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7 Jan 2021

Business leaders condemn violence at US Capitol

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On 6 January 2021, Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building, disrupting Congress' final electoral count to confirm Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the next U.S. President. They vandalized Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, smashed windows, looted art and briefly took control of the Senate chamber.

This violence follows months of baseless claims by President Trump that the election was fraudulent and stolen, stoking anger among his supporters. President Trump responded by openly condoning the actions of his supporters on social media, prompting Twitter and Facebook to lock his accounts.

The violence, seen by many as an attempted coup, was met with less police force than many of the Black Lives Matter peaceful demonstrations that happened across the country in 2020 and peaceful demonstrations by Indigenous peoples, highlighting ongoing systemic racism in the country.

Executives and CEOs from companies in the automotive, banking and finance, energy, and technology sectors have made statements condemning the insurrection as an assault on American democracy and calling for a peaceful transfer of power from President Trump to President Biden. This includes statements by the American Petroleum Institute, Business Roundtable, and US Chamber of Commerce, along with other industry groups.

On 8 January 2021, Twitter banned Donald Trump's account permanently “due to the risk of further incitement of violence”. Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitch suspended the President's accounts and Amazon, Apple, and Google suspended right-wing social media platform Parler for allegedly allowing postings that seek to incite ongoing violence. Parler filed a lawsuit against Amazon in response.

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