KEY POINTS:
• President Joe Biden’s first full day in office will focus on tackling Covid-19.
• He will present a number of his initiatives in a press briefing, after signing a wave of executive orders yesterday.
• Biden’s press secretary and Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s chief medical adviser, will answer questions at around 10am NZT.
• Protesters hit parts of US just hours after Biden was sworn in as the new president.

Joe Biden has started his first full day in office as US president, focusing on tackling the raging pandemic in America.

“The rollout has been a disaster so far,” Biden said in his opening remarks, but assured Americans “we will get through this … help is on the way”.

“We’ll move heaven and earth to get more people vaccinated for free.”

Biden will sign at least 10 executive orders, memorandums and directives to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. The White House said the orders will include:

• Improving supply of PPE and materials for testing and vaccines
• Reimbursement of costs and guidance to support safe school reopening
• Establishing a Pandemic Testing Board and boosting testing capacity
• Directing studies, including large randomised trials, to identify treatments
• Improving data collection, production, sharing and analysis
• Requiring mask-wearing in airports and on many trains, planes, ships and buses
• Proof of negative test for international travelers before departing for US
• Ensuring an equitable response and recovery through data collection and increased access to PPE, testing, therapies and vaccines
• Working with local leaders to address food, housing, childcare needs
• Restoring America’s leadership, supporting the international pandemic response effort, promoting resilience for future threats and advancing global health security

Covid-19 has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 Americans and infected over 24 million in the country. Biden is set to present some of his initiatives to the public and his press secretary and Dr Anthony Fauci will answer questions later. Biden made tackling the pandemic a big focus of his campaign.

Wearing masks isn’t a partisan issue — it’s a patriotic act that can save countless lives. That’s why I signed an executive order today issuing a mask mandate on federal property. It’s time to mask up, America.

— President Biden (@POTUS) January 21, 2021

The new actions come after Biden signed a wave of executive orders yesterday, which included returning the US to the Paris climate accord, ending Trump’s travel ban on some majority-Muslim countries, and mandating mask-wearing in federal buildings.

When asked by a reporter what it felt like to be returning to the White House, Biden said it “feels like I’m going home”.

Just after delivering his inaugural address, the President declared he would start working right away to deliver on his agenda.

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There is no time to waste when it comes to tackling the crises we face. That’s why today, I am heading to the Oval Office to get right to work delivering bold action and immediate relief for American families.

— President Biden (@POTUS) January 20, 2021

Protests

Demonstrators have taken to the streets in Seattle, Washington and Boston, Massachusetts however the biggest protest appeared to occur in Portland, Oregon.

Protesters dressed as far-left, antifa demonstrators smashed windows at the Democratic Party of Oregon building in northeast Portland, hours after Biden was swore in.

Around 200 protesters wandered through the city, grafitting buildings with “F*** Biden” and holding signs that read “We are ungovernable” and “A new world from the ashes”. Another banner read “We don’t want Biden — we want revenge”. The group was calling for “revenge for police murders, for imperialist wars and fascist massacres”.

Inauguration Day in Portland. A group of about 100 people dressed in black march thru Southeast Portland pic.twitter.com/cGhVhdTwGW

— Mike Benner (@MikeBennerKGW) January 20, 2021

200 left-wing protesters are on the streets in Portland right now, with anti-Biden and anti-police messages.

“We are ungovernable,” one sign says. pic.twitter.com/WLTFpJrS03

— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) January 20, 2021

The protesters were later met by a large group of police officers, who arrested eight people in connection to the demonstration.

Portland Police said the group of eight had been hit with an array of charges including criminal mischief, possession of a destructive device, rioting and reckless burning.

Police also allegedly seized batons, pepper spray, Molotov cocktails, knives and a crowbar from those they arrested.

Sound of breaking glass at what appear to be democratic offices at 9th & Everett pic.twitter.com/rgxipVVgjx

— Mike Benner (@MikeBennerKGW) January 20, 2021

Many of the protesters managed to escape police after damaging the Democrat headquarters.

“This is not the first time our building has been vandalised during the past year — none of the prior incidents have deterred us from our important work to elect Democrats up and down the ballot, and this one will be no different,” the Democratic Party of Oregon said in a statement.

Handymen were called in to repair the damage not long after its windows were smashed.

After a brief period of calm in Portland, protesters took to the streets again when night fell.

Portland Police said in a statement that they and federal authorities were forced to disperse a group of around 150 protesters when they began to graffiti the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices just after 9pm.

“A crowd of about 150 people walked from Elizabeth Caruthers Park to the ICE offices … People in the crowd carried shields, umbrellas, ASP and PR-24 batons and picked up rocks on their way. Many people wore gas masks and helmets. Within a few minutes of arriving people began applying graffiti to the ICE building,” police said.

“At about 9.45pm federal officers emerged on the ICE property to move the crowd away. Federal officers dispersed to the north then took up a position about half a block away.

“Portland Police circulated through the neighbourhood during the next hour to find specific people in the crowd for whom there was probable cause to arrest and made arrests as they identified and located suspects.

“During that time the crowd dissipated a little at time. Eventually there were only a few dozen people milling about as officers finished making their last arrest. Portland Police did not deploy any munitions or CS gas.”

Large protests also kicked off in Seattle, where dozens of demonstrators dressed in black marched in the streets.

A handful of antifa protesters were arrested in the Washington city, however police kept a distance to ensure things stayed peaceful.

Videojournalist Brendan Gutenschwager, who regularly covers rallies across the US, captured the momenta protester was arrested.

One arrest made as police order the group to disperse from near Pike Place Market in Seattle #J20 #Seattle #Antifa #SeattleProtests pic.twitter.com/9KSsXSFnqu

— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) January 21, 2021

American flags were burnt in the street and a number of businesses were broken into, but police have since managed to disperse the protesters.

“F*** Trump, f*** Biden too, they don’t give a f*** about you,” the protesters chanted.

A Starbucks is broken into across from Pike Place Market in Seattle #SeattleProtests #J20 #Seattle #Antifa pic.twitter.com/EXY8eKucbW

— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) January 21, 2021

And in Boston, a small group of protesters stopped traffic as part of their “No honeymoon for Biden” demonstration.

“On Inauguration Day a coalition of organisations are coming together to re-take the initiative for a progressive agenda with a rally on the Boston Common at 4pm,” an event page for the protest said.

“Security will be a priority as everyone will be asked to wear masks and practice physical distancing.

“A top priority will be to demand economic security for working people without wasting billions on corporate welfare.

“A real Green New Deal is necessary to create millions of good new jobs, recover the economy, and set us on a path for climate stability by 2030. The suffering and death caused by the coronavirus must translate into the political will to replace the current patchwork of private health insurance with universal health care.

“We also need real solutions to the other pandemic of police brutality with impunity that has burdened communities of colour for generations.”

This post first appeared on Nzherald.co.nz

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