White House

First Lady Melania Trump's first public reaction to the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is to call for peace and unity -- but her remarks might feel a tad ... too little, too late.

FLOTUS published a statement Monday on the White House's website titled, "Our Path Forward." She starts out by talking about COVID and eventually builds to the siege a few graphs in ... after sending condolences to people who died during the attempted coup -- including Ashli Babbit, Officer Brian Sicknick and others.

Finally, Melania says this ... "I am disappointed and disheartened with what happened last week." Rather than go straight into condemning the violence and illegal actions of the rioters, she first shames folks for "salacious gossip, unwarranted personal attacks, and false misleading accusations on me."

After prefacing her comments and then saying the country must heal in a civil manner ... MT, at last, gets to these crucial words ... "Make no mistake about it, I absolutely condemn the violence that has occurred on our Nation’s Capitol. Violence is never acceptable."

She goes on to explain she values the right of free speech, adding with that in mind ... folks should pause and look at things from all perspectives. Melania then says she implores for people to stop the violence and to come together as Americans.

Melania also uses her letter as a farewell, saying that it's been an honor to serve as First Lady -- and that she's grateful for those who supported her and Donald these past 4 years.

Our nation's capital will be swarming with National Guard forces ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration ... after being absent for much of the failed coup.

The National Guard says it's increasing boots on the ground in D.C. to at least 10,000 troops by Saturday, drastically beefing up security 4 days before Biden moves into the White House.

National Guard troops made their presence known Monday, assembling in front of the Capitol ... 5 days after a mob overwhelmed the grossly under-deployed U.S. Capitol Police and stormed the building where Congress was voting to certify the election results.

Monday was a small show of force compared to what's to come by this weekend, and, additionally, protective fencing is going up all around the Capitol.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just laid her party's plan for removing President Trump from office ... and the ball is moving quick, with a 24-hour deadline for VP Mike Pence to act.

Pelosi sent a letter Sunday to her fellow Dems, and she says that on Monday ... the Majority Leader in the House, Rep. Steny Hoyer, will ask for unanimous consent on a resolution demanding Pence assemble the other cabinet members, and invoke the 25th Amendment on Trump ... which would remove him from his post, and have Pence in as acting Prez.

If they meet any roadblocks in getting that unanimous consent, Speaker Pelosi says they'll bring it to a floor vote on Tuesday. She also says this, "We are calling on the Vice President to respond within 24 hours."

So, yeah ... clock's ticking for the Veep -- who has reportedly not ruled out invoking the 25th Amendment if Trump continues to incite violence and act erratically in these final weeks.

There's more from Pelosi too ... in her letter, she says if Pence stonewalls on invoking the 25th Amendment, the House will begin impeachment proceedings later this week. She says, "In protecting our Constitution and our Democracy, we will act with urgency, because this President represents an imminent threat to both."

The moment the Trump mob was strong-arming its way into the Capitol can now be seen from a new, frightening view -- where a fallen police officer getting pummeled on the ground.

Check out this gruesome clip of insurrectionists breaking into an opening on a side entrance to the building, which was being guarded by a line of cops in tactical gear ... one of whom ended up laid out on the ground, face first ... right at the feet of rioters.

The crowd showed him no mercy ... immediately trampling him, bludgeoning him with objects and projectiles, dragging him down the steps they were storming -- pretty much having their way with his limp body as his colleagues tried pulling him away.

There's even an overhead shot of the scene, and it's absolutely surreal. You hear someone off-camera yell, "Get that motherf***** out of there! Take him out!"

Now, there've been rumors this officer might've been the one who was killed -- Officer Brian Sicknick, who died from injuries he sustained during the siege -- but that has NOT been confirmed. Some social media users say this officer is actually with Metro D.C., not Capitol Police, but again ... we haven't been able to confirm.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says those involved in the Capitol coup attempt could easily have killed dozens of U.S. lawmakers ... so she's in no mood for calls to forgive and forget.

AOC is strongly vocalizing the fears she and her colleagues in Congress had -- that the insurrectionists came with deadly intentions. She told ABC on Sunday ... "We came close to half of the House nearly dying on Wednesday."

The Congresswoman was among those hurriedly evacuated when the mob first breached the Capitol ... and she's clearly referring to photos of rioters with zip ties, and the fact cops found explosive devices around the Capitol.

Her point is this was no peaceful protest, and everyone involved has to be prosecuted for the country to begin healing. AOC said, "We must have accountability because without it, it will happen again."

President Trump's call for unity after the failed coup hasn't found its way to the suburbs just yet ... this Ohio homeowner missed the memo, and he's got a new way to irk neighbors.

Check out these yard signs sitting outside a home in a Cleveland suburb ... we're told the signage went up Thursday in response to the deadly siege on the Capitol.

The brainchild behind the signs is taking applications for new friends, with some very specific criteria ... and he could use spelling lessons after trying to call out what he sees as hypocrisy from folks who are disgusted by what went down in D.C.

We're told folks in the neighborhood are pissed over the yard signs ... these are just the latest examples of what's been displayed in this yard during Trump's presidency. You can see some of his prior greatest hits.

President Trump might have to resort to opening a MySpace account to be "online" -- because the guy can't get bandwidth anywhere else right now ... not even on Shopify.

DT has been banned from a handful of social media apps and social networking websites well beyond Twitter and Facebook/Instagram -- which booted him earlier this week after they say he used their platforms to incite a violent insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.

Since then ... even more companies have taken steps to keep their pages Trump-free, including some you never thought the Prez might use, be it posting or consuming.

Among those that've blocked/restricted Trump and/or Trump content -- Pinterest (for #StoptheSteal items), Shopify (for MAGA and other related merch), Twitch (no more Trump live streams), Snapchat (gone is Trump's account), Reddit (the r/The_Donald thread is dead) and even TikTok (which Trump was trying to ban himself, ironically enough).

Remember, Twitter pulled the plug permanently on Trump's Twitter account -- his go-to platform the past several years -- citing further potential calls to violence, directly or indirectly ... this after Trump's 12-hour suspension expired, and he tweeted to his "patriots" yet again.

Twitter's move to boot him for good also came after Facebook/Instagram did something similar ... suspending his account indefinitely, at least until Biden's inauguration is done.

There is one place Trump could possibly turn to in order to get his voice on the Internet again -- Parler (a social networking site/app that caters to the extreme right) is still open for business ... but it too is at risk of getting blacklisted on mainstream app stores.

Google already nixed it entirely -- meaning you can't download it anymore if you're an Android user -- but Apple hasn't done so yet. On Friday, they gave Parler a 24-hour deadline to provide stricter guidelines about regulating posts ... but, it's still available as of now.

Donald Trump is getting booted all over the place in the wake of his role in the Capitol insurrection ... the latest is that Wagner College has taken back his honorary degree.

The College announced Friday night it's rescinded the degree it bestowed on Trump back in 2004.

The Board of Trustees didn't say why the change of heart, but other than the folks on the International Space Station, everyone else knows exactly why.

Trump gave the graduation speech in 2004, with then-fiancee Melania by his side. The honor coincided with the first season of "The Apprentice," which was a big hit at the time.

It's the second degree that has been yanked from Trump's portfolio. Lehigh University in Pennsylvania revoked Trump's honorary degree a few days ago. He received it in 1988.

The Prez of the University called the riot a "violent assault on the foundations of our democracy," and they clearly felt Trump incited it.

And, as you know, Trump's been banned from his social megaphone -- aka Twitter.

The FBI WANTS YOUR HELP in finding these 10 people whom they say are insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol.

The feds want this wanted poster, so to speak, plastered everywhere so everyone can be their eyes and ears to find these suspected rioters in the attempted coup that left 5 people dead.

There were so many people who breached the Capitol the FBI is rolling out its WANTED posters gradually ... catch 10, post 10 more.

The man suspected of placing bombs at the DNC and the RNC headquarters in D.C was also captured on camera by the FBI.

Numerous arrests have already been made, including the guy who mugged for the camera in Nancy Pelosi's office.

President Trump no longer has to worry about character counts or typos in his tweets, because Twitter has deemed him too dangerous for its app ... and booted him PERMANENTLY.

Twitter made the call Friday to ban the outgoing Prez, after temporarily suspending him earlier this week following his comments about the Capitol riots he's accused of inciting.

According to Twitter ... it's now a permanent ban for Trump "due to the risk of further incitement of violence."

The decision comes after Facebook and Instagram also extended Trump's suspensions from one day to indefinite.

Twitter says ... "In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on  Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action."

It then claimed 2 of Trump's tweets from Friday were the last straw in its decision to pull the plug on his account. The first tweet read ... "The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!"

This was followed up by Trump tweeting that he would not be attending the inauguration on Jan. 20.

So, Twitter came to this conclusion -- "Due to the ongoing tensions in the United States, and an uptick in the global conversation in regards to the people who violently stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, these two Tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President’s statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks."

It comes as no surprise after his actions this week, but President Trump is finally saying what we've suspected -- he will not attend the Inauguration of Joe Biden.

It's the first time since Andrew Johnson an outgoing U.S. President will not be attending the inauguration of the President-elect. Trump tweeted, "To all those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration."

Of course, there's still a slim chance he won't even be POTUS by that time, as some members of Congress met after the Capitol riots about invoking the 25th amendment to remove him from office ... and there are impeachment talks again too.

This after Trump was accused of inciting the storming of the Capitol, and his initial failure to condemn the rioters ... instead choosing to say he loved the insurrectionists and calling them special.

If Trump sticks with his plan ... he'll join John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Johnson as the only presidents to refuse to accompany the incoming Prez.

Vice President Mike Pence is expected to attend Biden's inauguration.

CNN's Bakari Sellers says America needs to look in the mirror after rioters waving Confederate flags ran through the halls of Congress because it says a lot about our country.

Bakari joined us on "TMZ Live" Friday and discussed one of the lasting images from Wednesday's attempted coup ... insurrectionists storming the Capitol waving Confederate flags and Trump flags.

It's a sight we haven't seen in 200 years -- a foreign flag paraded inside the Capitol -- and Bakari suggests the size of the mob that pulled it off proves this IS America ... or at least a painfully large part of it.

While President-elect Joe Biden says the chaos at the Capitol "does not represent who we are," Bakari thinks Biden and the rest of America have to admit it is so the country can move forward and find a way to coexist.

Race is a big factor in the way cops handled Wednesday's coup, especially when juxtaposed against the way law enforcement dealt with the BLM protests after George Floyd's death .. so says, Sheriff Chris Swanson.

Sheriff Swanson, who famously put down his baton and helmet to join BLM protesters in solidarity this summer in Michigan's Flint Township, joins us on "TMZ Live" Friday to give his perspective on the Capitol riots from the eyes of law enforcement.

He says there's no denying -- as Michelle Obama pointed out -- police handled the situation with pro-Trump protesters much differently than they did last summer with BLM demonstrators.

Sherriff Swanson says the way Capitol Police lines were breached so easily is evidence of personal biases among officers ... and he says if that happened on his watch, he would be handing out pink slips left and right, with an eye toward criminal prosecution.

He also thinks police should be better prepared for protests, and not by loading up on riot gear ... he says it's not about responding to chaos, but getting to know the community. Remember, he did this back in Michigan and was widely praised for it.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter wants to see the rioters who stormed the Capitol get more than a slap on the wrist ... she says letting them off easy sends the wrong message.

Bernice King tells TMZ ... she's disturbed the pro-Trump rioters had almost free reign when they laid siege on the Capitol ... a very different reaction from the one her father's peaceful marchers got back in the day in D.C.

MLK's youngest child tells us she's baffled how rioters were able to move through the Capitol without much resistance -- they were in the House and Senate chambers, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, everywhere -- and then they just walked out the front door.

Like Michelle Obama and others, Bernice wonders how the rioters would have been treated if they were Black Lives Matter supporters. She's not really wondering ... she knows.

President Trump's Twitter suspension is over, and his first tweet is a video message of unity, peace and a promise the Capitol insurrectionists will be brought to justice. What a difference 36 hours makes.

In the video, shot at the White House, the President says he was outraged by the "violence, lawlessness and mayhem" seen Wednesday. Trump claims he "immediately" deployed the National Guard once the attack started -- but there's plenty of proof that just wasn't the case.

The troops didn't arrive until several hours after Senators and Representatives were forced to flee in fear for their lives.

Trump is now saying his only goal in challenging the election results was to ensure the integrity of the vote and defend American democracy. Of course, his words to his assembled crowd of followers yesterday were far more incendiary.

Interestingly, today's message included a vow to punish those responsible for the attack -- whom he softly refers to as "intruders" -- but yesterday he said "we love you."

Trump also verbalized, for the first time, what was essentially a concession ... saying a new administration will be inaugurated on January 20 and his focus is on a smooth and orderly transition of power.

Finally, Trump wrapped it up, saying his single term as President was the honor of his lifetime, but added ... "our incredible journey is only just beginning."

The U.S. Capitol Police Dept. may have been able to thwart Wednesday's attempted coup if it had all hands on deck, but we've learned they had less than ONE-QUARTER of the force working ... despite multiple, clear warnings the protest could turn violent.

Capitol Police sources tell TMZ ... 500 officers were working Wednesday as President Trump revved up the huge crowd of his supporters upset over the election results -- giving them their marching orders with the Capitol as the final destination. Trump has been dog-whistling for weeks now, promising something big would happen on January 6.

With that backdrop, the Capitol Police are 2,200 strong, yet only 500 were on duty. The way it works in most police departments around the country ... when there's the possibility of social unrest it's all hands on deck. That did not happen here.

Our source says the police believed they had enough staff to contain any unrest ... by setting up barricades and locking up the 3 House office buildings -- the Cannon, Longworth and Rayburn Buildings. The sad fact ... they were grossly understaffed.

Even worse, we're told when the cops on duty were instructed to start deploying tear gas to clear the rioters ... they were not given masks or proper protective equipment. This resulted in many officers becoming debilitated themselves ... meaning even fewer police were at the ready to contain the insurrection.

We're told when it became obvious things were completely out of control, several Capitol Police officers who work the night crew made their way to the Hill to help out ... but by then, according to one Capitol Police source, it already felt like "Olympus Has Fallen."

Rep. Karen Bass of California -- who was in the Capitol Building at the time of the invasion -- is shocked and appalled at the security breach ... and not necessarily buying Capitol Police excuses.

She suggests -- like many others -- the insurrection was made possible by the lax treatment of Trump's supporters, and she believes if a similar situation arose with BLM protesters ... they would have dealt with it in a vastly different, more violent way.

White House Correspondent for TheGrio April Ryan has a slightly different take, but it still doesn't reflect kindly on the Capitol Police. She tells us they acted like keystone cops during the failed coup attempt, but feels it's par for the course.

She says the grotesque images will be long remembered around the country and the world, and there needs to be a drastic revamp of the Capitol Police Dept. to protect the building and its occupants from terrorists ... both domestic and foreign.

We were even told cops were not allowed to take time off from January 5-7 and a plan was being implemented to have a heavy police presence in the area -- both uniformed and in street clothes. It makes it even more puzzling why the full complement of cops wasn't there.

On the bright side -- the FBI is on the hunt for the rioters ... as Rep. Bass says they should be.