Donald Trump has has defiantly rejected calls to step down as Arnold Schwarzenegger joined the voices calling out the president for his role in the Capitol riot.
US President Donald Trump entered his last ten days in office on Monday as new details from the Capitol siege came to light and members of his own party turned on him.
The White House lowered its flag to half-staff on Sunday to honor Brian Sicknick, the Capitol police officer who was killed during the violence at the Capitol building in Washington DC on Wednesday.
The move came only after days of protest from Democrats and Republicans alike regarding the lack of response from the president. Trump has so far made no public comments on the officer's death.
At the same time, Democratic Representative Jason Crow revealed that at least 25 cases of domestic terrorism had been opened against supporters of the president who participated in Wednesday's riots.The Justice Department also made two further arrests on Sunday.
Trump increasingly isolated
Trump was left even more isolated as former allies turned on him — or saw their donations cut for siding with him, Democrats moved ahead with plans to impeach him, and a second Republican senator, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, called for his resignation.
The president had already turned on his vice president, Mike Pence, for refusing to overturn the confirmation of Biden's victory — something he did not have the power to do — leading to some of Trump's supporters calling to "Hang Pence!"
Former Republican Governor of California and Austrian-born bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger released an impassioned video on Twitter comparing the events in the Capitol with the Night of Broken Glass — a pogrom organized by the Nazi party in Germany in 1938.
Trump was reportedly planning to visit the Alamo on Tuesday — the famed site from US history where a small group of Texans seeking independence defiantly held a fort against a much larger Mexican army for 13 days before finally being defeated. However, it is unlikely that the trip would do much to help his public image. A poll released on Sunday by ABC News revealed that 56% of the population thought that Trump should be removed from office while 67% considered him largely responsible for the mob violence.
Police condemned for lackluster response
Security forces also faced criticism for allowing the US Capitol to be breached. Democrat Representative Maxine Waters slammed the chiefs of the Capitol police department, saying that officers were "left naked" as the mob overwhelmed them.
Police officials were questioned as to why they were surprised by the riots, after the president used increasingly aggressive language to urge his supporters to come to Washington D.C.
The department had failed to bring in extra officers for the protest, leaving the same number on duty as on any routine day. Some police officers had been equipped for a protest, but none were ready for a riot.
Furthermore, a police lieutenant had ordered the officers not to use deadly force when dealing with the rioters, leaving them with little ability to resist the violent crowd.
The police response was heavily criticized for failing to prepare properly and for its different approach to the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer.
The Capitol police chief, Steven Sund, and the Sergeants and Arms for both the House and the Senate all stepped down following the Wednesday violence.
Sund for his part said the blame lay with Congress security officials. He told The Washington Post that they had been reluctant before the event to take steps to formally put the national guard on call despite pleas from Sund who was worried about larger crowds than at previous demonstrations.(AP, Reuters, AFP)