​

 

 

 

 

Sixty years after the publication of The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs the title remains a stark reminder of the dangers facing populations of large cities around the world.  Today the very survival of many of their residents is at stake: the coronavirus pandemic has ravaged mainly the populations of large cities.

​

One year has passed since the first case of the virus COVID-19 was confirmed in Canada, in a patient who came to Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital after returning from Wuhan, China.(1)

These historical moments provide an opportunity to contemplate the hard learned lessons for the livability of big cities, as it was considered in my book.  Some long term trends have frequently gone unnoticed, until the pandemic brought them to the fore.

​

The pandemic also reveals the intricacies of the new knowledge economy that is gradually taking over from the industrial economy with all kinds of implications for social policies that we have touched upon in the book.  The story of the bringing to market the first COVID vaccines may exemplify some of these. It is all the more pertinent as it relates directly to Toronto.

​

In Canada the first wave of the pandemic had subsided by the summer of 2020 only to intensify anew towards the end of the year.  As a result, more people have died of COVID-19 in Ontario, its largest province, during the second wave than in the six months after the global pandemic was declared [2] in March 2020.  About 200,000 Canadians contracted COVID-19 in January 2021 alone.  At present, Toronto hospitals have reached a critical stage and medical personnel are displaying high level of distress with one third of registered nurses now considering quitting the profession. (2)

​

The arrival of the first vaccines, although developed in record time, could not come soon enough.  A milestone on the way to combatting the pandemic was passed once the first vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer were administered in Canada in December 2020.  It turns out that Moderna’s founder, Derrick J. Rossi is a Canadian, the son of a Maltese immigrants of a blue collar family who had settled in Scarborough.  He credits his local high school, the Dr. Norman Bethune Collegiate, with having instilled in him the lifelong interest in molecular biology that led him all the way to a professorship at Harvard. (3)

In 2010, supported by his colleague Springer, already a millionaire, Rossi founded Moderna.  He was lucky to have spotted an overlooked opportunity in the work of Dr. Katalin Kariko, a Hungarian immigrant conducting research in molecular biology at the University of Pennsylvania since 1985. Some 20 years of work on the then little known technology of messenger RNA had not gotten her much recognition, and in fact, she had her funding cut and was demoted. Yet she persisted, and together with her colleague, Drew Weissman, patented her research in 2005, when Rossi spotted in it an opportunity. (4)

In a heated race Moderna got the vaccine approved ahead of Pfizer.  Yet Rossi, having quit Harvard and Moderna two years earlier, is not profiting from it directly.  At that time he figured he had made enough money to retire comfortably.  In the meantime, the new management of Moderna brought the vaccine to the market and made billions, while Rossi has had to be content with only a fraction of the windfall.  And Kariko got much less, just a few millions, because her patents belonged to the university that did not give her full credit for them.  She has joined the board of Pfizer, whose German branch of BioNTech, a company established by Turkish immigrants, nominated her to be vice president.(5)  The independent innovators of BioNTech needed funding to proceed with manufacturing their vaccine so they partnered with Pfizer, an American multinational, and are thriving now in Cambridge, not far from Moderna’s premises.  Unlike Kariko, the founders of BioNTech retained ownership of their patents, making them instant billionaires, and secured them a place among the richest Germans today.

​

The story of the vaccines developed by Moderna and BioNTech show the importance of educating new immigrants and the early detection of talent as well as the appreciation of basic research, regardless of its short term utility.

​

A new chapter in Canadian experience with the pandemic started with efforts to secure a vaccine that remains in short supply around the world.  Canada has difficulty accessing of vaccines due to growing tensions around their distribution from the few factories in the US, Great Britain and the European Union.  The Canadian government had unsuccessfully bet on cooperation with the Chinese that had started with the establishment of the CanSino company in Tianjin back in 2009.

​

CanSino was founded by Dr. Xuefeng Yu and Dr. Tao Zhu, Chinese scientists educated and working in Canada.  On the exhortation of the Chinese government, they left successful biopharma careers in Canada to advance research in biotechnology in their home country.  They planned to continue work with the Ebola vaccine that the Canadian laboratories of the National Research Council (NRC) were readying for the outbreak of the epidemic of 2014-2015 in Africa, and subsequently had licensed to CanSino to produce their own vaccine.

​

The Canadian researchers seemed to be in a position to profit from international cooperation in developing vaccine for the coronavirus since they had had a history of good relations with the Chinese scientists.  Michel Chrétien, the brother of the former prime minister Jean Chretien, had a long-standing connection to high-level researchers in China dating back to his studies at the University of California Berkeley, where in the 1980s he met a Chinese scientist, Dr. C. H. Li. That connection led him to visits to China, where eventually he become an honorary professor at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. In that capacity he had trained Chen Zhu, a molecular biologist who entered politics and eventually served as Chinese minister of health from 2007 until 2013.

Those contacts proved useful when the corona epidemics broke out in China and the government looked desperately for any available solutions.  The early publication of the genomic sequence of the new virus by scientists from Wuhan made it possible for researchers around the world to consider their solutions. In February 2020, Michel Chretien offered his own research experience with quercetin, a substance that he had developed in early the 2000s as a response to the SARS epidemic, which is caused by a virus similar to the COVID-19 virus. Despite some initial interest, the Chinese researchers did not follow that lead;  however, the idea of future cooperation persisted.

​

The second opportunity to cooperate with the Chinese was conceived in May 2020 on the assumption that the expertise developed by their respective teams might create the desired synergies.  Large scale vaccine production is based on mastering biological technologies of cultivating virus cells in bioreactors. Those technologies were developed during decades old research by laboratories associated with NRC in Canada.  By the time the Canadian vaccine for Ebola was ready, the epidemic had subsided and the funds for further research dried out.  However, the technologies developed to cultivate virus cells proved to be useful for the coronavirus vaccines.(6)
 
On that thought the NRC licensed its technology to the CanSino company with the understanding that the vaccines that it would produce in China would also be available for Canada and that they eventually would be produced in the upgraded Royalmount facility in Montreal.  However, when the experimental vaccines were ready for shipment, the Chinese government unexpectedly cancelled the permission for export.  The deal fell through, Canada did not profit from the transfer of its technology, while China could use it for its own production of the vaccine. 

​

The fiasco of the vaccine agreement is a result of the steady deterioration of Canadian Chinese relations in a chain of retaliatory actions undertaken by the Chinese government for the RCMP's arrest of Meng Wanzhou, who had an outstanding American extradition warrant since December 2018.  Meng Wanzhou is the chief financial officer of Huawei, the largest Chinese private company, founded by her father and specializing in the controversial 5G telecom technologies that are suspected of being used for spying purposes by the Chinese authorities.

​

Profiting from the Canadian technologies and know how, China came up with its own vaccine (CoronaVac), produced by Sinovac, which is being exported to other countries but receiving mixed results: Brazil has downgraded its advertised efficacy to just 50.4%.(7)

​

Following the Chinese fiasco, the Canadian government has reached a new landmark in an attempt to remedy the severe shortages of vaccines by announcing the decision in early February 2021 to produce vaccines domestically.  If approved by Health Canada, Novavax, an American company, has agreed to produce its experimental vaccine at the NRC’s facilities in Montreal.(8)  While the factory is already under construction, it may still take a year before vaccines are produced there.  Building and certifying a pharmaceutical facility is a lengthy process;  for Pfizer to complete the process in the US took five years.  However, domestic vaccine production is deemed useful even if the current pandemic may eventually come under control in Canada.   New epidemics may arise from mutations of the coronavirus, or from new viruses altogether.

​

Novavax is using a different technology from the messenger RNA based vaccines of Moderna and Pfizer.  Novavax’s vaccine does not introduce genetic information into human cells.  Instead, it uses nanoparticles covered in fully synthesized coronavirus spike proteins.  Together with an adjuvant (a pharmacological agent used to boost the vaccine), it prompts the immune system to produce antibodies that can bind to the spike protein of the real virus and prevent it from attacking the host cells.  This vaccine consists of several components and for that reason it takes longer to make than other vaccines.  Once approved by Health Canada, the Maryland-based Novavax will make its technology available to produce the vaccine at the NRC facilities in Montreal.

​

The agreement with Novavax is not the only initiative to building domestic vaccine production in Canada.  Another example of cross border cooperation may be the Medicago company in Quebec that hopes to initially produce its vaccine in North Carolina before it builds its own plant. The government has already invested $173 million in that project. The Canadian government is also funding the Vancouver-based Precision NanoSystems involved in developing self-amplifying ribonucleic acid (RNA) vaccine.  Similarly, the University of Saskatchewan's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) is working towards domestic manufacturing capacity.  A national asset is the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, the only top security Level 4 facility in Canada. 

​

Altogether over two hundred vaccines are said to be being developed worldwide, although not all of them will make it to the production stage.  The unpredictable road to the development of vaccines, and their bringing to market shows the interplay of conflicting trends of international cooperation versus competition between countries and blocs in addressing the pandemic.  In that context it is a remarkable development that many scientists have managed to set aside their own interests and to share information to accelerate the production of the vaccine.

This international cooperation of scientists has allowed research to accelerate and produce  vaccines in the record time of less than a year, while on average in the past, the process took up to ten years.  At the same time competition for scarce resources and intellectual capital has led countries to adopt questionable practices of appropriating intellectual property.
 

All efforts to come up with sufficient vaccine supplies worldwide are more urgent than ever, as new more virulent variants of the virus spring up and disseminate quickly.  By mid February 2021, about 110 million cases of infection have been registered worldwide, with 2.4 million deaths and 25 million active cases. Between 100,000 and 300,000 people have fallen ill daily.

​

However, production of COVID-19 vaccines is only a way station in the process of inoculating the public, a process that has to comprise essentially most of the world population. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is reminding us that the pandemic will not be conquered until the coronavirus has been vanquished everywhere.  The pandemic imposes the need to think globally, even in terms of self interest.  Without granting every nation, including the poorest ones access to the vaccine, the spread of the virus will not be contained. To coordinate that huge task requires continuous support for the WHO, whose authority was undermined by the previous US administration.  The case of the Chinese government initially trying to hide the outbreak of the coronavirus provides another reason for the need for international supervision and timely access to contagion hotspots in order to devise strategies aimed at preventing future uncontrolled spread of infections.

One unintended consequence of the current pandemic is the realization that it is a global problem and that it needs a global solution.  In real terms this may be the first instance of countries gradually understanding the need to set aside their narrow interests for the sake of finding way towards a more secure common future.

Looking at it from a historical perspective, the universal hope of overcoming the current pandemic is a new occurrence.  In the past, epidemics have broken out in various parts of the world and ran their course unimpeded until medical resistance was built up in the population, sometimes with a very high death toll.  As considered elsewhere in my book, new knowledge about the microorganisms setting off an epidemic started to accumulate only in the XIX century, which in some cases allowed authorities to undertake measures to remove the cause just by securing access to clean water. 

​

Science has progressed immensely in the last decades, continuously providing new tools to combat pandemics.  High powered electronic microscopes and super computers allow for rapid sequencing of the genetic code of viruses.  New technologies like the 2020 Nobel winning CRISPR gene editing method allows scientists to manipulate the genetic code, including the genetic information in RNA which itself is opening new perspectives in combating viruses.

​

Discovery of new ways to manage outbreaks of infections depends on continuing support for basic research which in turn entails access to public funds.  Private companies that have to provide returns to shareholders (and even more so to their directors and top managers) may not continue work with insecure returns.  It is a known case of Big Pharma being unwilling to do research on new antibiotics, even as they are running out of options with the existing ones that become ineffective with the bacteria that have developed resistance to them.  The crucial role of government funding became evident with Operation Warp Speed where the US government put aside $11 billion to accelerate research and production of vaccines that became available in a record time.(9)  The Bill Gates Foundation has been a recognized supporter of health initiatives mainly in developing countries that has earmarked US $1.75 billion for developing vaccines for the pandemic.

​

The pandemic has upset peoples’ lives in many ways, some of which initially may have been overlooked. Due to prolonged lockdowns, and other regulations aiming at reducing interpersonal contact in public spaces, mental health problems have been on the rise.  These have contributed to increased domestic conflicts and breakup of marriages.  They have also affected children and youth who are confined to homes and deprived of support from their peers.  Substance abuse is another consequence of people living in isolation.  The epidemic of substance abuse, noted for years, is on the increase with a large death toll in Canada.  Dealing with mentally ill people involved in conflicts requires specialized training of the police and support from qualified staff. 

​

In Canada, the pandemic has not reached the catastrophic levels seen in the US, where the death toll is over half a million, by far the highest in the world, and the Canadian society so far did not witness major challenges to the social order.  Institutions of universal healthcare, although under extreme stress, are still coping with the majority of cases.  The burden of the epidemic has been the heaviest in the long term care homes where the death toll was the highest and in some cases residents were dying because the staff, affected by the pandemic, had abandoned them.

​

Despite opposition from some groups, as in case of teachers criticizing the postponement of March Break in Ontario schools, society at large is conforming with the safety measures undertaken in order to limit the infections and avoid hospitals being overwhelmed by an influx of patients requiring intensive care.

The health authorities all over the country are monitoring anxiously the levels of infections, that are on a constant flux.  The Maritime Provinces, considered safe until recently, are not anymore.  The Newfoundland government decided to cancel voting in person for provincial  elections at the very last moment due to protests of the electoral workers who objected to being exposed to contagion that had the whole province in a lockdown.  There are voices rising from medical circles warning of premature complacency of the population and the authorities alike that may trigger a third wave of the pandemic before the level of vaccination reaches sufficiently large levels, well above half of the population, to make it immune to the emerging new viruses.(10)

​

​

The pandemic and the social order
A livable city is by definition a peaceful city, and many of them were peaceful until the pandemic revealed the fragile state of social order that relies on the synergy of separate social systems such as public healthcare, elderly care, social safety offering minimum financial security for the those who are not able to provide for themselves, and law enforcement agencies that are oftentimes taken for granted.  While the massive help provided by governments of all levels to the unemployed and underemployed helped to avert hunger and homelessness to many, they are temporary measures that did not reach equally all categories of the needy. 

​

The first test of the stability of the social order came after the introduction of administrative regulations to limit the spread of infections that met with resistance from various groups.  They were opposed by some business people, among others, who were afraid of losing income and life savings.  The limiting of social gatherings, quarantine requirements, curfews and travel bans are being criticized by various groups and sometimes actively violated.

​

Gradually the pent-up frustrations and anger have sparked[3]  incidents like the recent riots in Amsterdam where mobs of young people vandalized and robbed stores, and confronted police just because they could not accept the new regulations requiring bars be closed at night.

​

The riots that shook several large cities in the US constitute a separate chapter in the history of the pandemic.  Regulations introduced by state governments, especially by officials of the Democratic Party, were sometimes perceived as overreach and violation of civil rights that were prompting radicalized groups of the far right to plan criminal acts.  The accumulated anger during the current pandemic may have been the main force fuelling illegal acts often committed by marginalized people.

​

Unlike the Amsterdam rioters in Europe, who protested a specific regulation, the participants in the US riots voiced all sorts of causes, mostly unrelated to the pandemic as in case of white supremacists clashing with black activists protesting brutal police practices, or political rallies turning violent and seemingly requiring intervention of militias.  The reasons given, if any, often contradicted their actions and could not justify the outcomes.  Some of those groups seemed to glorify violence and destruction for its own sake.  Instead of voicing a defined self interest they sought to unleash violence on those who could not defend themselves.  Individuals brandishing assault rifles on the steps of Michigan Capitol during a vote to approve the extension of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's emergency declaration due to the coronavirus could not justify their action in terms of accepted social values. (11).  Whitmer is a representative of the Democratic Party, and as such she was object of criticism from President Trump.

​

Just by escalating their expectations, another group planned to kidnap governor Whitmer and unleash violence on the police force.  The plot, foiled by the FBI in October 2020, cast some light on the background of the participants.  The leader of the group, Adam Fox, was a homeless man, whose former employer had allowed him to sleep in the basement of his store.(12)   Fox, a frustrated and lonely man, was looking for like minded companions to plot an act of revenge for the governor's lockdown order, as well as the feared taking away their gun rights.  Two other members of the group were also facing homelessness as they could lose their house for nonpayment of taxes.  In their case it would take a contorted logic to envisage a personal benefit from the planned kidnapping of a public person. (13)

The failed plot exemplifies the mindset of desperate people unable to find a way out of their dire situation in a region marred by rising poverty and crime.  As it has been analyzed elsewhere in my book, Michigan, once the proud heartland of industrial America, with Detroit as its crown jewel, has experienced a rapid decline and become a hotspot of race riots.

​

It is even harder to rationalize the causes of the unprecedented and mindless ransacking of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, that ended in five deaths and two subsequent suicides of policemen entrusted to protect the seat of the Congress.(14)  The mob, incited by a president who was refusing to admit electoral defeat, had nothing to gain from the violence, except to vent their anger that had little to do with the advertised cause.  The disruption of certification of electoral results was not going to improve their lot since their life prospects were already bleak under the current administration.  It rather looks like at certain times the undercurrent of aggression in societies accumulates to the point where even a trivial stimulus may trigger an uncontrolled outburst.  The rapidly worsening economic prospects for large sections of society during the pandemic might come to a breaking point for marginalized groups, falling prey to skilful manipulations by populist politicians.

​

As the pandemic drags on into the second year, many groups find themselves in deepening distress as the bonds of social cohesion unravel.  This becomes particularly striking in the US cities where the tectonic plates of extreme wealth and poverty are grinding against each other with increasing force.  The tensions feed into racial prejudices that are generating seething anger and fear of loss of status and economic security.  Guns create a false sense of security among those who have few other possessions of their own.

 

To stave off the collapse of an economy paralyzed by the pandemic, governments have taken recourse to relief programs of unprecedented scale, in the case of the US reaching into trillions of dollars.  They have been justified in terms of economic theories allowing for large scale budgetary deficits in times of persistent low interest rates.(15)  The Republicans, on the other hand, while in government, had insisted on large tax cuts that were to stimulate the economy and contribute to general welfare.  Instead, they have mainly benefited the richest groups while offering little gain for the rest of the society.  The ensuing huge deficits reduced income for state and municipal governments which meant the need for further cuts of social services, that were already at a breaking point.   That inevitably meant that an increasing number of marginalized groups faced bleak life prospects and became prone to vent their anger at the nearest opportunity.  Conspiratorial theories abounded and calls for violent action were heeded.

​

So far little has transpired from the investigations by the FBI and other agencies on the participants in the Washington riots.  The president and his political entourage were instrumental in organizing the large demonstrations in his support.  During his last days in the office the president stood accused of disrupting the work of the Congress to prevent legitimate transfer of powers.  He kept arguing that the elections that took place during the pandemic were falsified due to large scale voting by mail.  He was obstinately maintaining a position deemed baseless by the multiple officials and observers involved in organizing and supervising the elections.

​

The president had announced the Washington rally weeks ahead and was addressing the large crowd when it took place.  However, the actual storming of the Capitol and the acts of violence committed inside it were carried out by a relatively small mob.  The assailants were identifying themselves by their dress, placards and insignia displayed by otherwise known groups of far right extremists, such as the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, an organization that was recently designated by the Canadian authorities as a terrorist group. The video clips of the storming of the security perimeter of the Capitol suggest that some of the attackers followed a tactic they had exercised beforehand.  Once inside the Capitol, they knew where to look for the office of the Speaker for the Democratic majority, Nancy Pelosi, which suggests the attack had been planned in advance.  The question remains about the links between the organizers of the political rally and the militias involved in criminal acts inside the Capitol.

​

Details on preparations for storming the Capitol are only just emerging from the FBI investigations and witness accounts presented at the impeachment hearings.  The leaders of the Oath Keepers Jessica M. Watkins, Thomas E. Caldwell, and Donovan Crowl are veterans of the US Army, who are accused of plotting a military style assault on the Capitol in December 2020, and having coordinated actions with other groups, including the Proud Boys. The Oath Keepers are known for drawing their membership from former law enforcement and military personnel.(16)  A search warrant at Watkins’ home turned up directions on how to make explosives which is suggesting preparation for violent acts.  The federal government has accused the three leaders of planning their crimes as early as the elections of November 3, 2020.(17)

Of Jessica Watkins we know that she had enlisted in army right after completing high school and served in Afghanistan.(18)  After leaving the army she had opened a bar in the small village of Woodstock, Ohio, but her business had gotten in difficulties mainly due to the pandemic lockdowns.  With proliferating demonstrations by the Black Lives Matter groups, some of which had turned violent, Watkins became gradually radicalized, gravitating into the Oath Keepers’ orbit.  According to the Justice Department investigation, when forcing her way into the Capitol, she “wore camouflage fatigues and combat gear including a tactical vest, boots and a helmet, and spoke to other Oath Keepers over radio”. That action could not be spontaneous.(18)

Altogether over 200 participants of the Capitol attack have been identified and arrested.  Of those facing various charges, 26 are charged with the serious crimes of conspiracy or assault.(19) The attack on the Capitol was carried out by desperate people venting their anger without an idea how their action would affect their lives.

​

During the second presidential impeachment trial started by the U.S. Senate on February 9, 2021, new video materials were disclosed showing how dangerous the personal situation of the leading members of the Congress had become when the mob stormed the Capitol.  Only thanks to a quick thinking policeman was vice president Mike Pence able to evade the mob that had killed a policeman and injured 140 others. (19)  Even more shocking was the testimony of a Republican Congresswoman, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler who had called Trump begging for his intervention to stop the assault, that had met with indifference from the president. (20)  As a Commander in Chief he was accused of dereliction of his duties to protect the Congress and his vice president.

​

During the second impeachment trial the Trump lawyers argued that his address of the Washington rally, seen as incendiary by many, falls within the free speech standards.  One of the lawyers, asked directly if he believed that the “elections were stolen” stated that “this was beside the point”.  It is an example of how Republicans defending Trump’s actions display a “post-truth culture” adopted from the beginning by the former president.  In the end senators voted 57-43 to acquit President Donald Trump, with seven Republican senators voting against the acquittal.(21).

​

Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican minority leader, who had previously stoically defended president Trump, ultimately held him responsible for the attack on the Capitol stating “There is no question — none — that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day ….The people that stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president.”(22)

​

The ransacking of the US Capitol needs to be seen from the perspective of a country traditionally considered as a bulwark against despotism and an ultimate guarantor of peace on the international scene.  On January 6, 2021, the atomic superpower was left without a functioning government, a situation that the fathers of the American Constitution had carefully planned to avoid.  It will take time to draw lessons from the near collapse of the democratic foundations of the US.

​

In short, at the beginning of the third decade of 2000s, and in the second year of the pandemic, the main concerns remain about the physical and mental health of the affected populations and the state of the gravely affected democratic institutions in the US, just south of the Canadian border.

​

REFERENCES
1. Crawley, Mike. (January 25, 2021).  1 year after Canada's first coronavirus case, the COVID-19 pandemic rages on. CBC News.

​

2. Kalata, Natalie. (Jan 28, 2021) 1 in 3 Ontario registered practical nurses considering quitting due to pandemic, poll suggests. CBC News.

​

3. O'Connor, Joe. (May 28, 2020). Meet the Canadian hockey dad behind COVID-19 vaccine developer Moderna. National Post.

​

4. University of Pennsylvania mRNA Biology Pioneers Receive COVID-19 Vaccine Enabled by their Foundational Research. (December 23, 2020). pennmedicine.org

​

5. Saltzman, Jonathan and Garde, Damian. (November 10, 2020). The story of two firms, Pfizer and Moderna, leading the race for approval of a COVID-19 vaccine. Boston Globe. 

​

6.  Cooper, Sam.  (December 2, 2020). Chinese vaccine company executives worked in program now targeted by Western intelligence agencies. Global News.

​

7. China approves second domestic COVID-19 vaccine. (February 6, 2021). CTV News.

8. Canada signs deal with Novavax to make its COVID-19 vaccine at new Montreal facility. (Feb 2, 2021). Canadian Press.

​

9. Gollom, Mark. (November 19, 2020).  Why Trump's Operation Warp Speed is credited with helping race for COVID-19 vaccine. CBC News.

10. Fallis, Brooks.  (February 2, 2021). We’re sleepwalking into a brutal third wave.  CBC.ca

 

11. Mark, Michelle. (May 1, 2020). Because of Michigan's gun laws, protesters were allowed to carry their assault weapons into the state capitol — but not their protest signs.  businessinsider.com  

 

12. Baldas, Tresa  and Egan, Paul.  (October 16, 2020).  Accused ringleader of alleged Whitmer kidnapping plot waives right to bond hearing. Detroit Free Press.

 

13.  Guillen, Joe,  Dixon, Jennifer,  Lawrence Eric D., and Wisely, John. (October 8, 2020). These 13 men were charged with conspiring to kidnap Whitmer. Detroit Free Press.

 

14. Grayer, Annie. (January 27, 2021).  Two police officers died by suicide after responding to Capitol riot. CNN.  

15. Krugman, Paul. (February 11, 2021). Biden Is the Big Spender America Wants. The New York Times.
 

16. Lynch, Sarah N. (22 January 2021).  Judge orders Oath Keepers member detained over charges he plotted to storm U.S. Capitol.  Thomson Reuters.

 

17. Feuer, Alan. (February 11, 2021)., Oath Keepers Plotting Before Capitol Riot Awaited ‘Direction’ From Trump, Prosecutors Say. The New York Times. 

 

18. Garrison, Jessica and Bensinger, Ken. (January 27, 2021).  Meet The Woman Facing Some Of The Most Serious Capitol Riot Charges. buzzfeednews.com. See also:  Polantz, Katelyn. (February 11, 2021).  Oath Keepers leader waited for Trump's direction before Capitol attack: U.S. Justice Department. CNN.

 

19. Jackman, Tom. (Jan. 27, 2021). Police union says 140 officers injured in Capitol riot. The Washington Post.

 

20.  Valentino-DeVries, Jennifer,   Ashford, Grace, Lu, Denise,  Lutz, Eleanor,  Matthews, Alex Leeds, and Yourish, Karen. (February 4, 2021). Arrested in Capitol Riot: Organized Militants and a Horde of Radicals.  The New York Times.

 

21. Conner, Katie. (February 13, 2021).  Impeachment trial. In a largely party-line vote, the Senate acquits former President Donald Trump. cnet.com

 

22. Impeachment Trial: Trump Is Acquitted by the Senate. Anna Moneymaker. (February 13, 2021). New York Times.
 

​