The Capitol Coup
On January 6th, something happened in the US that hasn’t happened in a few hundred years. Trump supporters staged a full-on attempted coup at the nation’s Capitol Building in Washington D.C. This came on the same day that lawmakers were planning to count electoral votes and solidify the Biden/Harris presidency. It also came as the Dems won most of Georgia’s runoff elections and helped to control the senate. This was a scheduled protest since Trump has been saying nothing but the fact that the election was stolen from him and calling them to protest the inequity and the fraud he thought was present in the election. But it quickly turned from a protest into an act of domestic terrorism. Earlier that morning, Trump and his lawyer, Rudi Giuliani, had made an appearance at a rally held by his supporters (the Save America March) and further fueled the fire by saying they would need to “be there, be wild”, “you have to show strength”, “when you catch somebody in fraud you are allowed to play by different rules”, and so much more. He bashed on his VP, Mike Pence, calling him a coward and saying that he was listening to stupid people. He told them to make sure they were there at the Capitol building to stop the count and the confirmation of Biden as the president. No matter how he wants to deny it, Trump gave his followers a free pass to commit violence. He has been doing this for most of his presidency and the entire first campaign he held. This isn’t new, but he did manage to bring it to another level this time.
Now, what exactly happened at the Capitol building once the president was finished inciting mass insanity and a riot? Exactly what he had said he wanted: a massive mob of white, domestic terrorists descended on the Capitol and were able to somehow push past the police officers and break into the building. Some walked right through the front doors with police lining the halls, others smashed the windows to the building and climbed in that way. They broke into the senate floor and trashed things in there, they broke into Nancy Pelosi’s office and left threatening notes, and they grabbed various artifacts from around the Capitol and carried them around or defaced them. In the process of this happening, four people died. One was one of the rioters, and three were cops who were there trying to do what they needed to do to keep the building and those inside safe. Many of the police were not doing nearly enough to stop this violence, but the three who died were doing what all the rest should have been. Had they all been acting to protect, those three may not have lost their lives. When Trump finally made a televised speech all he said was “go home and protest peacefully. I understand your anger because I am angry too. We had an election stolen from us, you should be angry.” This is of course not even remotely helpful in so many ways. He made things worse like he usually does and continued to show support for the people storming the Capitol. He also called them “special” because of how they were willing to be “such patriots” for him and the country.
These are just the most basic details of the events that transpired that day. There was of course much more nuance in what certain politicians said or didn’t say and how they reacted to or didn’t react to what was going on. There have since been even more issues as people continue to complain about new safety measures or even to go as far as to not be concerned about the actual coup. Many people are still refusing to call this what it was, a terrorist attack because the perpetrators were white Americans. So many things continue to happen to make this whole situation worse than it should have been. While I do not advocate for police violence in any case, there should have been more force used to keep people from getting into the Capitol and putting people's lives at risk in such a blatant way. If police can react to peaceful BLM protests with rubber bullets and tear gas, they should have at least attempted to keep this from getting out of hand the way that it did. The National Guard also was denied to come in to assist six times before it was finally pushed through and they were allowed to come to assist the police. They woudln’t allow the National Guard to come and stop a full-on coup, but they allowed it and even took it one step further in Portland when there was nothing but peaceful protests. No one should be shocked at the racism and the horrific double standard being displayed.
I don’t think many of us will forget the way it looked when the police were lining the entrance and letting the terrorist walk in so casually. They showed up with implements ready to take hostages, they were heavily armed, they made threats, they broke things, they defaced a national building, and most of them have yet to see or face any repercussions. There is an effort out there of making the terrorists known so that law enforcement has an easier time getting ahold of them to enact the appropriate punishments. Do not be afraid to share their faces on social media to get them moving out. They need to be fired from their jobs and arrested or this will happen again.
While what they did was deplorable, at this moment it is time to turn our attention towards the ring leader and the one who happily spurred on the insurrection: Donald Trump. Yesterday (January 13th) begins his second impeachment hearing. Since all of his social media was taken away, we don’t know for sure what absolute insanity he is going to try to pass off during these hearings, but the fact that we even have to mention that this will eye the second impeachment process proves all points right there. VP Mike Pence is refusing to enact the 25th amendment (more about what this means here) which is why the government had to go through the second impeachment in the first place. Now, while this does prove some things about who he was as a leader, he hasn’t been removed from office nor has his benefits for after the presidency been stripped. These are crucial things that need to happen, especially since he fueld an insurgent effort on the country he claims to love so much. Four people were killed because it was more important for him to feel like he was loved and admired by his followers than to actually take the democratic process seriously. The second impeachment is a great start, there is way more that needs to be done in order to make it actually mean something.
I will be updating this post up with more as time goes on, but for now, I would like to end it with a quick call to be safe for the next week. There are rumors and plans coming across social media as well in the government that there are more terrorist acts that will be occurring at the various capitols around the country. We had one here two days ago at our courthouse, complete with automatic weapons. So please, everyone pay attention to your surroundings, watch the news a little bit to stay up to date on what is happening in your area, and stay home as much as possible. While there is no telling for sure what is going to happen moving forward, it is better to stay on alert and aware.
Madey
Cover Art by Avery Lynch
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