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It’s Tuesday, D.C. Frigid temperatures are expected to continue for at least part of this week (there’s a low of 9 degrees Wednesday). And here’s some news you might have missed while you were dissociate this past weekend.
Felonious Punk
Donald Trump was sworn in Monday afternoon as the 47th president in a ceremony that was moved inside to the Capitol Rotunda due to frigid temperatures. That’s the same building that Trump’s supporters ransacked just four years ago, in an attempt to carry out his false claim that the 2020 election had been stolen. Here are some scenes from Inauguration Day around Capital One Arena:
Credit: Darrow Montgomery
Trump Returns
WTF
In his inaugural speech, Trump declared that he was “saved by God to make America great again,” said that the U.S. will only recognize two genders, and promised to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Hours after he was sworn in, Trump began signing a series of executive orders that strip employment protections for federal workers (many of whom live in and around D.C.) and institutes a hiring freeze, declare a national emergency at the border, and attempt to rescind birthright citizenship, which is already facing a legal challenge.
Trump also pardoned almost all Jan. 6 rioters, including those convicted of violence and attacks on police. Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys leader, was among those pardoned; he was convicted of seditious conspiracy and other felonies; Trump also commuted the sentences of right-wing extremist leaders with the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, including its founder Stewart Rhodes. Rhodes and Tarrio were serving 18- and 22-year sentences, respectively, and Rhodes showed up outside the DC Jail Tuesday to wait for the release of Capitol rioters.
Trump also hinted that he’s considering pardons for two D.C. police officers “who went after an illegal.” It’s unclear if he’s referring to Officer Terence Sutton and Lt. Andrew Zabavsky, who were both convicted in the death of Karon Hylton-Brown and are the only Metropolitan Police Department officers to be convicted for their roles in a death while on duty in recent memory. Hylton-Brown was a local resident, not an immigrant.
Hate Follows Hate
The Proud Boys marched through downtown D.C. this weekend. Members of the violent white-supremacist group carried banners congratulating Trump and chanted “Whose streets? Our streets!” Documentarian Ford Fischer captured much of the scene. It was the first time the Proud Boys marched in D.C. since Jan. 6, 2021, according to WUSA9.
—Mitch Ryals (tips? mryals@washingtoncitypaper.com)
Five Metropolitan Police Department officers who were involved in the fatal shooting of Derrick Williams earlier this month have been identified. Officers Christopher Brown, Ammad Fahad, Omarri Jackson, Juan Mejia, and Diondre Stevenson are on administrative leave while prosecutors and MPD investigate. Three officers sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the encounter, but the letter disclosing their names does not specify which officers were shot. Williams’ family has declined to release the body camera footage of the incident. [Post]
A group of former spies is warning that a casino possibly opening in Tysons is probably not a good idea. The letter is signed by 109 former spooks who are part of a new group called National Security Leaders for Fairfax. The casino “will not only attract organized crime—casinos always do—but also adversarial intelligence services looking to recruit those with … access [to highly secretive government intelligence] whom they hope to blackmail,” the letter says. State Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell dismissed the concerns as “NIMBYism dressed up like spy warfare.” [Post]
Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement yesterday that she is “optimistic that by focusing on our shared priorities with President Trump—whether it is keeping DC safe and clean or bringing workers back to our Downtown—we will continue to deliver for DC and the American public.” [X]
By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)
D.C.’s $1.5 million inaugural parade viewing stand went unused after the festivities were moved indoors. Officials say it will be disassembled and stored for reuse at the next inauguration. [Post]
Ed Martin, a conservative activist working with groups supporting the Jan. 6 defendants, will take over as the interim head of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. until Trump picks a permanent leader for the office responsible for prosecuting crimes in D.C. [NBC News]
Organizers moved the city’s annual “Peace Walk” commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day to Saturday and held it indoors at the Entertainment and Sports Arena on the St. Elizabeths East campus. It still attracted big crowds and plenty of city leaders. [Informer]
By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)
Tech mogul, Twitter ruiner, and … hotelier? Elon Musk has his sights set on the up-for-grabs Line DC hotel in Adams Morgan, with plans to turn the space into a private social club. The auction is set for Thursday, a few days before Musk starts his new quasi-government gig. [Eater]
Mozzeria, the H Street pizzeria owned and operated by Deaf and hard-of-hearing staffers, closed after four years. The San Francisco-based company hopes to return to D.C. someday and is helping the 24 employees who lost their jobs find new work. “It was never just a restaurant,” says chief executive R.M. Horrell. “It was a place where I knew that I was contributing to the fabric of who we are—making their lives just a little better for it.” [Post]
By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)
Lupine Intervention
Wolf Man, horrormeister Leigh Whannell’s remake of 1941’s The Wolf Man, is a dog.
By Sarah Marloff (tips? smarloff@washingtoncitypaper.com)
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