- Title: 'Hurry up and impeach Trump' - New Yorkers weigh in on Capitol attack
- Date: 11th January 2021
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 11, 2021) (REUTERS) 26-YEAR-OLD LAW SCHOOL STUDENT, MERRILL BERKOWITCH, WALKING DOG IN WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK / BIRDS FLYING AWAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) 26-YEAR-OLD LAW SCHOOL STUDENT, MERRILL BERKOWITCH, SAYING: "Well, in terms of storming the Capitol, I mean, obviously, it was just unbelievable, you see it happening live, but it's really hard to just realize it's actually happening live time in the country while you're watching the news. And in terms of the 25th Amendment, I think it makes sense symbolically, because I think if this isn't an impeachable offense then I don't really know what is, like inciting violence and things, but in terms of practically, I don't think it's really going to do much. I mean, it's just because they only have two weeks to get it done. I don't know if they can move fast enough to actually have it go through before Trump leaves office and Biden comes in. But I think symbolically it's a very good move because I think we need to show that this isn't OK. And, you know, we've had presidents impeached for other things in the past, and I think this is as bad, if not worse. I mean, especially when you think about Clinton, like that was more of a personal thing. You have people in this case storming, you know, the Capitol building. So I'm on board with impeachment. Do I think it's going to be successful? Probably not." (SOUNDBITE) (English) 81-YEAR-OLD NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT, GINO MUSSO, SAYING: "What is going on right now is the same thing that happened in Italy in the early '20s. That's how fascism was born, by a charismatic man preaching this theory that the left movement is going to take over the country and they should support him and this and that, and incited this riot, so did Mussolini." PEOPLE SITTING ON A BENCH IN THE PARK (SOUNDBITE) (English) 81-YEAR-OLD NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT, GINO MUSSO, SAYING: "He should be removed from power, that's what I think, because he's a dangerous man. And he's probably wounded like a wounded animal, now he's probably going to do something desperate at the end of his few weeks. So Pence should step up, take the control. He (Trump) should go out in Florida, wherever he's going to go, because I think he's crazy, that's what I think." MUSSO WALKING AWAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) 21-YEAR-OLD NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT, VISHESH ANANDJEE, SAYING: "It was very ridiculous, the whole transpiration of the events that happened on Wednesday with the entire like, just like, raiding the Capitol building and all the people entering the building, I think it definitely is a right step to make sure that we have the proper protocols to make sure that someone like President Trump, who may have instigated probably the most divisive presidency that we've seen, that I've seen, at least, and my parents have seen, should not be able to run again. And I think at the same time, it's important to make sure we do it the proper way, so whether it's through impeaching rather than simply making some arbitrary measures, to make sure that this doesn't happen in the future." ANANDJEE WALKING AWAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW YORK CITY RESIDENTS, 84-YEAR-OLD ANGELA SOLOMON AND 83-YEAR-OLD DR. JOEL SOLOMON, SAYING: ANGELA SOLOMON: "Hurry up and impeach him. And so, in the hope that we can get a second impeachment, which is unlikely, given the disparity among our representatives in general, but we're only hoping that he will never run for anything ever again." DR. JOEL SOLOMON: "Except from the police." ANGELA SOLOMON: "So lock him up, is all I can say. Lock him up." DR. JOEL SOLOMON: "My thought when I first saw what was happening on Wednesday was sadness, really, that it was really despicable, the way he had incited that mob to storm Congress. And I agree with my wife about the fact that he should never, ever run for office again and should probably be indicted for a number of offenses and go to trial." (SOUNDBITE) (English) 50-YEAR-OLD NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT, SUSIE SZETO PRICE, SAYING: "Over the weekend, a family member blocked me on Facebook over the Parler site ban. And, so I'm just another casualty, like my family is just another casualty because of politics, that I had to lose a family member, had to be blocked on Facebook because we disagreed over something very fundamental. This family member believes in free speech and I absolutely believe in free speech, but it should be tempered with responsible behavior." (SOUNDBITE) (English) 20-YEAR-OLD NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT, ALEX THOMAS, SAYING: "I didn't take it too serious, to be honest, can't really control what other people are doing, but it was crazy. The Capitol played real bad defense on that, could have been handled differently, I guess." (SOUNDBITE) (English) 50-YEAR-OLD NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT, SUSIE SZETO PRICE, SAYING: "When I saw the storming of the Capitol building, I was horrified and I was scared out of my mind. I have kids. I was worried about the kind of future my kids would be growing up in. And I also thought that the rioters were very, very poorly brought up. I mean, how could they not view the Capitol building as sacred? How could they destroy it?" (SOUNDBITE) (English) 20-YEAR-OLD NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT, ALEX THOMAS, SAYING: "I personally ain't vote for him, but if he is allowed to run for a second term, there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to, just because people don't like him." (SOUNDBITE) (English) 50-YEAR-OLD NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT, SUSIE SZETO PRICE, SAYING: "I'm going to quote my 17-year-old, and he said it only took a term for us to come to this conclusion that he needs to be impeached for the second time, that he needs to be removed for being mentally unfit to serve in the most powerful and privileged position in our country. He simply does not deserve it." 50-YEAR-OLD NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT, SUSIE SZETO PRICE, WALKING AWAY / ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER IN THE DISTANCE VARIOUS OF STATUE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON AT WASHINGTON SQUARE ARCH BASE STATUE OF BALD EAGLE AT WASHINGTON SQUARE ARCH BASE VARIOUS OF U.S. FLAG JOGGER / WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING CARS DRIVING WITH EMPIRE STATE BUILDING IN THE DISTANCE
- Embargoed: 25th January 2021 20:28
- Keywords: Capitol Donald Trump New Yorkers Washington Square Park election impeachment riot
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Insurgencies,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA001DURGY87
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: New Yorkers weighed in on Monday (January 11) as the U.S. House of Representatives expects to begin considering a second impeachment of Donald Trump on Wednesday (January 13), after the president was formally accused of inciting insurrection ahead of last week's storming of the Capitol.
"If this isn't an impeachable offense, then I don't really know what is," Merrill Berkowitch said, while walking her sister's dog through Washington Square Park.
"What is going on right now is the same thing that happened in Italy in the early '20s. That's how fascism was born," Gino Musso said. "He should be removed from power, because he's a dangerous man. I think he's crazy."
"Hurry up and impeach him," Angela Solomon said.
"When I saw the storming of the Capitol building, I was horrified and I was scared out of my mind," Susie Szeto Price said. "I have kids. I was worried about the kind of future my kids would be growing up in. And I also thought that the rioters were very, very poorly brought up. I mean, how could they not view the Capitol building as sacred? How could they destroy it?"
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told his fellow Democrats the chamber would start the impeachment proceedings on Wednesday if Vice President Mike Pence does not respond to a request to invoke the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to remove Trump from office, a House aide said.
Passage would make Trump, a Republican, the only U.S. president ever to be impeached twice.
Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the seat of Congress last week, forcing lawmakers who were certifying Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's election victory into hiding in a harrowing assault on the heart of American democracy that left five dead.
The violence occurred shortly after Trump urged supporters to march on the Capitol during a rally where he repeated false claims that his resounding defeat in the Nov. 3 election was illegitimate. Many House Democrats and a handful of Republicans say Trump should not be trusted to serve out his term, which ends on Jan. 20.
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