Calls grow for Trump's removal after Capitol riot

Twitch said Thursday it has disabled President Trump's channel on the gaming service, making it the latest tech platform to crack down on the President's accounts after his supporters stormed the US Capitol building.

The move from the Amazon-owned gaming service comes as other platforms escalate their restrictions on the President's accounts.

On Thursday, Facebook banned Trump's account from posting on the platform for at least the duration of his term in office, and possibly "indefinitely." A day earlier, Twitter locked Trump’s account temporarily, and warned for the first time that it could suspend him permanently.

Trump has a significantly smaller audience on Twitch than he does on Twitter and Facebook.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, said he thinks the nation would be better off if President Trump were to be removed from office during a news conference Thursday.

"We need leadership right now and we need to stop all of this craziness," Hogan said.

He called the attack by pro-Trump supporters "heinous" and an attack on the rule of law.

"What we saw in the nation’s Capitol was not just an attack on the people’s representatives or historic buildings and our law enforcement. It was an attack on the rule of law, the foundation of self-government and who we are as Americans. The mob may have shattered glass but they did not and they will not shatter our democracy," he said.

Hogan also noted that while he had the state's National Guard ready to be deployed to the Capitol, he was unable to get immediate federal authorization to send them in for nearly 90 minutes.

Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, condemned security officials’ response to the Capitol Hill riots today, saying protesters who were marching for civil rights over the summer were treated much more harshly. 

Cullors went on to say it was “disgusting” that there was “no to little security yesterday.” 

She also praised President-elect Joe Biden’s remarks earlier today in which he also drew a contrast between the security response to the Capitol riots and the police response to Black Lives Matter protesters over the summer.

“Hearing President-elect Joe Biden really speak to the dire situation that happened and clarifying that Black Lives Matter protesters have been and continue to be treated differently than White supremacist terrorists was huge,” she said. “He's speaking not just to the country, but speaking on a global stage.”

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The first defendants arrested during the Capitol riot yesterday are appearing in court now.

In some of the first appearances in the DC Superior Court on Thursday, prosecutors asked for the judge to block defendants from being in the city, noting they were not residents.

Judge Juliet McKenna ordered Michael Jared Amos, 38, of Florida, to stay out of the District of Columbia until further notice, only allowing him in the capital for court-related appearances.

Amos was charged on Wednesday with unlawful entry into the US Capitol building and violating the 6 p.m. curfew set by the mayor. Amos is accused of disobeying the commands of Capitol Police and MPD police officers, and that he ignored the citywide curfew. He has pleaded not guilty. 

Another defendant David Ross, 33, of Massachusetts, pleaded not guilty to unlawful entry and violating the 6 p.m. curfew. He also was ordered by the judge to stay away from Washington, DC.

During his court appearance Thursday over Zoom, Amos sat in a holding cell, and said his cell phone was dead. He was wearing a surgical mask and an army green T-shirt with a stars and stripe design. He said he had a hotel room in the DC area, and would be heading out of the city.

Ross, just before his brief hearing ended, asked the judge to explain the charges because he did not understand them, so the judge informed Ross to speak to his attorney.

The federal court, DC's District Court, will also be hearing new cases related to the riots on Thursday, and that hearing is set to begin shortly.

The DC Superior Court initial hearings are ongoing. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called President Trump “a very dangerous person who should not continue in office,” adding, “this is urgent. This is emergency of the highest magnitude,” when asked at her news conference if she would encourage Cabinet members not to resign so that they can invoke the 25th Amendment."

Asked how long she would wait to see if the 25th Amendment would be invoked before potentially pursing impeachment, Pelosi said, “While there’s only 13 days left, any day can be a horror show for America."

Pelosi also described the interest she is receiving from members to move forward with impeachment.

Asked about how long she would give Vice President Mike Pence to take action Pelosi said: “I don’t know how quickly he might respond, we’ll see. That could be quick.” She added, "I don't think that it'll take long to get an answer from the Vice President. It will either be yes or it will be no.”

As she discussed members of the Cabinet, Pelosi also said that the acting Secretary of Defense “has to answer for where the national guard was yesterday.”

“Ask each member of the Cabinet: Do they stand by these actions? Are they ready to say in the next 13 days this dangerous man can do further harm to our country, an assault on our democracy,” Pelosi said.

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she called for the resignation of the US Capitol Police chief and said the House Sergeant-at-Arms has told her he is submitting his resignation.

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A State Department political appointee was fired by the White House today after tweeting last night that President Trump was unfit for office and was to blame for the mob attack on the Capitol, according to two sources familiar with the firing.

Noronha also said that all government officials must uphold the Constitution, not a political party.

“All government officials swear to uphold and defend the constitution. That is where our loyalties must lie – not to any man or political party. @JoeBiden has won the election for President and we must all work together to rebuild our economy and defend our nation,” Noronha wrote in his second tweet.

Noronha was notified that he would be fired in a letter from the State Department liaison to the White House today, said a source familiar with the letter. He was given no explicit reason for his ouster, the source said.

Noronha’s bosses at the State Department did not object to him posting his opinion on his personal Twitter account, the sources said. It is unclear who at the White House made the decision to fire him.

Together his two tweets received almost 30,000 retweets as of Thursday afternoon.

Noronha, the State Department and White House did not immediately reply to request for comment.

 See his tweet:

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday said the “violence and destruction of property” at the US Capitol building Wednesday showed “a blatant and appalling disregard for our institutions of government and the orderly administration of the democratic process.”

Wray, in a statement, went on to say that “we do not tolerate violent agitators and extremists who use the guise of First Amendment-protected activity to incite violence and wreak havoc,” and the FBI director went on to say that they would be held accountable.

Wray said the FBI has deployed its full investigative resources and they are working closely with local, state and federal authorities to “aggressively pursue those involved in criminal activity during the events of January 6.”

He said agents and analysts have been gathering evidence, sharing intelligence, and working with federal prosecutors to bring charges.

President-elect Joe Biden's attorney general pick Merrick Garland addressed the Capitol siege while accepting his nomination, calling it a reminder of why rule of law is the very foundation of democracy.

Garland, whose nomination to the Supreme Court in 2016 by President Barack Obama was ignored by Senate Republicans, was seen as a top contender for the position, but concerns about the vacancy his selection would create on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia had raised alarm bells among Biden and many advisers who believed Senate Republicans would block any nomination to that seat. Democrats winning both Georgia Senate allayed those concerns.