Security levels being ramped up significantly for Biden’s swearing-in as some warn of ‘persistent challenge over the next months’
Among the most shocking images to emerge from Wednesday’s attack on the US Capitol were members of the pro-Trump mob wielding baseball bats and bearing “Keep America Great” banners rampaging over the inaugural platform on the West Front of the building where four years ago Donald Trump took his oath of office.
The sight of rioters running amok amid clouds of teargas on the very spot where their cherished leader swore to “preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States” was not just symbolically chilling. It underlined the massive security challenge now facing the US government as it hurtles towards the next inauguration – that of Joe Biden – just days away.
Related: Trump says he won’t attend Biden’s inauguration
What Donald Trump did was a betrayal of public trust and a violation of his oath of office