NEW: After the violent and mostly White pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol last week, Black & brown people had to clean up the mess. Several told @Politicsinsider they were well aware of the racial dynamics. By @elvina_nawaguna & @KaylaEpstein ($)

The Trump supporters who broke into the Capitol left behind shards of broken glass and ripped-apart furniture, blood, empty bottles, and even feces smeared on the walls.
The custodial staff cleaned up in places where people were bludgeoned & in one instance fatally shot, & where dozens of Capitol Police officers were wounded. "It felt bad. It's degrading," said a custodial employee in his 30s, who works for the Architect of the Capitol.
Several Capitol janitorial and labor employees — all of whom were Black or Latino — told Insider they no longer feel safe at their workplace, which is supposed to be one of the most secure in the country.
They recounted the hurt of cleaning up after white nationalists who could have threatened their lives, and they feared what's yet to come in the days leading to and on Inauguration Day.
"I was here on 9/11 & that was probably the most scared I've ever been in my 25 years here but this one is a step a notch on the scale," said a longtime Capitol staffer. "It's a little bit worse than 9/11 for me. It was a little more personal, in a sense."
That employee said he was dismayed at just how easily the attackers bypassed Capitol police & how police officers appeared to treat with kid gloves all the people he described as "the radicals." While he was hiding in the Capitol, his family members frantically called and texted.
"I'm a man of faith, so that helps me, you know," he said, but he remained concerned about what would have happened if the rioters "would confront me personally" and how he'd have responded.
"I'm going to tell it like this: if I were the Capitol Police, I wouldn't have a job the next day. If my life is in danger, then I'm going to do what I can to defend myself," the longtime Hill staffer said as he climbed the escalators near the Senate subway.
Another man who performs janitorial services told Insider he hid in a large room during the riots after his supervisor told him to seek shelter. "I was all by myself," he said. His mother gave him minute to minute updates by phone because "I didn't know what was going on."
A spokesperson for the Architect of the Capitol told Insider that the office has an "Employee Assistance Program", which is a "free, voluntary and confidential program that can assist AOC employees as they work through stress and personal or professional challenges.
Employees have access to a service that offers immediate, 24/7 telephonic access to confidential, in-the-moment counseling support delivered by qualified behavioral health professionals, no appointment necessary."
Some workers also expressed fears for their safety in the days surrounding Biden's inauguration as intel officials warn of other armed protests. "I do not want to work on inauguration, no I do not," a Hill employee said. "I honestly fear for my life. I've got 2 children at home."
"I hope nothing else happens because these people were talking about killing us, federal employees, killing police...I felt kind of disgusted," added another employee who said he'd worked at the Capitol for more than 28 years.
A 45-year-old janitorial employee who helped restore the Capitol the day after the attack said he was "used to" cleaning up after white supremacists at the Capitol even before the pro-Trump attackers ransacked the buildings.
"I'm used to it...the building we work in, you think they were the only ones here?" he said of the rioters. He clarified that he was referring to some of the lawmakers in the Capitol, and added that he prays for them.
Eye-opening read from @elvina_nawaguna & @KaylaEpstein after talking to the many people who do the hard work in the Capitol that keeps it running day and night. Here's how to subscribe to @businessinsider - https://t.co/aC5iwU4Ch6

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In light of this serious cyber attack and this being the second in a row that I've heard in the past few weeks, I'd like to take this moment to talk about the cyber attack known as #phishing so that others do not fall prey to it and stay safe online.

Thread starts:


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Phishing is usually a means of contacting you by impersonation to gather data, oversimplifying it. This can happen in several ways:
1. URL similarities: Usually when people visit a webpage, most people never check the URL (Uniform Resource Locator). For example, a fake URL of


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https://t.co/x0brAMyKgF would be https://t.co/HrdE9hklv1. Seem the same, right? No. I've replaced one single character of "L" in @Google with "I". Therefore, your entire data would be redirected to the server that is hosting GOOGIE, instead of GOOGLE. This is commonly

4/

hackers perform cyber attacks. However this is only one of many.
Many people might forward you genuine links with small "add-ons" which enter your system like a Trojan Horse. A beautiful meme of keyboard cat on the outside but a vicious data-mining link on the inside.
Plus


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There's also other means of doing this. And you might think "But dude, who's stupid enough to fall for it?"
LOTS of UNINFORMED people are.
2020 was a record breaking year for phishing websites and attacks as per @techradar. It's not just through
A detention hearing is about to start in federal court in Arkansas in the case of Richard Barnett, the man photographed sitting in Nancy Pelosi's office (see: https://t.co/GAAENhkxf0). He's been in custody since his arrest

Prosecutors alleged Barnett was carrying a stun gun. He's charged with entering a restricted area w/ a weapon, violent entry/disorderly conduct, and theft. There isn't anything on the docket indicating what the govt/Barnett will be seeking as far as detention v. release


We're still waiting for the Richard Barnett detention hearing to start in Arkansas. Meanwhile, follow @o_ema for updates on initial appearances in DC federal court today for a few of the Capitol insurrection arrestees -->


Richard Barnett's detention hearing is underway in Arkansas — Judge Erin Wiedemann will decide if Barnett should stay behind bars. The first witness is FBI special agent Jonathan Willett, who was involved in the Capitol riot investigation

FBI agent walks the judge through surveillance videos that the agent says show Barnett walking in and out of Nancy Pelosi's office, with a "walking stick Taser" on his hip, as well as the widely disseminated photos of Barnett sitting in Pelosi's chair with his feet up

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This is NONSENSE. The people who take photos with their books on instagram are known to be voracious readers who graciously take time to review books and recommend them to their followers. Part of their medium is to take elaborate, beautiful photos of books. Die mad, Guardian.


THEY DO READ THEM, YOU JUDGY, RACOON-PICKED TRASH BIN


If you come for Bookstagram, i will fight you.

In appreciation, here are some of my favourite bookstagrams of my books: (photos by lit_nerd37, mybookacademy, bookswrotemystory, and scorpio_books)