WILMINGTON, Del.—President-elect
characterized the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday as domestic terrorists, referring to the violence as “one of the darkest days in the history of our nation.”
“Don’t dare call them protesters,” Mr. Biden said in remarks from Wilmington, Del. “They were a riotous mob. Insurrectionists. Domestic terrorists. It’s that basic. It’s that simple.”
Mr. Biden blamed President Trump for inciting the violence, saying he had “unleashed an all-out assault on our institutions of democracy.” The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The past four years, we’ve had a president who’s made his contempt for our democracy, our Constitution and the rule of law clear in everything he has done,” the Democratic president-elect said during remarks in which he also formally introduced his pick for attorney general,
Merrick Garland,
and several choices for other top Justice Department jobs.
Mr. Biden has said he plans to make a priority of passing a law against domestic terrorism, and he has been urged to create a White House post overseeing the fight against ideologically inspired violent extremists and increasing funding to combat them.
Federal law defines domestic terrorism as dangerous and illegal acts intended to coerce a population or influence the government. While it can be charged in some states, no generic federal crime exists. Domestic terrorism spans extremist ideologies, but it has been predominantly a far-right phenomenon in recent decades, according to researchers.
Mr. Biden said Thursday that his incoming Justice Department team would be independent. “Your loyalty is not to me,” he told his intended nominees. “It’s to the law, the Constitution, the people of this nation, to guarantee justice.”
Judge Garland said that Wednesday’s riot was a reminder that “the rule of law is not just some lawyers’ turn of phrase,” adding, “It is the very foundation of our democracy.”
Mr. Biden said law enforcement handled the Trump supporters who breached and vandalized the Capitol in a way that was different from how the Black Lives Matters protesters who demonstrated against racial injustice across American cities over the summer were treated. “We all know that’s true,” he said. “And it’s unacceptable. Totally unacceptable.”
Capitol Police fatally shot one woman during the attack, according to law-enforcement officials, and three others died in what the city’s police chief described as “medical emergencies.” Police said 14 officers were injured and more than 80 arrests were made as of Thursday morning. The Capitol Police said some officers were hospitalized as a result of the melee, but that there were no deaths to date. Earlier, a union official said that an officer had died.
The chaos has prompted more lawmakers, including Democratic leaders
and
Chuck Schumer,
to call for Mr. Trump’s removal from office.
Merrick Garland, Joe Biden’s intended attorney general nominee, said Thursday that the rule of law is ‘the very foundation of our democracy.’
Photo:
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The president, who has refused to concede to Mr. Biden, encouraged his supporters Wednesday to march to the Capitol and then sympathized with those who broke into the building. He agreed to an orderly transition of power early Thursday, after Congress ratified Mr. Biden’s victory, while maintaining he “totally” disagreed with the election’s outcome.
“The quickest and most effective way—it can be done today—to remove this president from office would be for the Vice President to immediately invoke the 25th amendment,” Mr. Schumer, who is poised to become the Senate majority leader when Democrats take control of the chamber later this month, said in a statement. “If the Vice President and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president.”
Mr. Biden said at the start of his remarks Thursday that he wouldn’t address whether the 25th amendment should be invoked.
The amendment says that if the vice president and a majority of sitting cabinet officers decide the president is unable to perform the duties of his office, the vice president can immediately take on the role of acting president.
Mr. Biden’s spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement that Mr. Trump had “disqualified himself long ago” but that the president-elect and Vice President-elect
were focused on taking office Jan. 20. Mr. Bates said they would “leave it to Vice President Pence, the Cabinet and the Congress to act as they see fit.”
Write to Ken Thomas at ken.thomas@wsj.com and Sabrina Siddiqui at Sabrina.Siddiqui@wsj.com
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