, Pentagon offi-
cials said.
The D.C. National Guard force
of 40 troops is mentioned in a new
timeline of events that the Penta-
gon released Friday night, after
two days of questions about how
security on Capitol Hill was so lax
that the mob could storm the
building and force its evacuation.
Five people died in the chaos, in-
cluding a Capitol Police officer.
The timeline states that the
quick-reaction force was a few
miles away at Joint Base Andrews
in Maryland and authorized for
use by acting defense secretary
Christopher Miller “if additional
support is requested by civil au-
thorities.”
But a senior defense official,
speaking on the condition of ano-
nymity because of the sensitivity
of the issue, said the Defense De-
partment and Capitol Police
hadn’t reached an agreement or
settled on a concept ahead of time.
The Pentagon had made plans
with D.C. police, which oversees
much of the city, including Black
Lives Matter Plaza near the White
House, the official said.
Defense officials have said pre-
viously that with no plan in place
with Capitol Police, there was con-
cern about injecting National
Guard forces into the situation
abruptly. After absorbing fre-
quent criticism about the thou-
sands of National Guard members
that Trump deployed in the city in
June in response to protests
spawned by the police killing of
George Floyd in Minneapolis, the
Pentagon sought a much narrow-
er mission, preparing and provid-
ing only what D.C. officials specif-
ically requested in advance.
“We receive our intelligence
from law enforcement agencies,
whether they’re federal or local,”
Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy
said. Defense Department offi-
cials, he added, didn’t in their
“wildest imagination” envision
the crowd breaching the Capitol
grounds.
It’s not clear how the quick-re-
action force could have been used
to restore order once thousands of
Trump’s supporters surrounded
the Capitol and as some began en-
tering the building. National
Guard members at the D.C. Armo-
ry were also not deployed until
Miller determined at 3 p.m. that
all available D.C. National Guard
forces should be sent to reinforce
D.C. and Capitol police positions,
according to the timeline.
Defense officials have deflected
criticism of their response to the
crisis, stating that law enforce-
ment authorities were in charge
and confident that they had the
city under control. Pro-Trump
groups had openly suggested on-
line for weeks that they might take
action on Wednesday, as a protest
of the president’s election loss was
underway.
On Sunday, authorities an-
nounced the death of another Cap-
itol Police officer. Two people fa-
miliar with the matter said the of-
ficer’s death was an apparent sui-
cide. Officer Howard
Liebengoodm, 51, had been as-
signed to the Senate Division and
was with the department since
2005.
It was not clear whether his
death was connected to Wednes-
day's events.
DOD: No planmade to helpin DC protest
BY DAN LAMOTHE
The Washington Post
MICHAEL ROBINSON CHAVEZ / The Washington Post
President Trump supporters stand on the east side of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday before they stormedand breached the building to support the president's claims that he won the election.
Police charged more Capitol rioters on
Saturday, including a man who carried off
the House speaker’s lectern, as more
graphic details of the insurrection
emerged, revealing the violence and brutal-
ity of the mob that stormed a seat of Amer-
ican political power.
A bloodied officer was crushed in a door-
way screaming in Wednesday’s siege,
which forced lawmakers to go into hiding
for hours and halt their voting to affirm
President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Anoth-
er officer tumbled over a railing into the
crowd below after being body-slammed
from behind. Members of the media were
cursed, shoved and punched.
A vast number of photos and videos cap-
tured the riot, which left five people dead.
Many of the images were taken by the riot-
ers themselves, few of whom wore masks
that would have lowered not only their
chances of contracting the coronavirus, but
their chances of being identified. Some took
pains to stand out.
Jacob Anthony Chansley, an Arizona
man seen in photos and video of the mob
with a painted face and wearing a costume
that included a horned, fur hat, was taken
into custody Saturday and charged with
counts that include violent entry and disor-
derly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Chansley, more commonly known as
Jake Angeli, will remain in custody in Ari-
zona pending a detention hearing that will
be scheduled during an initial court appear-
ance early this week, Assistant U.S. Attor-
ney Esther Winne told The Associated
Press by email. Chansley did not immedi-
ately respond to messages left via email and
telephone.
Chansley, who had become a staple in his
costume at pro-Trump protests across the
country, is now among dozens of people ar-
rested in the wake of the Capitol invasion by
a large mob of Trump supporters enraged
over his election loss.
The rioters took over the House and Sen-
ate chambers, smashed windows and
waved Trump, American and Confederate
flags.
AFlorida man accused of making off with
Pelosi’s lectern during the chaos was ar-
rested Friday night on a federal warrant
and was being held Saturday without bail in
Pinellas County, Fla. Jail records do not
show if Adam Johnson, 36, of Parrish, Fla.,
has an attorney.
Johnson was charged Saturday with
theft, violent entry and disorderly conduct
on Capitol grounds.
The married father of five was quickly
identified on social media by local residents
as the man in a photo smiling as he walked
through the Capitol rotunda carrying Pelo-
si’s lectern, The Bradenton Herald report-
ed.
Johnson posted on social media that he
was in Washington, D.C., during Wednes-
day’s riots and included disparaging com-
ments about the Black Lives Matter move-
ment, according to The Bradenton Herald.
Those posts were later deleted or taken
down.
By Saturday, prosecutors had filed 17
cases in federal district court and 40 others
in the District of Columbia Superior Court
for a variety of offenses ranging from as-
saulting police officers to entering restrict-
ed areas of the U.S. Capitol, stealing federal
property and threatening lawmakers.
Prosecutors said additional cases re-
mained under seal, dozens of other people
were being sought by federal agents, and
the U.S. attorney in Washington vowed Fri-
day that “all options were on the table” for
charges, including possibly sedition.
More arrests in Capitol riot as videos reveal brutalityBY RICK CALLAHAN
Associated Press
MANUEL BALCE CENETA/AP
Supporters of President Donald Trump are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police officersoutside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol, on Wednesday.
-
PAGE 8 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, January 11, 2021
NATION
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The
insurrection by supporters of
President Donald Trump at the
U.S. Capitol last week has prompt-
ed governors and lawmakers in
several states to heighten security
at their own capitol buildings as
they gather amid a pandemic for
legislative sessions and inaugural
ceremonies.
Like the U.S. Capitol, state-
houses are regular targets for
demonstrations. Many already
have armed security personnel
and metal detectors that screen
visitors.
But if the U.S. Capitol — a shin-
ing symbol of democracy with a
dedicated police force— can be
overrun by a violent mob, could
state capitols be next?
The events were “a wakeup call
for everybody, both in D.C. and in
state capitals all across the coun-
try,” said Washington state Rep.
J.T. Wilcox, the chamber’s Re-
publican leader.
A series of smaller-scale flare-
ups occurred last year at state cap-
itols. Last spring, armed protes-
ters entered the Michigan Capitol
to object to pandemic-related
lockdowns. Some were blocked by
police while demanding entry on-
to the House floor, while others
shouted down from the Senate gal-
lery.
In Ohio, people upset about the
death of George Floyd in Minneso-
ta smashed 28 windows at the
statehouse.
Protesters in Idaho temporarily
derailed a special legislative ses-
sion last August. And just a few
weeks ago, crowds in Oregon
forced their way into the Capitol to
protest its closure to the public
during a special legislative session
on coronavirus measures.
On Friday, Washington Gov.
Jay Inslee announced he was acti-
vating up to 750 National Guard
troops to join state police in pa-
trolling the capitol in Olympia on
Monday, when lawmakers return
to session. He said an area will be
set aside for demonstrators to hold
rallies.
“But in light of the most recent
insurrection activity, the state
cannot tolerate any actions that
could result in harm, mayhem or
interruption of function of demo-
cratic institutions,” he said in a
statement. “Any illegal intrusion
of the Capitol, state buildings or
restricted areas will not be tolerat-
ed and strictly enforced.”
A right-wing militia had en-
couraged its members to occupy
the Capitol when lawmakers
meet, and that intention was
echoed by several people who
broke down a gate outside the gov-
ernor’s mansion on Wednesday,
the day Trump supporters storm-
ed the U.S. Capitol.
An organizer of the planned oc-
cupation said in a later Facebook
post that the event was canceled,
although it’s not clear whether
others who share right-wing views
plan to show up, anyway.
In neighboring Idaho, where
lawmakers also are scheduled to
meet Monday, State Police Col.
Kedrick Wills said there will be an
increased presence of uniformed
state troopers at the statehouse.
Anxieties are high for some law-
makers.
Some state officials are rethink-
ing their Capitol gun policies. In
Michigan, Republican Senate Ma-
jority Leader Mike Shirkey said
Thursday that he would support a
ban on the open carrying of fire-
arms in the Capitol. Minority par-
ty Democratic lawmakers want to
prohibit all guns in the building.
By contrast, some Texas law-
makers are talking of bringing
more guns into the Capitol to pro-
tect themselves. Licensed hand-
gun owners already can carry
firearms into the Capitol, and
some lawmakers have been
known to wear guns in the cham-
ber.
“Pretty sure more #txlege
members are going to start carry-
ing inside the Capitol,” Republi-
can state Rep. Briscoe Cain tweet-
ed Thursday, a day after the Capi-
tol grounds were abruptly shut-
tered as hundreds of Trump
supporters demonstrated outside
without any reported incidents.
Some states already had
stepped up security before the vio-
lence in the nation’s capital.
Afence remains at the Minneso-
ta Capitol after being erected last
summer amid the unrest over
Floyd’s killing. It was in place
Wednesday when around 500
Trump supporters held what was
billed as a “Storm the Capitol” ral-
ly — a noisy but peaceful gather-
ing with no arrests. State Public
Safety Commissioner John Har-
rington said increased security
staffing will continue for the im-
mediate future.
Colorado’s Capitol also remains
encircled by fencing, with con-
crete barriers to block vehicles
and its ground floor windows
boarded up after vandals dam-
aged it following Floyd’s death.
Officials already planned to install
stronger fencing, more security
cameras and bullet-resistant glass
for windows. Legislative leaders
are focusing on any needed addi-
tional measures after the events in
Washington, said Bella Combest,
spokeswoman for the Senate
Democratic leadership.
State capitolsreassess safetyafter riot in DC
BY DAVID A. LIEB
Associated Press
TED S. WARREN/AP
Protesters square off with law enforcement officers on the front porch of the Governor's Mansion after agroup of people got through a perimeter fence at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash., on Wednesday.
DAVID ZALUBOWSKI/AP
Colorado State Patrol troopers hold on to a patrol vehicle as theykeep watch on people attending a rally in support of President DonaldTrump outside the State Capitol in downtown Denver on Wednesday.
SAN DIEGO — Supporters of President
Donald Trump clashed with counter-pro-
testers in San Diego on Saturday, prompt-
ing police to declare the gathering an un-
lawful assembly because of acts of violence.
Officers were hit with rocks, bottles and
eggs, police said, and the crowd directed
pepper spray at them.
KSWB-TV tweeted video of counter dem-
onstrators, most of them dressed in black
and waving an antifa flag, throwing a fold-
ing chair and spraying a chemical irritant at
a smaller group of people participating in
the march on the Pacific Beach boardwalk.
The station said in other instances, mem-
bers of both groups shoved and threw ob-
jects at one another.
Police sent in dozens of officers in riot
gear to separate the two groups. Police
asked residents to stay away from the area
and warned that those who refused to dis-
perse may be cited or arrested.
Trump backers, countergroup clash in San Diego
Associated Press
NELVIN C. CEPEDA, THE SAN DIEGO UNIONTRIBUNE/AP
San Diego police clash with protesters after a gathering was declared an unlawfulassembly Saturday in San Diego.
-
Monday, January 11, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 9
BOSTON — One Twitter wag
joked about lights flickering on
and off at the White House being
Donald Trump signaling to his fol-
lowers in Morse code after Twit-
ter and Facebook squelched the
president for inciting rebellion.
Though deprived of his big on-
line megaphones, Trump does
have alternative options of much
smaller reach. The far right-
friendly Parler may be the lead-
ing candidate, though Google and
Apple have both removed it from
their app stores and Amazon de-
cided to boot it off its web hosting
service. That could knock it of-
fline for a week, Parler’s CEO
said.
Trump may launch his own
platform. But that won’t happen
overnight, and free speech ex-
perts anticipate growing pressure
on all social media platforms to
curb incendiary speech as Amer-
icans take stock of Wednesday’s
violent takeover of the U.S. Capi-
tol by a Trump-incited mob.
Twitter ended Trump’s nearly
12-year run on Friday. In shutter-
ing his account it cited a tweet to
his 89 million followers that he
planned to skip President-elect
Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration
that it said gave rioters license to
converge on Washington once
again.
Facebook and Instagram have
suspended Trump at least until
Inauguration Day. Twitch and
Snapchat also have disabled
Trump’s accounts, while Shopify
took down online stores affiliated
with the president and Reddit re-
moved a Trump subgroup. Twit-
ter also banned Trump loyalists
including former national securi-
ty adviser Michael Flynn in a
sweeping purge of accounts pro-
moting the QAnon conspiracy the-
ory and the Capitol insurrection.
Some had hundreds of thousands
of followers.
In a statement Friday, Trump
said: “We have been negotiating
with various other sites, and will
have a big announcement soon,
while we also look at the possibil-
ities of building out our own plat-
form in the near future.”
Experts had predicted Trump
might pop up on Parler, a 2-year-
old magnet for the far right that
claims more than 12 million users
and where his sons Eric and Don
Jr. are already active. Parler hit
headwinds, though, on Friday as
Google yanked its smartphone
app from its app store for allowing
postings that seek “to incite ongo-
ing violence in the U.S.” Apple fol-
lowed suit Saturday evening after
giving Parler 24 hours to address
complaints it was being used to
“plan and facilitate yet further il-
legal and dangerous activities.”
Public safety issues will need to
be resolved before it is restored,
Apple said.
Amazon struck another blow
Saturday, informing Parler it
would need to look for a new web-
hosting service effective midnight
Sunday. It reminded Parler in a
letter, first reported by Buzzfeed,
that it had informed it in the past
few weeks of 98 examples of posts
“that clearly encourage and incite
violence” and said the platform
“poses a very real risk to public
safety.”
Parler CEO John Matze de-
cried the punishments as “a coor-
dinated attack by the tech giants
to kill competition in the market-
place. We were too successful too
fast,” he said in a Saturday night
post, saying it was possible Parler
would be unavailable for up to a
week “as we rebuild from
scratch.”
Earlier, Matze complained of
being scapegoated. “Standards
not applied to Twitter, Facebook
or even Apple themselves, apply
to Parler.” He said he “won’t cave
to politically motivated compa-
nies and those authoritarians who
hate free speech.”
Losing access to the app stores
of Google and Apple — whose op-
erating systems power hundreds
of millions of smartphones — se-
verely limits Parler’s reach,
though it will continue to be ac-
cessible via web browser. Losing
Amazon Web Services will mean
Parler needs to scramble to find
another web host — in addition to
the re-engineering.
Gab is another potential land-
ing spot for Trump. But it, too, has
had troubles with internet host-
ing. Google and Apple both booted
it from their app stores in 2017
and it was left internet-homeless
for a time the following year due
to anti-Semitic posts attributed to
the man accused of killing 11 peo-
ple at a Pittsburgh synagogue. Mi-
crosoft also terminated a web-
hosting contract.
Online speech experts expect
social media companies led by
Facebook, Twitter and Google’s
YouTube to more vigorously po-
lice hate speech and incitement in
the wake of the Capitol rebellion,
as Western democracies led by
Nazism-haunted Germany al-
ready do.
David Kaye, a University of
California-Irvine law professor
and former U.N. special rappor-
teur on free speech believes the
Parlers of the world will also face
pressure from the public and law
enforcement as will little-known
sites where further pre-inaugura-
tion disruption is now apparently
being organized. They include
MeWe, Wimkin, TheDonald.win
and Stormfront, according to a re-
port released Saturday by The
Alethea Group, which tracks dis-
information.
While initially arguing their
need to be neutral on speech,
Twitter and Facebook gradually
yielded to public pressure draw-
ing the line especially when the
so-called Plandemic video
emerged early in the COVID-19
pandemic urging people not to
wear masks, noted civic media
professor Ethan Zuckerman of
the University of Massachusetts-
Amherst.
Zuckerman expects the Trump
de-platforming may spur impor-
tant online shifts. First, there may
be an accelerated splintering of
the social media world along ide-
ological lines.
Squelched by Twitter, Trumpseeks new online megaphone
Associated Press
TALI ARBEL / AP
On Friday, Twitter permanently suspended Trump from its platform,citing “risk of further incitement of violence.”
term ends on Jan. 20.
The White House had no immediate com-
ment Sunday.
The House appears determined to act de-
spite the short timeline.
Late Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pe-
losi, D-Calif., sent a letter to her colleagues
reiterating that Trump must be held ac-
countable. She told her caucus, now scat-
tered across the country on a two-week re-
cess, to “be prepared to return to Washing-
ton this week.”
“It is absolutely essential that those who
perpetrated the assault on our democracy be
held accountable,” Pelosi wrote. “There
must be a recognition that this desecration
was instigated by the President.”
Rep. Jim Clyburn, the third-ranking
House Democrat, said “it may be Tuesday,
Wednesday before the action is taken, but I
think it will be taken this week.” Clyburn, D-
S.C., said he was concerned that a Senate
trial could distract from the process of con-
firming President-elect Joe Biden’s nomi-
nees.
Clyburn said one option could be giving Bi-
den the “100 days he needs to get his agenda
off and running and maybe we’ll send the ar-
ticles sometime after that” to the Senate for a
trial.
He said lawmakers “will take the vote that
we should take in the House” and that Pelosi
“will make the determination as when is the
best time” to send them to the Senate.
Sen. Roy Blunt says he doesn’t see a need
for congressional Republicans to hold Presi-
dent Donald Trump accountable for his role
in promoting last week’s Capitol riot but
warned him to “be very careful” in his last 10
days in office.
The Missouri Republican called Trump’s
decisions and actions leading up to last
Wednesday’s riot “clearly reckless.” But he
says the U.S. should be “thinking more about
the first day of the next presidency” than on
removing Trump from office.
Blunt says he doesn’t think Trump will act
recklessly again. He told CBS’ “Face the Na-
tion”: “My personal view is that the presi-
dent touched the hot stove on Wednesday
and is unlikely to touch it again.”
Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Re-
publican leader, has said an impeachment
trial could begin as early as Inauguration
Day.
The new Democratic effort to stamp
Trump’s presidential record — for the sec-
ond time and days before his term ends —
with the indelible mark of impeachment is
gaining supporters. Rep. David Cicilline, D-
R.I., a leader of the House effort to draft im-
peachment articles — or charges — accusing
Trump of inciting insurrection, said Satur-
day that his group includes 185 co-sponsors.
Lawmakers planned to formally intro-
duce the proposal on Monday in the House,
where articles of impeachment must origi-
nate.
The articles, if passed by the House, could
then be transmitted to the Senate for a trial,
with senators acting as jurors who would ul-
timately vote on whether to acquit or convict
Trump. If convicted, Trump would be re-
moved from office and succeeded by the vice
president.
Potentially complicating that decision
about impeachment is what it means for Bi-
den and the beginning of his presidency.
Aviolent and largely white mob of Trump
supporters overpowered police, broke
through security lines and rampaged
through the Capitol on Wednesday, forcing
lawmakers to scatter as they were putting
the final, formal touches on Biden’s victory
over Trump in the Electoral College.
The crowd surged to the symbol of Amer-
ican democracy following a rally near the
White House, where Trump repeated his bo-
gus claims that the election was stolen from
him and urged supporters to march in force
toward the Capitol.
Five people, including a Capitol police offi-
cer, died as a result of the siege.
Outrage over the attack and Trump’s role
in egging it on capped a divisive, chaotic
presidency like few others in the nation’s his-
tory.
Trump has few fellow Republicans speak-
ing out in his defense. He’s become increas-
ingly isolated, holed up in the White House as
he has been abandoned in the aftermath of
the riot by many aides, leading Republicans
and, so far, two Cabinet members.
Resign: House appears ready to act on second impeachmentFROM PAGE 1
NATION
-
PAGE 10 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, January 11, 2021
NATION
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden
promised that his presidency
would mean a return to normalcy.
His Cabinet picks help demon-
strate how he plans to deliver.
The president-elect announced
his final nominees this past week,
completing a diverse team of two
dozen people. He noted Friday
that this will be the “first Cabinet
ever” to reach gender parity and
include a majority of people of col-
or, notable given earlier concerns
that he was leaning largely on
white men.
Some nominees have decades of
experience in their respective
agencies. Many held prominent
roles in the Obama administra-
tion. Many have already begun
meeting with interest groups and
advocacy organizations, and his
transition team has had what’s
been described as an “open-door
policy” toward advocacy groups
for months.
It’s a sharp contrast to Presi-
dent Donald Trump’s Cabinet,
which was dominated largely by
white men with little experience
in Washington. Biden’s aides say
that was one of the goals he set in
filling out his Cabinet: to signal
that his presidency means a re-
turn to competent, stable leader-
ship.
That’s especially important,
Democrats say, as the pandemic
and economic turmoil rage and
the country navigates through the
aftermath of last week’s violent in-
surrection at the U.S. Capitol.
“Joe Biden is taking office un-
der the most challenging circum-
stances in a century,” said Dan
Pfeiffer, a former Obama White
House senior adviser. “There is no
time for on the job training. He
needs people who can hit the
ground running because what
happens in the first six months of
his presidency will likely deter-
mine the trajectory of all four
years.”
Biden’s Cabinet is unlikely to be
in place when he assumes the
presidency on Jan. 20. The Senate,
which must confirm the nomi-
nees, hasn’t scheduled hearings
for many of the picks. One excep-
tion is Lloyd Austin, Biden’s nomi-
nee for defense secretary, who is
expected to appear before the
Senate Armed Services Commit-
tee on Jan. 19.
Some nominees faced early
questions about their confirma-
tion prospects, particularly Neera
Tanden, Biden’s pick to lead the
Office of Management and Bud-
get. Tanden has angered Republi-
cans with her outspoken criticism
of them on Twitter.
But the confirmation process
for many of the nominees may be
smoother after Democrats picked
up two Senate seats in Georgia last
week, leaving the chamber evenly
divided. Vice President-elect Ka-
mala Harris will be the tie-break-
ing vote, giving Democrats the
edge.
Biden spokesman Andrew
Bates said that the president-elect
is “working in good faith with both
parties in Congress toward swift
confirmation because with so
much at stake, with our national
security on the line and lives and
jobs being lost every day, our na-
tion cannot afford to waste any
time.”
But many nominees may face
unprecedented levels of scrutiny
as they work to dig their depart-
ments out of both the erosion in
public trust in government and an
erosion of morale from within.
Many department budgets and
staff were gutted during the
Trump administration.
That hollowing out is part of
why it’s so important for Biden to
choose seasoned veterans for his
Cabinet, according to Eric
Schultz, a former senior White
House adviser.
“One of the problems that Biden
faces that Obama did not in 2009 is
how the Trump administration
has treated federal agencies and
departments,” he said. “Rebuild-
ing — just, operationally — these
agencies, to get that back up and
running, is going to take a lot of
work. So it wouldn’t make sense to
put in a bunch of newbies.”
They’ll also have to navigate de-
mands from progressives looking
for major changes from leaders at
agencies ranging from the the De-
partment of Homeland Security to
the Environmental Protection
Agency and the Justice Depart-
ment. Many of them will be on the
front lines of addressing a pan-
demic that’s killed more than
371,000 people in the United
States, while taking action on the
issues of race and inequality and
climate change that have prompt-
ed national movements for change
in recent years.
To get ahead of those problems,
Biden’s transition team has spent
months meeting with trade, advo-
cacy and interest groups across
Washington and beyond, looking
to reestablish relationships that
had atrophied during the Trump
administration. Now that his team
has been named, his nominees
have begun their own meetings
with key groups as they prepare to
take office.
Some meetings are aimed at as-
suaging concerns among critics,
such as when Tom Vilsack, Bi-
den’s pick for agriculture secreta-
ry, met with Black farm advo-
cates. Vilsack has faced questions
about what critics say was his fail-
ure to address discrimination
against Black farmers within the
agency while he was Obama’s
agriculture chief.
But still others have included
representatives from areas not
typically seen as pet Democratic
constituencies. Three of Biden’s
top picks for health adviser posi-
tions met with interfaith leaders
on Thursday, and the next day
Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden’s pick
at Homeland Security, met with
20 leaders who share his Jewish
faith.
The Rev. Gabriel Salguero, a
Florida-based pastor who founded
the National Latino Evangelical
Coalition, said the Biden transi-
tion has made a “very robust and
very intentional” effort to build re-
lationships with faith leaders. Sal-
guero recalled other faith-specific
calls with Susan Rice, chosen as
Biden’s domestic policy adviser,
and Tanden.
While Salguero recalled meet-
ings with the Trump administra-
tion on key issues, he said the Bi-
den transition team’s outreach al-
ready has gone further.
Even those groups that may be
more aligned with Trump and Re-
publicans on their issues are al-
ready pleased with Biden’s ap-
proach to governing. Democratic
lobbyist Steve Elmendorf said that
the reaction from his business cli-
ents and other Washington lobby-
ists has been, he said, “very posi-
tive” because “business likes cer-
tainty.”
“Business likes a plan,” Elmen-
dorf said. “And while some of the
outcomes under Donald Trump,
people liked, they really didn’t like
the government by tweet and Fox
News.”
Even those who don’t agree with
all of Biden’s policies, Elmendorf
said, are relieved at the return to
normal working order because
“they believe that there will be a
process that is known, and is
transparent, and where stake-
holders will have an opportunity
to make their views known.”
Biden Cabinet picks indicatereturn to normal governing
Associated Press
Mayorkas Vilsack Tanden Austin
WASHINGTON — Vice Presi-
dent Mike Pence will attend the
inauguration of President-elect
Joe Biden and Vice President-
elect Kamala Harris, breaking
ranks with President Donald
Trump, who said that he wouldn’t
attend.
Pence plans to be at the Jan. 20
event, according to two people fa-
miliar with his plans who asked
not to be identified discussing in-
ternal deliberations. Trump, in
the final tweet before his account
was suspended by Twitter on Fri-
day, said that he “will not be going
to the Inauguration.”
On Wednesday, the vice presi-
dent defied Trump’s call to over-
turn the election and instead ful-
filled his ceremonial duty to pre-
side over Congress’s acceptance
of the Electoral College results.
On Friday, Biden, speaking to
reporters, said that he agreed that
Trump shouldn’t attend the inau-
guration but that Pence was “wel-
come,” and that he’d be honored if
the vice president were to attend.
“I’d be honored to have him
there,” Biden said.
PATRICK SEMANSKY / AP
Workers install a flag on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Saturday inpreparation for Presidentelect Joe Biden's inauguration.
Pence to attendBiden inauguration
Bloomberg News
CHICAGO — A man killed
three people and wounded four
others in a series of shootings that
started on Chicago’s South Side
and ended with his death in a shoo-
tout with police in a parking lot
just north of the city.
Investigators are trying to de-
termine a motive for the attacks,
which began Saturday afternoon
with the killing of a 30-year-old
University of Chicago student who
was shot in the head while sitting
in his car in a parking garage in
the Hyde Park neighborhood, Chi-
cago police Superintendent David
Brown told reporters.
The shooter then “just random-
ly” walked into an apartment
building a block away, where he
shot a 46-year-old security guard
who was sitting at the desk and a
77-year-old woman who was get-
ting her mail, Brown said. The
guard was pronounced dead at a
hospital and the older woman,
who was shot in the head, was hos-
pitalized in critical condition, the
Chicago Tribune reported.
Jason Nightengale, 32, went to
another building, carjacked a man
he knew, and then went to a conve-
nience store and fired shots, kill-
ing a 20-year-old man and wound-
ing an 81-year-old woman, Brown
said.
The woman was also in critical
condition.
After leaving the store, Nighten-
gale fired shots at a 15-year-old
girl who was riding in a car with
her mother, leaving the girl in crit-
ical condition, police said.
Nightengale then drove north to
Evanston, which borders Chicago,
where police responded to a re-
port of shots fired inside a store.
Nightengale had apparently walk-
ed into the store, announced that
he was robbing it and fired off
shots that didn’t hit anyone, au-
thorities said. He then went across
the street to an IHOP restaurant,
where he shot a woman in the
head. She was in critical condition,
Evanston police Chief Demitrous
Cook told reporters.
Nightengale left the restaurant
and was confronted by officers in
a parking lot, leading to a shootout
in which he was shot and killed.
Man shoots 7 in seriesof Chicago-area attacks
Associated Press
-
Monday, January 11, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11
AMERICAN ROUNDUP
Mayor chosen by pulling a name from hat
TX DICKINSON — Therace to be the mayor ofa Houston suburb ended with the
winner’s name being drawn from
a top hat.
Sean Skipworth and Jennifer
Lawrence were vying to be the
next mayor of Dickinson, but they
each ended up with 1,010 votes af-
ter a runoff election.
According to Texas law, a tie in
a race for public office can be re-
solved by casting lots.
Skipworth became mayor after
aping pong ball with his name was
pulled out of a hat during a cere-
monythat lasted about 10 minutes,
the Galveston County Daily News
reported.
“I just thank everyone for com-
ing out and voting,” Skipworth
said after he became mayor. “Lit-
erally, every vote counted.”
State to try again to sellformer circus train cars
NC RALEIGH — The stateof North Carolina saidit will try again to auction off rail-
road cars, including nine that
were once owned by the Ringling
Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Cir-
cus.
The Raleigh News & Observer
reported that the N.C. Depart-
ment of Transportation had origi-
nally put 16 cars up for sale last
month. And it received offers for
two passenger cars built in the
1960s.
Jason Orthner, director of
NCDOT’s Rail Division, said the
state will hold another online auc-
tion for the other 14 cars. He said
the department will consider low-
ering the asking prices and revis-
ing the terms and conditions of the
sales.
Bill 33, retired NavalAcademy mascot, has died
MD ANNAPOLIS — TheUnited States NavalAcademy announced that goat
mascot Bill 33 has died.
The fuzzy Angora goat was af-
fectionately known as “Blue
Eyes” and would have been 14
years old this week.
The goat was the team mascot
from 2008 to 2015. He stood out not
only for his startling eyes, but also
for horns that stretched longer
than any goat in his herd.
Bill 33 suffered from health is-
sues caused by old age and was
humanely euthanized when it be-
came clear that his condition
would not improve. He is survived
by successors and current goat
mascots Bills 36 and 37.
Police: Racist graffitifound on 3 schools
MO KIRKWOOD —Kirkwood police areinvestigating after “racist and de-
rogatory” statements were found
at three schools in the city.
A student found the graffiti at
Kirkwood High School. Mainte-
nance staff checking all the dis-
trict’s schools found graffiti at
Nipher and North Kirkwood mid-
dle schools, The St. Louis Post-
Dispatch reported.
The vandalized areas were
cleaned, said Superintendent
Dave Ul