At the heels of President Joe Biden’s inauguration, many are commemorating one of the most notable changing of the guards in history. Though former President Donald Trump was (thankfully) absent from Wednesday’s events, several key speakers and celebrities kicked off celebrations. After Lady Gaga slayed the National Anthem (holding a matching gold microphone, no less), Jennifer Lopez sang a medley of patriotic classics, and Garth Brooks also took the stage — as tradition entails. But the performer whose words moved people the most was Amanda Gorman, the youngest inauguration poet in U.S. history.

The 22-year-old, who was the Youth Poet Laureate of 2017, performed a piece called “The Hill We Climbed.” It was incoming first lady, Dr. Jill Biden, who recommended Gorman read at the inauguration, and her piece kept with the theme of the day: unity and hope.

According to Gorman, she wrote a few lines of her poem per day instead of trying to write the entire poem in one go. “I had this huge thing, probably one of the most important things I’ll ever do in my career,” she said in an interview with the New York Times. “It was like, if I try to climb this mountain all at once, I’m just going to pass out.” 

WATCH: Amanda Gorman, the youngest #inauguration poet in memory, reads “The Hill We Climb” https://t.co/EaFquuDvue pic.twitter.com/o9aGL60XHZ

— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) January 20, 2021

By January 6, the day of the insurrection at the Capitol, Gorman was halfway through writing the piece. She stayed up that night finishing it. Of that surreal day, Gorman wrote, “We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it, would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy. And this effort very nearly succeeded. But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated.”

She even threw in some Hamilton references, quoting from George Washington’s farewell song, “One Last Time.” “Everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree and no one shall make them afraid.” She also quoted the line, “History has its eyes on us.”

But Gorman was not willing to look away from hard realities. “In my poem, I’m not going to in any way gloss over what we’ve seen over the past few weeks and, dare I say, the past few years. But what I really aspire to do in the poem is to be able to use my words to envision a way in which our country can still come together and can still heal,” she told the Times. “It’s doing that in a way that is not erasing or neglecting the harsh truths I think America needs to reconcile with.”

Gorman is set to have a big year. In addition to gaining a national audience following her inauguration performance, Gorman will release two books in September. Her debut poetry collection, which shares a title with her inauguration poem, will be released for teen and adult readers. The same day, her debut picture book, called Change Sings, will also be released.

Somehow we weathered and witnessed
A nation that isn’t broken
but simply unfinished
There is always light
if only we’re brave enough to see it
if only we’re brave enough to be it.

— Amanda Gorman

— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) January 20, 2021

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Trump's Final Note For Biden Is Being Memed

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On Donald Trump’s last day as president, he announced 73 pardons and granted 70 other people clemency — a long-awaited list that people knew was coming, but could only speculate about who would be included. The pardons were a slew of last-minute moves Trump made the day before Biden’s inauguration, and while some of the names were unsurprising, the outgoing president still provided plenty of baffling people on his list.

Shockingly, Trump’s personal lawyer and main mouthpiece for the debunked claims of a fraudulent election, Rudy Giuliani, was not on the list, nor were any members of the Trump family. Also not on the list was Joe Maldonado aka Joe Exotic, whose team was so hopeful he would be granted a pardon that they had a limousine pickup truck waiting down the street from the prison. Plenty of others, however, did receive pardons.

One of the biggest mysteries was whether Trump would pardon Steve Bannon, his estranged former chief strategist. Bannon was indicted on fraud charges for allegedly scamming donors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars for his “We Build The Wall” campaign, which promised to build a wall along the southern border of the U.S. The wall was obviously never built, but the campaign raised $25 million nonetheless and Bannon was accused of taking $1 million for personal use. Trump ultimately did decide to pardon him. The White House said Bannon “has been an important leader in the conservative movement and is known for his political acumen” when they announced his pardon.

Another more eyebrow-raising pardon went to musician Lil Wayne. In recent months, the rapper had come out in support of Trump’s re-election campaign. Last year, Lil Wayne pleaded guilty to illegally carrying a handgun and ammunition on a private jet in 2019. Because he had a prior gun conviction, he was facing up to 10 years in prison for the crime. Trump pardoned another rapper, too — Kodak Black — who was scheduled to 46 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to a weapons charge in 2019.

Other notable names on the list included Paul Erickson, the former boyfriend of the Russian operative Maria Butina. Erickson was sentenced to 84 months in prison on wire fraud and money laundering charges related to a business deal in North Dakota oil fields. The White House explained Erickson’s pardon by claiming that “Mr. Erickson’s conviction was based off the Russian collusion hoax.”

While Trump has used his time in office to pardon liars and crooks, many of the names on the list of people who received clemency were serving life sentences for non-violent drug or fraud charges. They were people who had, in many cases, been seeking clemency for years and their names had been suggested to Trump by a group of criminal justice reform advocates that included Alice Marie Johnson. Johnson had been granted clemency by Trump in 2018, after her case had been championed by Kim Kardashian.

Ultimately, Trump’s list of pardons were emblematic of the legacy he left behind: he supports the people who support him, and he’s willing to overlook dangerous and damaging crimes to maintain that support. That’s Trump’s legacy — even down to the people he chose to pardon.

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Trump's Last Words As President: Have A Good Life

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All eyes have been on the Trump family after a mob of the president’s supporters breached the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. First Lady Melania Trump’s long-time Chief of Staff resigned, Ivanka sent (and deleted) a tweet calling the insurgents “American patriots,” and Eric Trump had a very memorable birthday. But also coming under fire is the extended Trump family — including supermodel, Project Runway host, and girlboss entrepreneur Karlie Kloss, who is married to Joshua Kushner, the brother of Ivanka’s husband, Jared.

During Wednesday’s insurrection, Kloss tweeted: “Accepting the results of a legitimate democratic election is patriotic. Refusing to do so and inciting violence is anti-American.” In response, a Twitter user suggested she share that sentiment with her brother- and sister-in-law, to which Kloss responded, “I’ve tried.” She received criticism for her tepid response, with many people pointing out that Kloss could (and should) have done much more than “try” — she could (and should) openly disavow them, their actions, and their beliefs.

Tavi Gevinson — writer, actor, and founder of Rookie magazine — had particularly strong words for Kloss, laying into her regarding her silence and pointing out the hypocrisy of attempting to make money off a “Resistance Barbie” brand while refusing to take a firm stand against fascism and the way her family members are responsible for participating in it. What Kloss meant to say, Gevinson intimated, is that Kloss has “no real interest” in using her platform and proximity to political power “so much as maintaining a watery ‘feminist’ liberal brand,” while not wanting to jeopardize her relationship with the Trump family and the Kushner family.

.@tavitulle on karlie kloss 🔥 pic.twitter.com/PeMV96cJpI

— rona akbari (@theronalisa) January 7, 2021

Gevinson went on to point out that Kloss has had over four years to explicitly identify the threat that her in-laws pose to the country, yet instead chose to paint their disagreements as simply differing political views, rather than calling out the white supremacist ideology that her in-laws have championed.

This isn’t the first time Kloss has been called out for her family connections and responded in an inadequately forceful way. “I’m sure I’m not the only person in this country who doesn’t necessarily agree with their family on politics,” she told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live in January 2020, while citing her history of volunteering with Planned Parenthood. “I voted as a Democrat in 2016 and I plan to do the same in 2020.”

This also is not the first time Gevinson has called Kloss out, referring to her as “a joke” in Instagram comments last year after Kloss posted an image advocating for people to have conversations in their own families about racism. While it’s unclear what the relationship between Kloss and her sister-in-law is like behind closed doors, Ivanka attended Kloss and Kushner’s wedding and shouted Kloss out on social media after she became the host of Project Runway in 2017.

Kloss’s bland statements against Trump are not now and never were enough. She has chosen to remain as inoffensive and neutral as possible so she can profit off her image as a member of the pink pussy hat resistance while not alienating those with more right-leaning politics who might want to spend money on items from her Adidas line or support her girls’ coding organization. But her husband’s brother and his wife are fascists, and Kloss has a platform and, therefore, a responsibility to disavow them explicitly .

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What Did Jared Kushner Do This Time?

Ivanka Trump Called Capitol Attackers "Patriots"

Eric Trump Takes Being A Sore Loser To New Heights

Just as quickly as we saw MAGA-ites terrorizing the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, Trump supporters from around the country began pointing fingers away from the true culprits. In an attempt to rewrite the narrative and shift blame away from the president and his disciples, GOP lawmakers and right-wing media are blaming Antifa (Anti-Fascism) for the insurrection and terror that occurred on Capitol Hill. But while the identities of everyone who wreaked havoc yesterday are not yet known, there were plenty familiar faces and iconography displayed that made it incredibly clear who was behind the attempted coup — and it certainly wasn’t Antifa.

“Please, don’t be like #FakeNewsMedia, don’t rush to judgment on assault on Capitol. Wait for investigation. All may not be (and likely is not) what appears,” tweeted Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL-5). “Evidence growing that fascist ANTIFA orchestrated Capitol attack with clever mob control tactics.” Lin Wood, a pro-Trump attorney who believes in the delusional QAnon conspiracy, also sent several tweets claiming Antifa was inside the Capitol. Some of those tweets included photos — photos that clearly showed men who are well-known white nationalists and QAnon believers. Meanwhile, mass rumors circulated that busloads of Antifa members were being brought to the Capitol for the assault on democracy.

The thing is, none of this is true. Apart from the Antifa boogeyman being a convenient excuse to lay blame, The New York Times, Snopes, Buzzfeed News, Politifact, and even right-wing pseudo-journalist Andy Ngo have debunked all claims that any outside agitators were responsible for the chaos and violence that descended on Washington, D.C. Wednesday. And the proof is in the pictures: Among those photographed inside the Capitol are Jake Angeli, known as the “Q Shaman” for the costumes he wears to MAGA protests; Tim Gionet, a white supremacist better known as “Baked Alaska;” and white nationalist Jason Tankersley. 

It doesn’t stop there, either: The man pictured with his feet up at Nancy Pelosi’s desk gave his name and age to a New York Times reporter — his name is Richard Barnett of Arkansas, and The Washington Post reported that he wrote on Facebook that he was a “white nationalist” who was prepared to die violently. The woman who was shot and killed has posted language consistent with QAnon on social media. The man pictured carrying Pelosi’s podium was identified by the Bradenton Herald as Adam Johnson, 36, of Bradenton, Florida. One man brazenly wore his work ID badge into the building and was terminated from his job after photos surfaced. Hell, they’re even using dating apps to advertise their trips to D.C.

In fact, the event was so well-coordinated that there was merch sold for the occasion. Some attendees were photographed wearing shirts that said “MAGA” at the top, the words “CIVIL WAR” underneath, and the date: January 6, 2021. White nationalist groups, MAGA supporters, QAnon believers, and Trump loyalists have been openly posting online for weeks planning the event, in which they literally discussed the invasion of the Capitol to protest the results of the election — results that had been shown over and over again to be legitimate.

“hmm i wonder if they planned this” pic.twitter.com/GiwWjaGqAf

— avery 💫 (@SUNSETSAPPHICS) January 7, 2021

The absurdity of trying to blame a violent, white supremacist-fueled insurrection on Antifa is that the real perpetrators of the violence are not exactly trying to conceal their identities. They didn’t even try to conceal their plans on social media or other public forums. The truth is easily accessible for anyone who wants to find it.

But there’s also plenty of irony in Fox News and their ilk crying “violence” all summer while Black Lives Matter protests peacefully assembled across the country to now trying to pin actual violence on members of faceless mobs of Antifa and “anarchists” (something none of them could correctly define if their lives depended on it). But it should be expected. After all, we saw a smaller version of this over the summer when armed white nationalists occupied the Michigan State House (a “Michigan for Trump” flag could be seen outside the Capitol during Wednesday’s violence).

While news anchors and establishment politicians (we see you, Sarah Palin) sit around asking how the events of Wednesday were allowed to happen and how law enforcement in the capital failed to see it coming, the people who have been studying and taking seriously the threat of fascism for years already know: they saw it coming and chose not to act, because they are complicit. The results of Wednesday are not at the hands of the left, they were the predictable result of the seeds of hate sown by President Trump.

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Cops Are Taking Selfies With Violent Rioters

America Is Not Better Than This. It's Who We Are

Here's Where The Proud Boys Are In Today's Riot

On Wednesday, Trump supporters mobbed the U.S. Capitol in an attempted coup. During the insurrection, members of far-right groups and right-wing extremists breached the building, destroyed property, broke into Speaker Pelosi’s office and stole mail — and mostly walked out free and unscathed. One woman was shot and killed, though very few details around the shooting are currently available. And the mob was incited and egged on by the president himself, both prior to their march to the Capitol and in a video posted to Twitter during the act of terror.

By the end of the night, Congress members had been released from the undisclosed locations where they had been sheltering after an armed standoff at the door of the Senate chambers earlier in the day. In eerie fashion, Congress returned to session, certifying the election for Joe Biden.

But among the “business as usual” feel of the proceedings, discussions online and on cable news channels began to turn to the 25th Amendment and whether Vice President Mike Pence should invoke it. Nearly 100 members of Congress have now called for Trump’s removal, whether through impeachment or the invocation of the 25th Amendment, including Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA-06), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-13), and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI).

”Let me be very clear: if all we do is accept the certified Electoral College results and go home, we would have failed our country. We must impeach Trump, or have the 25th Amendment execute, or have @realDonaldTrump resign,” tweeted Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA-33). “Congress cannot just go home like nothing happened.” So what happens if the 25th Amendment is actually invoked? 

The 25th Amendment mostly exists to clarify the order of succession, should something happen to the president. For example, if the president dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to carry out their duties, the 25th Amendment makes clear that the vice president becomes president immediately. It also says that the president can be removed from office if the vice president and the majority of the cabinet determines they are “unable to discharge the powers and duties” of the office. In the case that the president contests this conclusion, Congress can order the president’s removal from office with a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate.

But let’s be clear: this is probably not what’s going to happen next. The invocation and execution of the 25th Amendment is a more difficult process than impeachment. Vice President Pence and a majority of the cabinet would first have to provide a written declaration to the president pro tempore of the Senate (Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah) and the speaker of the House (Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin) that President Trump unable to fulfill his duties as president, which would immediately strip him of the powers of his office and make Pence acting president. And it’s still not that simple.

Trump can send his own declaration to Sen. Hatch and Rep. Ryan disagreeing with the assertion, which would allow him to resume his duties. Pence and the cabinet would then have up to four days to send yet another declaration repeating their conclusion that Trump is unable to perform his duties which would again allow Pence to take over. Congress would then have 48 hours to assemble and vote within 21 days. If two-thirds of both chambers agree, then Trump would be stripped of his title; if the two-thirds vote fails, Trump resumes the presidency.

If it invoked, it would make it the first time in history that it was used to strip a sitting president of his powers (the other times it has been invoked followed Richard Nixon’s resignation and for temporary periods while other presidents underwent medical procedures).

Given the constraints of the current situation — there are only 13 days left in Trump’s term, Republicans in Congress have shown themselves to be spineless thus far, and Trump just this morning committed to a peaceful transfer of power — execution of the 25th Amendment is unlikely to be successful. After telling violent domestic terrorists that broke into the Capitol that he “loves” them, Trump made a statement (not via Twitter, because he has been temporarily locked out of his account) saying: “Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th.”

While the 25th amendment will likely not be invoked, calls for impeachment are still loud, and, if that fails, we only have less than two weeks before a new president is installed. 

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Cops Are Taking Selfies With Violent Rioters

What We Know About The Capitol Attack So Far

Here's Where The Proud Boys Are In Today's Riot

On Wednesday, supporters of President Donald Trump violently descended on the nation’s capital for their “Stop The Steal” protest. The planned event was intended for MAGA-ites and right-wing Americans to express their outrage over the fact that they believe Democrats stole the election from President Trump, despite absolutely no evidence to back up those claims. As white supremacists and extremists from across the country arrived at the Capitol Building, all hell broke loose — the building was breached and protesters ended up inside, occupying the Capitol and causing members of Congress to lockdown in their offices, in what CNN is calling “an armed insurrection” and “an attempted coup” by the President’s supporters.

Featured prominently at the Stop the Steal protest were the Proud Boys — a white supremacist militia group who President Trump has given shoutouts to before, explicitly telling members to “stand back and stand by” during the first presidential debate. The group is known to be friendly with police, though Tuesday night, protesters got in a massive fight with officers ahead of Wednesday’s demonstration.

I’ve seen less than a 100 people get tear gassed and bull-rushed in Portland for protesting at a police precinct. Proud Boys storm the Capitol? Nah. https://t.co/B50BLKJOhA

— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) January 6, 2021

He told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.”

He’s encouraged violence repeatedly.

So destructive. https://t.co/g8UiVdX5mK

— Stephen Hayes (@stephenfhayes) January 6, 2021

So, where exactly have the Proud Boys been in all of this chaos? According to VICE News reporter Tess Owen, who is on the ground at the protest, members of the Proud Boys planned to wear disguises to the event today. However, that presented a tactical concern for the group, who apparently could not locate each other due to their obscured identities. Images of extremist protestors inside the Capitol building have been widely circulated, though it’s not yet clear, based on their disguises, who belongs to this particular extremist group.

The protest also comes just one day after Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio was arraigned and banned from Washington, D.C. for allegedly burning a Black Lives Matter banner that was taken from a historic Black church during another Stop the Steal protest last month (Tarrio has pleaded not guilty to the charges). Tarrio admitted to The Washington Post that his group had taken the flag, saying, “The sign was taken down because of what it represents.”

When the dust settles on the mob that stormed the Capitol, it might become more clear exactly how much of a role the Proud Boys themselves played in the event. One thing is certain, however: they heeded Trump’s advice to “stand by,” showing up to support their President by whatever means necessary.

This is an ongoing story. We will update this post as we know more.

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What We Know About The Capitol Attack So Far

Eric Trump Takes Being A Sore Loser To New Heights

Trump Has Some A Conspiracy Theory About Georgia

All eyes were on Georgia Tuesday night, and the United States woke up to the news that the Democrats were poised to take both seats in the runoff election: Rev. Raphael Warnock (D) defeated Kelly Loeffler (R), while Jon Ossoff (D) is on track to beat David Perdue (R). It was all thanks to hard-working organizers, who officially flipped the state — and therefore the Senate — giving all three branches of political power a new start in 2021.

Now, the Senate is, technically, by a narrow margin, controlled by Democrats. With an equal number of Republican and Democratic Senators , Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, a Democrat, will be the Senate’s tie-breaking vote. This also means swift changes in voting measures, which could happen as early as day one in session. Most Americans likely hope that on the list of priorities for policies to pass on Day 1 is the $2,000 stimulus check payment that was previously rejected by former Senate Majority (now Minority) Leader Mitch McConnell.

So, what’s the status of this proposed plan? Pandemic relief has been stalled and debated for months now. After the initial $1,200 checks went out in April, most Americans did not see any more money from the government until the measly $600 checks went out last month. For those that were receiving the $600 per week unemployment benefits, those ended as well. The question now is, will the Democrats pass the $2,000 stimulus checks and, if so, how soon can Americans expect to actually get it?

The Senate could literally take a vote on their first day in session, which is Wednesday, January 6 and then not again until Wednesday, January 20 — since it was McConnell who was holding up the vote and calling the checks “socialism for rich people.” GOP Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) disagreed, tweeting, “With all due respect to my Republican colleagues, a $2k direct payment for individuals and families who are struggling is not socialism.”

As a reminder, the $2,000 checks have already been voted on and passed the House, meaning it’s the Senate who needs to vote next; they adjourned without voting on the issue. And it didn’t break down along party lines, either: in addition to the Democrats, many Senate Republicans (with a major push from Senator Bernie Sanders) all pushed for the $2,000 checks, as did President Trump.

For the duration, senate Democrats have said that pushing through the $2,000 relief checks is a priority. “President-elect Joe Biden has made clear that the pandemic relief bill that Congress passed is simply a down payment on the work that needs to continue,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), the chair of the House Democratic caucus, said, according to USA TODAY. “We’re going to continue to fight for a $2,000 direct payment check.”

Here’s hoping the Democrats keep their word; $2,000 is the least the government can do to support people who are struggling during the coronavirus pandemic. While that amount likely won’t even cover one month worth of expenses for an average family, it’s better than $600 — and better than nothing at all.

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Just as we are about to put 2020 behind us, reports of overly aggressive squirrels — yes, squirrels — are here to remind us that the year’s not quite over yet.

In one Queens neighborhood, residents are apparently afraid to step outside for fear they will be attacked by the angry tree rodents. The attacks have been happening in Rego Park, on 65th Drive near Fitchett Street where at least five people have been reported being assaulted by squirrels since late November. ABC 7 spoke to several of the victims of these incidents, who reported the assailants being either a single squirrel or a pack of them working together. The residents are supposedly so scared for their safety that some of them have taken to carrying pepper spray when they leave their homes.

“It just basically runs up my leg and I’m like OK squirrel, hello, what are you doing,” Micheline Frederick told the news crew. “He either bit or scratched me on my neck and then I must have reached over and next thing I know, it’s a cage match and I’m losing.” In the loss to her pint-sized opponent, Federick said her hands were bloody and bruised and she went to the hospital to get a rabies shot as a precautionary measure. Photos confirm her injuries.

Frederick, who was attacked on December 21, warned her neighbor, Licia Wang, to look out for the aggressive squirrel. But the warning didn’t help; Wang was also ambushed by a critter. “I tried to shake it off but I couldn’t, squirrels have claws, cling onto your winter jacket, there’s no way to shake it off,” Wang told ABC 7.

Another neighbor, Vinati Singh, described the squirrel as “so fast” and said it hung onto her screen door with its claws. Video shows the squirrel leaping from the screen towards the window where Singh was filming the critter, appearing to be lunging for her face.

The city suggested the neighbors hire their own licensed trapper, which they did. However, squirrels have eluded the traps. As for what is agitating the animals, some experts have theorized that the people might be feeding the squirrels, but the neighborhood residents say that’s not the case. They’ve simply been going about their daily lives and the squirrels have been attacking unprovoked.

Of course agitated squirrel attacks come at the end of a year that brought us a worldwide pandemic, but also more outlandish threats like murder hornets, sinkholes full of rats, and a monkey in India stealing COVID samples. Let’s hope 2021 brings a little less excitement, or maybe by then the aliens will just accept us in their warm embrace.

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On Tuesday, the United States Justice Department announced they would not be pursuing criminal charges against the two officers involved in the 2014 fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, citing insufficient evidence. Rice had been playing with a toy gun in a park in Cleveland, Ohio when officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback shot him within two seconds of arriving on the scene. Rice would have graduated high school in 2020 if he were still alive. But despite the tragedy which has been a major lynchpin in the Black Lives Matter movement over the course of the past several years, the federal government is refusing to hold Rice’s killers accountable within our current legal system.

“In order to establish a federal civil rights violation, the government would have to prove that Officer Loehmann’s actions were unreasonable under the circumstances, and that his actions were willful,” federal attorneys said via a press release. They continued that “an officer is permitted to use deadly force where he reasonably believes that the suspect posed an imminent threat of serious physical harm, either to the officer or to others.” 

In Rice’s case, the 911 caller noted that the person in the park holding the gun was probably a child and that the gun was likely fake, but those notes were not passed to the responding officers before they shot and killed him. In December 2015, a grand jury declined to bring criminal charges against Loehmann and Garmback. Loehmann, who was in field training when he shot Rice, was fired three years after Rice’s death for lying on his job application. He had also been deemed “emotionally unstable” and “unfit for duty,” especially in his handling of firearms, in his previous policing job.

Back in October, the New York Times reported that in 2017, DOJ prosecutors asked to present evidence in this case to a grand jury — a request that was denied in August 2019 — effectively ending the inquiry into the case without actually conducting it. They then waited over a year to officially close the case and tell the public and the Rice family why they decided not to charge the officers in Rice’s death.

But what is the real excuse here? There is video from the scene of Rice’s shooting and, while grainy, clearly shows the two officers pulling up and firing their guns at a child within seconds of arriving. And it’s this lack of accountability — and lack of ability to even bring charges against the officers — that fuel calls to defund and abolish policing as we know it. If officers cannot be held accountable for failing to do even a basic assessment of a scene to prevent shooting a child holding a toy, it’s further evidence that the system cannot be reformed — it must be dismantled.

“It cannot be called the Justice Department if it cannot bring about justice for the murder of 12-year-old Tamir Rice,” Missouri Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush said on Twitter.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley echoed this on Twitter, saying, “There will be no justice. In a just world, Tamir would be here with us. Known by his family and friends for his kind heart, not known by the nation because he was murdered as a child.”

“This case involves the totally unjustified shooting of a 12-year-old child,” Jonathan Abady, the attorney for the Rice family, told CNN, adding that Rice’s mother, Samaria, is consumed by grief and disappointment at the decision. “This is part of a problem that we’ve been living with as a society for as long as anyone can remember, that is the unjustified excessive use of force by police officers against people of color. And the idea that people would not be held accountable for this is really more than upsetting.”

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This year has been a circus when it comes to power and corruption — starting with Trump’s impeachment and ending in Trump’s futile attempt to stay in office. It’s also been rife with comedy: Rudy Giuliani slowly coming unglued at the seams, the TikTok effort to “Save Barron Trump,” and Twitter reaction to Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis in real-time.

If that were all 2020 had to offer, it would already be a strange year, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We’re still in the midst of a pandemic — with hundreds of thousands of Americans losing their lives, and millions more losing their livelihoods. We’ve been invigorated by the social justice awakening that swept the nation. We’ve also seen a bizarre set of criminal cases from the rich, powerful, and just plain weird. We watched Harvey Weinstein (finally) go to jail, Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice try to run from police by climbing out a window and wrapping her cell phone in tin foil, and two tiger-owning eccentrics accuse each other of foul play.

Ahead, we’ve mapped out the most compelling, significant, or downright bizarre crime stories of the year — the ones that prove that fact really is wilder than fiction.

Lori Vallow

In February, the world was introduced to Lori Vallow and her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, after Vallow’s two children, 17-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old J.J. Vallow, were reported missing. Soon enough, details about the case revealed a story that was both sinister and chaotic, and Vallow and Daybell fled their home in Idaho for Hawaii, where they were apprehended. “The only word coming to mind right now is ‘monster,’” J.J.’s grandmother, Kay Woodcock, said at the time.

As the months wore on and Vallow’s children still weren’t found, even more troubling facts emerged. In 1998, Vallow’s 31-year-old sister died unexpectedly. In July 2019, Vallow’s brother Alex Cox, shot and killed Vallow’s fourth husband, Charles Vallow. Several months later, Cox himself died. In October 2019, just a few weeks before Vallow and Daybell were married, Daybell’s ex-wife also died. “You can look at one death as a coincidence,” journalist Ashleigh Banfield said, “but these people have had a trail of deaths that seemed natural, and are now under investigation.”

Keith Raniere & NXIVM

In October, Keith Raniere, leader of the sex cult NXIVM, was sentenced to 120 years in prison for racketeering, sex trafficking, sexual exploitation of a child, and human trafficking. Meanwhile, a month earlier, Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman, NXIVM’s main financier, was sentenced to 81 months in prison for conspiracy.

In addition to providing a legal outcome for the case, 2020 also brought us multiple NXIVM documentaries, including HBO’s The Vow, exposing even more of the bizarre truth behind the infamous group under Raniere’s leadership. Once thought of as simply a pyramid scheme, NXIVM was, upon further investigation, revealed to be a twisted and abusive cult, with leaders who did things like branding women and asking them to sleep with Raniere. At trial, Raniere was accused of keeping NXIVM members as sex slaves, restricting their eating, and preventing them from leaving.

Lori Loughlin & The College Admissions Scandal

Last fall, the scandal dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues” revealed a scam in which the rich and famous paid money to have their children’s college applications doctored to better position them for admission at the schools of their choice. The most high profile of the parents caught in the scam included actress Felicity Huffman, Full House alum Lori Loughlin, and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli.

This year brought us the circus that was Loughlin’s case. In May, after months of preparing for trial, Loughlin and Giannulli agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges. Later that summer, Giannulli was sentenced to five months in prison and Loughlin was sentenced to two months, which was in line with the plea deals they struck. And to close out the year, the couple’s daughter, Olivia Jade, who was at the center of the scandal, finally broke her silence on the debacle when she appeared on Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk.

Ghislaine Maxwell

For years, it had been alleged that Ghislaine Maxwell — disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s former partner — had helped him recruit young girls to traffic and sexually abuse. This summer, she finally faced consequences when she was arrested by the FBI in connection with her participation in Epstein’s operation. She was charged with “transporting a minor for the purposes of criminal sexual activity,” “conspiring to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts,” and perjury regarding statements she made in court in 2016.

But the moments leading up to Maxwell’s arrest were the makings of a future Netflix series. Following Epstein’s arrest and subsequent death in 2019, Maxwell, a British socialite, spent nearly the next year in hiding until she herself was arrested. She was apprehended at her property in Bradford, New Hampshire, which she purchased last December, and apparently had tried to avoid being found by wrapping her cell phone in tin foil. She also reportedly tried to escape out a window when police showed up to her house. 

Joe Exotic & Carole Baskin

The Tiger King series on Netflix took the country by storm in the beginning months of the pandemic, with people both horrified and enthralled by the story of G.W. Zoo owner Joe Exotic (neé Joe Maldonado), the merry band of weirdos who worked for him, and his obsessive rivalry with big cat rescuer Carole Baskin who may or may not have killed her long-missing husband. But Joe Exotic’s story took a turn for the not-so-harmless when the extent of his animal abuse was revealed and he ended up going to prison for a murder-for-hire plot in an attempt to have Baskin killed.

While in prison, Maldonado has had a change of heart regarding keeping animals in captivity, after spending most of his hours behind bars. He has also asked President Trump to pardon him. Word’s still out on whether the president returned his letter.

Harvey Weinstein

One thing 2020 did bring was the long-awaited reckoning of Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood mogul with a history of sexual assault allegations as long as a CVS receipt. In March, a New York judge sentenced Weinstein to 23 years in prison for raping Jessica Mann in 2013 and performing forcible oral sex on Miriam Haley in 2006. In April, shortly after he started serving his New York sentence, he faced a new sexual assault charge in California for an incident that occurred in 2010.

While in prison, Weinstein contracted the coronavirus — twice, apparently — and his health has reportedly taken a turn for the worse. It’s the ultimate fall from grace for the man who once ran Hollywood, but 2020 spared no one.

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Casey Goodson Jr., a 23-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy in Columbus, Ohio last week. Now, for the first time, his mother is speaking out about his death. Tamala Payne, Goodson’s mom, says she wants answers about why her son was shot by Franklin County sheriff’s deputy Jason Meade.

“My son was murdered in cold blood, and we don’t have no answers as to why he was murdered,” Payne told CBS News. “It is not a question to me at all at this time if my son was murdered or not.”

There is currently a lot of confusion and conflicting stories surrounding the events that led up to Goodson’s death. The U.S. Marshals (for whom Meade was working as part of the U.S. Marshals’ Service Fugitive Task Force), Columbus Division of Police, and Goodson’s family all have varying accounts about what happened to Goodson, who was shot while entering his grandmother’s house with Subway sandwiches for his family.

On Friday, December 4, Casey Goodson Jr. was found dead after being shot in the doorway of his family’s home while returning from a dentist’s appointment. Police photos show Goodson’s keys were in the door to his grandmother’s apartment and a bag from Subway was lying on the floor next to where he was slain. Police have said there were no witnesses to the shooting and there is no body camera footage.

Goodson’s grandmother, Sharon Payne, called 9-1-1 from the scene. At the time, she did not know who had shot her grandson, and did not know it was a police officer. “My grandson just got shot in the back when he come in the house,” Payne told the operator, according to CNN. “I don’t know if he’s OK or not ’cause, he’s still out there.” Goodson’s death has since been ruled a homicide, with official cause of death being listed as “multiple gunshot wounds to the torso.”

But it’s the accounts leading up to a confrontation with police that seem to be causing confusion. According to U.S. Marshal Peter Tobin, Goodson was “seen driving down the street waving a gun,” and “at some point after that, [the deputy] confronted him, and it went badly.” Meade, the officer who shot him, was reportedly searching for “violent offenders” as part of his work on the task force, though Goodson was not the person the task force was seeking.

On Wednesday, Columbus police issued a statement in response to Tobin’s version of events, saying, “Statements made by representatives of other agencies involved in Friday’s Task Force operation were viewpoints expressed by those not involved and without knowledge of the investigation.”

Meanwhile, the Columbus Division of Police’s statement says that Meade saw “a man with a gun” and that there were “reports of a verbal exchange” before the shooting. Their statement reports that Goodson was carrying a gun but does not indicate that he had been waving it around before he was shot. Goodson’s family does not know if he had a gun on him at the time of the shooting, but said it’s possible, as he had a concealed carry permit and Ohio is an open carry state. As Sean Walton, the family’s attorney noted, carrying a permitted weapon “is not a crime at all.”

Walton’s firm said in a statement that despite the homicide charge, they are still concerned about the details being omitted by police in the reporting of this case. “Casey was shot and killed as he unlocked his door and entered his home,” the firm said. “His death was witnessed by his 72-year-old grandmother and two toddlers who were near the door.”

This also comes after nearly six months of protests and activists movements fighting against police brutality of Black Americans. Following the police shootings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others in 2020, advocates are calling for further action and investigation into Meade and any other officers at the scene of Goodson’s killing. “Casey Goodson Jr. is yet another young Black man who should be alive today. Our hearts break for another family who has lost a son at the hands of the police,” Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown tweeted. “I join the Columbus NAACP & Mr. Goodson’s family in calling for a full investigation of this tragedy.”

As it stands, the family can only speculate about what went wrong last Friday. “That’s all we have, because we have no statement from Jason Meade: We have Casey’s keys in the door, his keys,” Walton said. “We have the Subway sandwiches, all three on the floor next to a pool of blood.” 

Goodson’s family also says they will not stop demanding answers until they are found. “My question is, ‘Why was my son murdered?'” Payne asked CBS News. “And unfortunately, the coward that took his life does not have enough guts to answer the questions as to why my son’s life was taken.” In another statement to the press, Payne added: “The only threat my son was, was being a Black man in America.”

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What To Know About The Brandon Bernard Case

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After the Department of Justice announced plans to speedily execute five people before President Trump leaves office, advocates have created an uproar over the decision, which dangerously bucks precedent. One of the people set to be executed is Brandon Bernard, who has inspired a massive online effort to have his death sentence commuted. And time is running out — Bernard is currently scheduled to die on Thursday, December 10, despite mass protest.

In 2000, Brandon Bernard, who is now 40 years old, was sentenced to death for a crime he committed at the age of 18. As a low-ranked member of a gang, Bernard was tasked with getting rid of evidence in the murder of a pastor and his wife, Todd and Stacie Bagley. Bernard was not present for the couple’s abduction, but he was tried and convicted alongside 19-year-old Christopher Vialva, who pulled the trigger and killed the two victims. The victims were white, and both Bernard and Vialva are Black. In the trail for Bernard’s life, eleven of the 12 jurors were white, and ultimately he was sentenced to life without parole.

Bernard’s execution was announced as part of the Trump administration’s ramped up efforts to push forward the federal death penalty after a 17-year pause. Vialva was executed earlier this year as part of that effort.

But in the days and weeks since the Department of Justice announced federal executions that would take place prior to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, Bernard’s legal team has gone into overdrive. They launched a full-scale campaign to advocate for his sentence to be commuted or for a stay of execution, the latter of which would allow the case to be revisited under Biden’s administration. (Biden has promised to end the federal death penalty when he takes office.) Trump, who is strongly in favor of the death penalty, has galvanized Bernard and four others’ executions as perhaps one of his final acts as president.

“If it were up to him, we would return to the old days where it was eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth — or we would forget about proportionality altogether,” a former senior Trump administration official told The Daily Beast in July. “He would talk about lining up drug dealers and gang members in front of a firing squad.”

It’s not just Bernard’s legal team who wants to see his execution stopped. Angela Moore, the federal prosecutor who once defended his death sentence, wrote an op-ed arguing that “executing Brandon would be a terrible stain on the nation’s honor.” And right now, five of the nine surviving jurors in the case have said they regret sentencing him to die and have spoken out asking that his sentence be commuted. 

“Brandon Bernard, during the trial, he seemed to me to be pretty broken, to be very much afraid,” juror Gary McClung told The Intercept. “I just would not want to see Mr. Bernard, who I don’t believe had any intention of killing anyone, have to die for this.” 

There are celebrities and high-profile people advocating for Bernard, too. Kim Kardashian West, who has lobbied President Trump in the past to give clemency to people, has tweeted about Bernard’s case. “While Brandon did participate in this crime, his role was minor compared to that of the other teens involved, two of whom are home from prison now,” Kardashian West tweeted. “He has now been on death row for 20+ years with zero disciplinary write ups. He uses his time to reach out to at-risk youth, advising them to not stray from the Lord’s path (or not follow in his teenage footsteps).”

Even Alan Dershowitz, one of the lawyers who defended Trump during his impeachment, says he has asked the White House to look into the case and overturn the scheduled execution. He told The Daily Beast that “even to those who favor the death penalty in general, this is the wrong case to apply it, because of the age of the defendant at the time of the crime, the legal questions raised by the conviction, and the likelihood that he may not be guilty of a capital crime.”

Bernard’s supporters are asking people to call the Department of Justice and ask for his sentence to be commuted to life in prison. For more information on the case, you can visit helpsavebrandon.com. You can also sign this letter to ask President Trump to stop Bernard’s execution.

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