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There are 7 main groups of extremists that are organizing to descend on Washington D.C. for the Inauguration, and Capitol Police officials told Congress Monday night they all have one thing in common ... their allegiance to Donald Trump.

Congressional sources who were present late Monday for a security briefing tell TMZ ... the members were told these extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, have either a loose or no real connection to each other, especially since it's increasingly hard for them to go back and forth with each other on social media because of the various blackouts. Trump, they were told, is the glue that will hold these groups together once they assemble in D.C.

The Capitol Police and the Sergeant at Arms ran the meeting, and told members that security at the Inauguration will include metal detectors and even members of Congress must pass through. The officials running the meeting said they can't take anything for granted, especially given that there seems to be a small QAnon faction that presents a danger.

The meeting was frightening ... there was talk that the extremists might target Democrats for murder so the Republicans could take over Congress.

Our sources say the members have all been told they can get security for themselves if there is a "direct threat" to them, and that's already the case with many members of Congress.

There's something else ... D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has urged the public to stay away from the Inauguration. As a result, the members were informed there's an assumption the majority of the crowd could be comprised of these extremists. The silver lining ... they will be easier to ID. As one member told TMZ, "at least we will know who they are."

Somebody etched the word "TRUMP" into the back of a manatee ... and now, the feds are looking for the culprit.

Word of the manatee spread this week after a video surfaced showing the creature swimming in the waters of Florida's Homosassa River. Sure enough, somebody had scraped T-R-U-M-P into the algae growing on its skin.

Wildlife officials say the manatee doesn't appear to have been harmed, but that doesn't mean people aren't pissed. Manatees are a protected species in the area, and it's against the law to harass them ... punishable up to a year in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Now, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is heading up an investigation into the matter, soliciting any info that might lead to whoever did this ... with a $5,000 reward being offered as well by the Center for Biological Diversity.

The Center's director, Jaclyn Lopez, says it's sickening that somebody would do this to a helpless creature of the sea, adding ... the person is "capable of doing grave violence and needs to be apprehended immediately."

CNN correspondent Sara Sidner hit her breaking point while reporting live on the rising COVID-19 body count in L.A. -- she couldn't hold back her tears, showing the pandemic's emotional toll.

Sara was on Monday morning with anchor Alisyn Camerota, reporting live from Los Angeles before the sun was even up ... detailing stories from families she'd encountered at L.A.'s MLK Jr. Community Hospital, including many who'd lost loved ones to COVID.

As she was talking, Sara choked up ... and tried to start again, saying she'd been to 10 hospitals where people were being ravaged by the coronavirus. Eventually, she had to stop and sob for a bit.

Alisyn jumped in to thank Sara for her passionate coverage over the last year -- she's literally been on the ground for every major news cycle since the start of the pandemic, covering COVID, George Floyd's death, social justice protests and everything in between.

Shortly after her live shot, Sara took to Twitter to express what she was feeling. She attached a CNN story she and another reporter had worked, detailing how one woman who lost her mother to coronavirus had to hold the funeral in a chapel parking lot.

The Steelers were booted from the playoffs and they're STILL talking smack on the Browns ... with rookie receiver Chase Claypool saying Cleveland will get "clapped" in the next round.

In true Steelers fashion, the 22-year-old star went to none other than TikTok (seriously) to diss his AFC North rival on Monday ... saying, "Bad loss, but the Browns are gonna get clapped next week, so all good."

Worth noting, Claypool is saying this from the comfort of his own home ... which is where one usually goes after being eliminated from the playoffs.

Despite the loss, Claypool is confident the Browns will not come away with the dub next ... especially against the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs.

It's obviously not a hot take ... but given what happened just hours ago, maybe he shoulda kept his comments to himself??

Claypool's words follow JuJu Smith-Schuster's remarks leading up to the game ... when he trashed the Browns for being historically bad.

The Browns had the last laugh ... mocking JuJu's love for TikTok dances after securing the epic 48-37 win.

Miya Ponsetto is the symbol of white privilege, and her falsely accusing 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr. of stealing her phone is a modern-day reflection of what happened to Emmett Till … according to the Black teenager's mother.

Kat Harrold sounded off on Ponsetto for her actions during and since the December 26 incident at the Arlo Hotel in NYC, specifically, Miya’s denial of racism being a factor … and using her ethnicity and her age as an apparent shield for being held accountable.

According to Kat ... Miya being Puerto Rican doesn’t mean she's not racist, and being 22 years old doesn’t mean she’s too young to be excused for it. She points out that Emmett Till was killed as a result of false allegations made by a white woman who was 21 … and Kat believes that racial injustice is reflected in her son’s case.

Kat says the proof is in how the hotel reacted to the situation when Miya accused her son of stealing her phone. She claims the Arlo defaulted to questioning the Black teenager but did NOT question Miya. Kat says the hotel immediately sided with her instead and calls this a clear example of white privilege.

As for the Arlo … attorney Ben Crump and Keyon’s parents are calling for a ban until the hotel condemns the individual racism allegedly shown by Ponsetto, and takes responsibility for the racial profiling they believe it demonstrated.

They lay a lot of the blame on the hotel manager for not de-escalating the situation, and accuse him of treating the Black teen like he was guilty from the jump … forcing him to prove he did nothing wrong. Even worse, they point out that Miya was not even a patron of the hotel … yet she was treated with more respect than Keyon and his father, Keyon Sr. -- who were actually staying there.

Their rallying cry -- "No more, Arlo!"

As we've reported ... Ponsetto was arrested last week in SoCal, flown back to NYC where she was charged with attempted assault, attempted robbery, grand larceny and endangering the welfare of a child for her altercation with the teenager.

However, Miya was NOT charged with a hate crime, and the prosecutor never even mentioned any racial components to the case in court Saturday. Keyon Jr.'s parents -- Keyon and Kat -- previously told us they believe the ordeal is reflective of racial injustices as a whole.

Nancy Pelosi is clearly still dealing with the trauma of the deadly Capitol breach ... and also seems to be fed up talking about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Speaker Pelosi appeared on "60 Minutes" Sunday to talk about the deadly insurrection last week, and got emotional -- appearing to hold back tears -- as she blamed President Trump for what she calls a "terrible violation" of the legislative branch of the U.S. government.

Pelosi also got worked up -- in a much different way -- when Lesley Stahl asked her about AOC complaining she and other Democratic honchos are excluding the younger generation of representatives from leadership roles.

Her response is telling ... and Stahl clearly noticed.

As we've reported ... it seems some of the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol had far worse intentions than just walking around and putting their feet up on desks -- like Richard Barnett did in Pelosi's office -- so it's understandable why she's shaken up and wants Trump to pay for it. As AOC herself said, the insurrectionists may well have murdered half the members of Congress if they had their way.

A Black attorney claims he was racially profiled in court because he was wearing street clothes ... and while this video of his arrest seems to support that, he was just convicted for the whole thing.

38-year-old Jaaye Person-Lynn was sentenced last week to one-year probation after being convicted of obstructing or delaying a peace officer for this San Bernardino courtroom altercation in 2019.

Long story short ... Person-Lynn says he dropped into court on his day off without a suit on, because he needed to change a hearing date for a client and thought he could do it quickly with the clerk. The Sheriff's deputies inside the courtroom, however, stiff-armed him.

Check out the footage -- it starts without audio, but you can see Person-Lynn enter the courtroom and walk past the bar as he tries to make his way to the clerk. A couple deputies flag him down and point back to the spectator section, where they meet him face-to-face.

That's where the audio kicks in ... you hear the female deputy ask who he is and what he wants. Person-Lynn tells her he wants to talk to the clerk, and eventually identifies himself as an attorney. Two deputies then escorted Person-Lynn out, and tried getting the case number for his client. Person-Lynn says he's going after them, legally, for racially for profiling him ... and then it really hit the fan.

You can hear a Taser going off as a deputy tells the lawyer not to threaten him. Person-Lynn was arrested and booked into the county jail right then and there. He eventually went to trial over this ... and got convicted and got sentenced Friday.

He's vowing to appeal, maintaining race was a factor and that deputies used excessive force -- which he claims caused injuries to his arms.

One of the most notorious insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol with zip ties in his hand has now been arrested ... he's also been ID'd, and hails from Tennessee.

The FBI arrested 30-year-old Eric Munchel Sunday in Nashville -- this after confirming his identity on social media and elsewhere as the man who infiltrated the Senate chamber with a handful of plastic zip ties, wearing tactical gear. Charges have yet to be announced.

Social media sleuths tracked him down fast and pointed out he worked at a bar in Nashville. He's also apparently a big supporter of the Back the Blue cause ... there are several photos of him with a black and blue American flag on his now-deactivated Facebook page.

Oh, and he's also a big gun nut too ... there are photos of him with shotguns, handguns and semi-automatics. It also appears he's participated in local demonstrations in Nashville, decrying the COVID shutdowns at different points in 2020, and wearing bulletproof vests.

Speaking of weapons, the FBI reportedly recovered several weapons from Munchel during his arrest -- no word yet on whether any of the zip ties in question were recovered. Munchel was booked at Metro Nashville jail Sunday afternoon and is now being processed.

He was one of the rioters that the feds really wanted -- as there are operating theories he and others had plans to take U.S. lawmakers hostage (or worse) if given the opportunity.  AOC made it clear Sunday ... the goal of these rioters may have been to kill members of Congress.

The moment the Trump mob was strong-arming its way into the Capitol can now be seen from a new, frightening view -- where a fallen police officer getting pummeled on the ground.

Check out this gruesome clip of insurrectionists breaking into an opening on a side entrance to the building, which was being guarded by a line of cops in tactical gear ... one of whom ended up laid out on the ground, face first ... right at the feet of rioters.

The crowd showed him no mercy ... immediately trampling him, bludgeoning him with objects and projectiles, dragging him down the steps they were storming -- pretty much having their way with his limp body as his colleagues tried pulling him away.

There's even an overhead shot of the scene, and it's absolutely surreal. You hear someone off-camera yell, "Get that motherf***** out of there! Take him out!"

Now, there've been rumors this officer might've been the one who was killed -- Officer Brian Sicknick, who died from injuries he sustained during the siege -- but that has NOT been confirmed. Some social media users say this officer is actually with Metro D.C., not Capitol Police, but again ... we haven't been able to confirm.

A plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills has died from COVID-19 ... and it appears to be entirely because he was able to keep working on patients during a pandemic.

Dr. Payman Simoni -- who's been featured on "The Doctors" show -- passed away while hospitalized in L.A. -- this after he contracted the virus while performing a cosmetic procedure on a patient who turned out to be COVID positive ... so say family sources.

We're told Dr. Simoni was doing a lip injection on a woman last month ... obviously an elective procedure. She was temperature checked and filled out a COVID questionnaire. She was not tested.

While the doc was hovering over the maskless woman, our sources say she coughed in his face. He had his mask on, but still ... she sprayed on him. She contacted the office a few days later to inform them she had tested positive for COVID.

Dr. Simoni then went into quarantine and began experiencing symptoms -- shortness of breath, etc -- and in short order, he was on a ventilator at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. We're told Dr. Simoni was eventually placed in a medically induced coma as his lungs started failing. He died Friday from a brain hemorrhage.

It's a cautionary tale ... one that might've been avoided if the City of Beverly Hills hadn't passed a resolution allowing cosmetic surgery offices to remain open while cases continue to surge. Some docs have opted to hold off -- others obviously haven't.

Simoni was 50.

A Proud Boys leader is now in federal custody after taking part in the Capitol siege and then claiming he was there as a reporter ... something law enforcement clearly ain't buying.

Nicholas Ochs -- who heads up the Hawaii faction of the far-right extremist group -- was arrested by FBI agents after touching down at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu ... this following his trip to D.C. to storm the Capitol.

According to an unsealed indictment, the feds are charging Ochs with unlawful entry into restricted buildings or grounds -- and they cite evidence they say Ochs himself laid out on social media and CNN ... the later to whom he made the ridiculous "journalist" comment.

The day after the insurrection, he claimed he was there working as a professional journalist, seemingly saying he had a right to be there and was not part of the riot. He also said he didn't break in ... he simply entered without incident.

Adding insult to injury ... the guy also posted a photo of him smoking a cigarette with a buddy, with a caption attached that reads, "Hello from the Capital lol."

There was a frightening call to arms this past week ... "When the ballot box is gone, there is only the cartridge box. You have made bullets expensive. But luckily for you, ropes are reusable."

Thing is ... this was the day before the insurrection, and 2,800 miles from the Capitol.

Last Tuesday, the day before the attempted coup on Capitol Hill, there was a scheduled meeting in Northern California of the Shasta County Board of Supervisors. The meeting was supposed to be all virtual, because the pandemic in California has spiraled out of control.

That didn't sit well with a couple of supervisors, including newly-elected Patrick Jones, and a bunch of residents who wanted inside the official chambers. The Supervisor let dozens of angry residents inside, most of whom were angry over COVID restrictions, but there were threats ... plenty of threats, like, "Civil war is brewing."

Timothy Fairfield is the man who talked about the cartridge box. He added, "Flee now while you can, because the days of your tyranny are drawing to a close and the legitimacy of this government is waning."

Carlos Zapata, who has reportedly been a member of California State Militia and appears on Alex Jones' "InfoWars," is active in Shasta County and thinking of running for office. After the coup attempt in D.C., he told the L.A. Times, "Without the threat of physical violence, our words are empty ... By calling for violence, am I saying, 'Hey, let's go kill people?' Absolutely not, and I never have ... But I am saying that we're at the point now where we have to consider the threat of violence to protect ourselves."

Zapata had some choice words about the Capitol riots ... "People say, Oh, man, those people at the Capitol, they were violent. That's un-American ... I'm like, the most American thing they could have done is burned that f***** down."

Zapata is on video from last August at a Supervisor's meeting, threatening war and a rebellion.

As for Supervisor Jones, he called the attempted coup in D.C. "unfortunate."

Miya Ponsetto's October DUI (the second such arrest in 4 months) was filmed by bystanders ... and yes, it's about as wild as we've come to expect, ending with this rant to cops: "There are gang members killing people right now and you're arresting a girl?"

TMZ has obtained video of Miya's arrest Oct. 3 in Ventura County -- for which she was charged with DUI, resisting arrest and obstructing/delaying a peace officer or EMT -- and the accusations against her seem pretty solid ... because she was absolutely out of control.

An eyewitness tells us ... the drama started when Miya and her mom, Nicole, stopped on the side of a road ... screaming and cussing at each other while outside of their Range Rover.

The witness says she tried seeing if they needed help, but Miya got back in the car and demanded her mom do the same ... at which point, the witness says they recklessly drove off. The witness called the cops and tailed them, fearing Miya might've been intoxicated by the way she was driving. Eventually, they all pulled into a gas station.

That's where things hit the fan, especially when cops showed up. They attempted to detain Miya, who threw a fit the entire time ... demanding to see a warrant, demanding to know what she'd done wrong, insulting the officers, squirming around to avoid cuffs ... everything.

You can watch for yourself and make up your own mind -- but her actions here are certainly in line with other behavior of hers on camera ... be it at the Arlo Hotel or with Gayle King.

Cops say they eventually were able to get a reading on her blood alcohol level -- .14, nearly twice the legal limit.

Remember, this is Miya's second arrest -- she was hit with the first DUI in Malibu (where she was also allegedly combative) back in May and pled no contest, so she was on probation. Getting arrested and charged with DUI could be enough for her to do jail time ... not to mention her NYC case. BTW ... there's also a pending case where she was charged with being drunk in public at the Peninsula hotel in Bev Hills.

Of course, Miya's now on the East Coast, where she faces a slew of charges for attacking Keyon Harrold's 14-year-old son and accusing him of stealing her phone. She was in Court Saturday for arraignment but did not enter a plea. She was then released from custody.

There's more evidence that the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol had inside help.

TMZ broke the story ... the FBI believes there are people who work in the Capitol who may have assisted rioters in navigating the building ... in many cases without resistance.

Congressman Jim Clyburn had his office looted ... we know an iPad was stolen. We're told the Congressman, who has been sharply critical of Trump, is angry that the rioters found his office, which does NOT have a nameplate ... the door is unmarked, yet the rioters somehow picked that door as opposed to hundreds of others.

High-ranking Capitol police sources say Clyburn and other members believe someone from the inside must have helped located key offices.

As we reported, the FBI is especially suspicious of the way rioters zeroed in on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. It's virtually impossible to find in the maze, yet the rioters were inside her office within 11 minutes.

The FBI is looking to see if some Capitol cops were involved in helping the rioters. We're told authorities are looking at cell phone data -- especially from cell phones of the hundreds of officers who were off duty -- to see if they were in the building at the time of the riot. We're told the FBI is also looking at other staff who work in the building.

Arnold Schwarzenegger just delivered a stirring message to the country, warning people, remnants of Nazi Germany that he saw have a striking similarity to what we all just saw.

Arnold displayed the Conan sword and used it as a metaphor to describe how the United States can triumph over the Capitol rioters who want to tear this country apart. You gotta hear his description ... it rings true.

The former Cali Guv, who was born in Austria 2 years after the Nazis lost WWII, compared the Nazis to the rioters.

He talked about Kristallnacht -- The Night of Broken Glass -- where the Nazis went on a rampage against the Jews in 1938 and then said the Proud Boys were the Nazi equivalent.  He says last Wednesday was our Night of Broken Glass.

Arnold called the elected officials and other leaders who have been empowering Trump "spineless," saying they were too cowardly to stand up to the worst President in our history.

And, Arnold offered something interesting ... an understanding of what's behind the rioters.

He explained something he told Harvey during an episode of "Objectified," where he said as a child his dad was a failed Nazi supporter who lost the war, became a drunk and was physically abusive to young Arnold. He said his dad was like other dads in his neighborhood -- angry and abusive. He's clearly comparing the failed Nazis to the insurrectionists who invaded the Capitol.

This case is clearly not going to have any racial implication, despite the victim's family feeling race had everything to do with her actions. The D.A. never uttered the words that the 14-year-old boy was black. This underscores the prosecutor's decision not to charge Miya with a hate crime.

There's also this ... prosecutors briefly detail another incident in which Miya allegedly damaged an apartment door somewhere in NYC BEFORE her run-in with the Harrolds.

She's due back in court in the Big Apple on March 29 -- and don't forget, she's got a couple court dates lined up later this month as well here in Cali for two other pending cases.

Miya Ponsetto -- aka SoHo 'Karen' -- isn't going to court kicking and screaming the way she allegedly has when getting arrested ... this time cops made sure it wouldn't happen, with the help of a couple restraints.

Here's Miya being led out of an NYC police precinct in lower Manhattan Saturday by a couple of detectives who are escorting her to a waiting vehicle, which is set to take her to Manhattan Criminal Court ... where she's expected to be arraigned on a slew of charges.

Check out Miya ... she's obviously handcuffed, but her feet are shackled as well. She's also got a face mask on, a beanie, black leggings and Birkenstocks ... similar to what she wore when she attacked 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr. at the Arlo Hotel in SoHo, falsely claiming he stole her iPhone.

As for her feet being bound ... it's interesting. Miya's got a documented history of allegedly resisting arrest -- in fact, cops say she did exactly that when they picked her up most recently and extradited her to NYC. Time after time, she appears to put up a fight.

Miya's been rung up on a ton of charges -- including attempted robbery, grand larceny, acting in a manner injurious to a child and two counts of attempted assault -- but she hasn't been charged with a hate crime, which is telling.

Keyon Jr.'s parents and their attorney, Ben Crump, made it clear this week on 'TMZ Live' ... there are two justice systems in this country, and that Black people often get the short end of the stick when authorities pursue justice on their behalf. They want her charged with a hate crime.

As for Saturday's scheduled arraignment ... we're hearing she should appear before a judge sometime this evening. No word yet on whether Miya plans to enter a plea.