Page:Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.pdf/525



On December 14, 2020, electors around the country met to cast their Electoral College votes. Their vote ensured former Vice President Joe Biden's victory and cemented President Donald J. Trump's defeat. The people, and the States, had spoken. Members of President Trump's own Cabinet knew the election was over. Attorney General William Barr viewed it as "the end of the matter." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia concurred. That same day, Scalia told President Trump directly that he should concede defeat.

President Trump had no intention of conceding. As he plotted ways to stay in power, the President summoned a mob for help.

At 1:42 a.m., on December 19th, President Trump tweeted: "Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!"

The President's tweet galvanized tens of thousands of his supporters around the country. President Trump had been lying to them since election day, claiming he won, and that the Democrats had stolen victory from him. Now, with a single tweet, the President focused his supporters' anger on the joint session of Congress in Washington, DC on January 6th.

Anika Navaroli, the longest-tenured member of Twitter's Trust and Safety Policy team, monitored the reaction to President Trump's "be wild" tweet. She told the Select Committee that the President was "essentially staking a flag in DC . . . for his supporters to come and rally." The tweet created a "fire hose" of calls to overthrow the U.S. Government. President Trump's supporters had a new sense of urgency because they felt "as if their Commander in Chief" had summoned them.

For many extremists and conspiracy theorists, the President's announcement was a call to arms.

For the Proud Boys—described in more detail below—and their leader, Henry "Enrique" Tarrio, President Trump's tweet set in motion a chain of events that led directly to the attack on the U.S. Capitol. In the days that followed, the Proud Boys reorganized their hierarchy, imposed a stricter