About the Anniversary of the Storming of the Capitol

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INSURRECTION AT THE US CAPITOL

Today is the anniversary of January 6, 2021, storming of the US Capitol.

For the first time since 1814, the US Capitol was attacked. In 2021, the assault was led by American rioters representing various groups, including white supremacists, QAnon conspiracy theorists, militias, anarchists, and Trump loyalists. Five people died when the rioters and the smoke cleared: four rioters and a police officer.

The storming was planned on social media by various domestic hate groups, domestic terrorists, white supremacists, and attention seekers fueled by President Trump's refusal to accept election results and his Tweets encouraging participation.

This alternate interpretation of election outcomes is a garrulous scheme initiated before 2016 by Mr. Trump, as the vanguard of his ego should he lose. At that time, he won the Electoral College. In 2020, despite a record-breaking turnout of voters, Mr. Trump lost the election to Mr. Biden by over 7 million votes, putting the Electoral College vote at 232 for Trump to 306 for Biden. Ratifying the Electoral College by Congress on January 6 following November's presidential elections is the final step in certifying a presidential election.

THE WHY
The rioters' aimed to stop the certification of the Electoral College by congress and prevent Mr. Biden from becoming the next president. They believed this would allow Mr. Trump, who lost the election, to remain in office, an objective equated with an in-house coup. Their belief that the election was rigged against Mr. Trump was carefully curated. It received enforcement through an echo chamber of right-wing media outlets and social media posts, nurtured by conspiracy theories, anger, and the perceived loss of societal privilege. They were primed, indoctrinated true believers, filled with fear, rage, and anger to burn. They needed a match to burst into flames.

Mr. Trump supplied that match. He told his supporters that the only way he could lose the election was through fraud and that they needed to fight to take back their country and make it right. The president told them the media was their enemy and that COVID-19 was nothing to worry about. He told them Democrats were communists, Marxists, and socialists (though very few Trump disciples can define or differentiate each term). He told his believers and fans many things daily and month after month. His lies and distortions provided a narrative of victimization in repetitive soundbites, punctuated with fear, a sense of belonging and purpose that so many desperately needed. These scenarios, and their subsequent conspiracy theories, found traction with coronavirus lockdowns beginning in March 2020.

Trump supporters received a steady diet of curated news for the next eight months. Messaging and confirmations meticulously inflamed passions, created doubt and promoted multiple conspiracy theories. It was a toxic stew on the edge of boiling over.

By election day in early November, 46% of those identifying as Republican believed the election was being stolen from them and their beloved leader, Mr. Trump. They thought a coup was in the process due to voter fraud; for the cult members, there was no other explanation.

What followed was a circus of 60 election lawsuits accusing voter fraud. Eventually, all but one case was dismissed. Three instances of voter fraud were identified in Pennsylvania, and all three were fraudulent votes for Mr. Trump.

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
The theatrics of the vote didn't end with lawsuits. In several key states, including Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada, officials found themselves and their families receiving death threats and enduring violence for doing their job. One group of white supremacists, urged on by conspiracy theories, set out to kidnap the Governor of Michigan. The FBI thwarted them, given the kidnapping was planned on social media.

Rather than rectify the rhetoric, Mr. Trump embraced it, nurturing, massaging, and cultivating it through speeches, social media, and live, in-person rallies (in the middle of a pandemic). His followers embraced his denials and accusations as gospel. Primetime right-wing opinion entertainers enthusiastically fueled the farce, even as their news divisions increasingly deferred toward fact-based reporting. Discounting the rhetoric was considered a betrayal by many Trump supporters, who sought out increasingly radical information sources to feed their fantasy. By Christmas, many Trump acolytes and an increasing number of Republicans convinced themselves the election was rigged.

Officials from various branches of government, the judiciary, and even foreign observers, certified the 2020 US election was one of the most secure in history. Other than a scattering of isolated instances, all attested there was no fraud. The election was fair. Mr. Trump lost, period.

In the newspeak language of the MAGAverse, a loss was impossible. Mr. Trump's supporters, encouraged by the president, continued to refuse any result that did not conform to their narrative. As the New Year approached and the final certification of the election results by congress on January 6 loomed, calls for "Stop the Steal" grew, especially on social media. Mr. Trump invited his fans to gather in Washington DC on January 6 for a rally to do just that, tweeting, "Be there. It will be wild!".

That would become the understatement of a decade.

A DAY OF CHAOS AND ANARCHY
Hundreds of thousands of people answered Mr. Trump's call, pouring into Washington DC with flags, signs, MAGA hats, and anger, IMMENSE anger. In addition, a significant portion of the rioters came armed, something the Secret Service would point out to the president. The president didn't care because the rioters were not there to harm him. This sentiment of the president would be revealed during the January 6 Committee Hearings in 2022, along with other evidence pointing to the president's direct involvement in orchestrating the insurrection.

Rioters arrived with guns, knives, and other weapons, including Molotov cocktails and spears. Additional weapons included baseball bats, body armor, bullhorns, chemical weapons including pepper spray, smoke bombs, flash-bang grenades, IUDs, nooses, and at least two pipe bombs.

The day began around 08:20, with the president tweeting his usual disproved voter fraud and victimization allegations. At the same time, his fans gathered at the Ellipse south of the White House. By 11:30, several Trump officials and supporters began warming up the crowd for the 'Save America Rally.' Hardcore members of his fan club, many armed, simultaneously gathered at the Capitol building. At 12:49, two pipe bombs were found, one at the Republican National Committee and another at the Democratic National Committee. Police have since speculated the purpose of the bombs was to divert police away from the Capitol building.

At noon, Mr. Trump ascended the stage, devoting the next hour to promoting conspiracy theories, his victimization, disproved allegations, and debunked election theft assertions. The fawning crowd of supporters, true believers, and diehard fans loved it. As the US Congress took its seats in their respective chambers at 13:00, Mr. Trump whipped his fans into a cheer-filled frenzy. He urged them to march down Pennsylvania Avenue and 'Stop the Steal' by protesting the joint chamber ratification of the electoral college results. Typically, this is a tedious ceremonial procedure for finalizing the election results.

While most of Mr. Trump's fans raucously enjoyed the president's speech, 1.2 miles away, militant supporters began executing their social media plan to storm the Capitol. At 12:53, militants overran the first of three barricades, breaching all three ten minutes later and chasing Capitol police officers across the lawn of the Capitol. At 13:10, Mr. Trump finished his speech, and attending fans made their way up Pennsylvania Avenue. Tens of thousands of people moved from the Ellipse to the Capitol, joining the thousands already there. The president returned to the White House, where he watched the spectacle on television, doing nothing for nearly four hours.

Ultimately four insurrectionists and two police officers died, several from medical causes. One insurrectionist was shot and killed, attempting to breach the Capitol further.
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Mr. Trump first alleged voter fraud in 2015, leading up to the 2016 election. This charge was quickly forgotten when he won but would be resurrected again leading up to the 2020 election, which he lost by 8 million votes.