The First 2 Weeks of 2021

Sophie Nguyen, Staff Writer|January 15, 2021

Flipping wooden cubes for new year change 2020 to 2021. New year change and starting concept.

It has only been 2 weeks since we gladly closed the door on 2020 and opened a new one for 2021, optimistic of what the new year could bring despite the chaos of the past 12 months. It turns out we might have jinxed ourselves as the first 2 weeks of 2020 have been anything but peaceful. Covering everything would make for an extremely long article, so here is a slight overview of the craziness that is 2021 so far.

A Trump riot in Washington D.C.

Starting with the most obvious event is the protest turned capital-storming riot in favor of President Donald Trump. On January 6, 2020, while Congress was still in session, a massive group of Trump supporters rallied at the Capital in support of Trump’s efforts to recount/change the electoral college tallies.

The protest quickly turned violent, resulting in the supporters breaking through the fenced barriers and scaling the Capital Building’s walls and storming inside. There is much criticism surrounding this riot from both parties and many questioning, including myself, why the response towards these Trump supporters was not on the same scale as it was for Black Lives Matter. Both Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have labeled these rioters as domestic terrorists. More on this topic can be read from the articles written by Taryn Crowley, Mary Routh, and Kristen Cooper.

An attempt to intimidate the Washington Governor

Continuing the news of Trump supporters protesting, a group of supporters broke through the fence of Washington (state) Governor Inslee’s mansion in Olympia, Washington, with some of the supporters armed. The protestors remained in a roughly 30 minute standoff on the lawn with law enforcement before deciding to leave, not wanting to risk being arrested. According to Inslee, he and his wife were at an unknown safe location are “doing just fine.” In response events that occurred at his residence, he stated, “Those acts of intimidation will not succeed in any way, shape or form. We will continue the work we are doing to protect the health of Wa

shingtonians.”

The Georgia runoff election

In other political news, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock have won the Georgia Senate runoff election, making Ossoff the first Jewish Senator of Georgia and Warnock the first African-American Senator of Georgia. This is a major victory for the Democrats as now they have control of the Senate.

Twitter bans Trump’s account

The social network of Twitter has decided to permanently ban Donald Trump’s twitter account. According to Twitter, “After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” Other social media apps have done similar actions, such as Facebook and Instagram, both of which banned Donald Trump for 24 hours. Youtube tweeted on January 7, “Due to the disturbing events that transpired yesterday, and given that the election results have now been certified, starting today *any* channels posting new videos with false claims in violation of our policies will now receive a strike.”

Democrats introduce an article of impeachment against Donald Trump

Due to Donald Trump’s role of incitement of the dangerous events that occurred last week, Democrats have announced that a vote on the article will proceed to the House if Mike Pence does not invoke the power of the 25th Amendment to remove the President from office. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi stated, “The president represents an imminent threat to our constitution, our country and the American people, and he must be removed from office immediately.” If this does follow through, this will be the first time a U.S. President has been impeached twice.

Kim Kardashian West preparing to divorce Kanye West

Completely switching to news in pop culture, there are stories circulating whether or not reality star and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian West is filing for divorce from rapper husband Kany

e West. While there has not been an official announcement made yet, according to People and Page Six, and insider source stated that the couple is in settlement talks and living separate lives. There has been more suspicion pointed toward this topic as Kim Kardashian posted a picture on her instagram with her not wearing her wedding ring. With much being revealed this past year regarding Kanye’s bipolar disorder and struggling mental health, it is not surprising to hear stories about their marriage being on the rocks

CFP National Championship: Ohio State vs. Alabama

On January 11, 2020, Nick Saban won his sixth national title with the Crimson Tide, making it Alabama’s 18th national title in the program’s history. Alabama dominated the national championship game, ending with a score of 52-24 — concluding the season 13-0. Some of the players who seemed unstoppable were Mac Jones (QB), Najee Harris (RB), and Heisman winner Devonta Smith (WR). Mac Jones finished the night completing 36 of 45 passes for 464 yards and five touchdowns. Najee Harris concluded the game with 3 touchdowns, totaling with an SEC record of 30 touchdowns this season. Heisman winner Devonta Smith was unstoppable with 12 catches and 3 touchdowns before exiting the field early third quarter with a hand injury.