Biden said he received a text message Wednesday from 21-year-old grandson Finnegan Biden highlighting the extent of aggressive policing by Black Lives Matter activists.
“No one can tell me if a group of Black Lives Matter were complaining yesterday, they would not have been treated very differently from the movement of thugs that took the Capitol by storm. We all know that that is true, and it is impossible. Totally inappropriate, “said Biden in Wilmington, Delaware. “The American people saw it in plain sight.”
Earlier this year, U.S. Park Police and National Guard troops once used gas to disperse a crowd of peaceful protesters outside the White House so Trump could walk across Lafayette Park to visit on a church ravaged by riots. Scenes of brutal police protesters appeared in cities across the country in May and June after police killed George Floyd.
However, in the wake of a pro-Trump move coming together on the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, videos have surfaced showing some Capitol Police officers getting out of their way, or taking selfies leo. Other police officers tried to hold back protesters. One protester was shot and killed by police.
“We saw two justice systems when we saw one that allowed finishers to storm the U.S. Capitol and another that let tear gas on peace activists last summer,” the Vice President said. President-elect Kamala Harris Thursday. “We know this can’t be done. We know we should be better than this.”
Biden ‘s comments came Thursday as he introduced the body he has chosen to lead the Justice Department. He advised Trump’s actions Wednesday, when Trump asked him to move to the Capitol. He said Trump is directly responsible for “one of the darkest days in our country’s history,” a day after Trump-backed protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
“They were a riot – terrorists. Domestic terrorists. That’s basic. It’s that simple,” Biden said in Wilmington, Delaware, as he began a speech in which he expected the court to re- introduce a federal appeal to Judge Merrick Garland as his nominated attorney general.
“And I wish we could say we wouldn’t see it coming, but that’s not true. We’ll see it coming,” Biden said. “In the last four years we have a president who has despised our democracy, our Constitution, the rule of law, clear in everything he has done. He has let out an all-out attack. all of our democratic institutions from the outset, and yesterday was only the result … of that attack. ”
“Trying to use a mob to simulate the voices of nearly 160 million Americans summoned the courage against a pandemic that threatened their health and lives to cast that sacred ballot,” Biden said. about what Trump did, citing the number of Americans who voted in the 2020 primary election.
On Thursday, Biden stressed his clarity – unlike Trump, who followed his lawyers to end investigations into what he did and launched probes for his political rivals – Biden said. seek a Department of Justice that operates independently of the President.
“You won’t work for me. You’re not the president or the vice president’s lawyer. Your loyalty to me is not. It’s according to the law. The Constitution,” Biden said.
Garland, too, cited Wednesday’s attempt by Trump supporters in explaining his decision to leave a lifelong career as a federal judge.
“I am honored to serve as the attorney general at this critical time …” Garland said. “As everyone who watched yesterday’s events in Washington has now understand – if they did not understand before – the rule of law is not just a phrase reversal of some lawyers. This is the very foundation of our democracy. ”
“The essence of the rule of law is that such matters are handled together; there is no one rule for the Democrats and another rule for a Republican; one rule for friends and another for enemies … or different rules for racial or ethnicity. And the essence of its great alliance, equal justice under the law, is that all citizens are protected from the exercise of their civil rights, “he said.
Garland echoed Biden’s comments that the attorney general would have the “independent capacity” to decide who is and who is not accused.
“I would not have agreed to be considered for a general lawyer under any other conditions,” Garland said.
To serve under Garland at the Justice Department, Biden has selected Lisa Monaco, who was deputy attorney general for national security in the Obama administration, as her nominee as deputy attorney general .
President-elect Vanita Gupta, a former deputy attorney in the Obama administration, has also been elected as the nominee for the attorney general, and Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the People’s Committee for Civil Rights under the Law, as his nominee as deputy attorney general for the civil rights division.
“Our nominated candidates at the forefront to lead the Department of Justice are highly qualified, embracing character and judgment that are beyond shame, and have dedicated their roles to to serve the American people with dignity and integrity, “Biden said in a statement.
The President continued, “They will restore the independence of the Department so that it serves the interests of the people not leadership, rebuilding public confidence in the rule of law, and working hard to make ensuring a fairer justice system. ”
Garland, who was nominated for the Supreme Court in 2016 by President Barack Obama dismissed by Senate Republicans, was seen as a key contender for the position, but worries about the place His election was created by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has raised warning bells among Biden and many councilors who believed the Senate Republican would block any nomination for that seat . The Democrats who won the Senate echoed those concerns.
Biden had planned to deliver a speech on the economy Wednesday afternoon, but canceled his speech and instead addressed the chaos and violence in Washington. He said the unrest with Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol led to an “unprecedented attack” on U.S. democracy.
“This is not a disagreement, it is a disorder. It is a chaos,” Biden said. “It ends in temptation, and it must end now.”