This week has been definitely one for the history books. It started off great on Tuesday and early Wednesday with historical wins for Democrats Ossoff and Warnock, the first Jewish and African American candidates (respectively) selected by the state of Georgia to serve in the US Senate. Then by Wednesday afternoon, things descended into mayhem and chaos. Trump’s “Save America Rally” earlier that day was the match that started the fire. Trump addressed his supporters, telling them to “stop the steal,” and urged them to march down to the Capitol to demonstrate against Congress for certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. As he whipped up the crowd, his minions cried, “Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump!”
The angry mob, the majority of which see themselves as patriots in defending Trump’s throne, look more like hate groups, conspiracy theorists, and white supremacists to me. They stormed the US Capitol, they broke windows, urinated and defecated in the halls, and fought with police, one of which has sadly, and tragically perished due to injuries caused by one of the rioters. All total, five people have died as a result of what happened, one woman rioter shot by Capitol police, and the others from medical emergencies. The violent mob, fueled by conspiracy theories and Trump’s claims of a rigged election, ransacked the Capitol. We’ve all seen the images of a Confederate flag (a symbol of slavery and oppression) paraded through the halls, cops and rioters alike taking selfies, the furry-horned-hatted QAnon shaman Jake Angeli posing on the Senate dais, Richard Barnett sitting in Nancy Pelosi’s chair, his feet up on her desk, and scores of Trump followers in full Trump regalia ransacking and running amok through our nation’s Capitol building.
During this debacle, senators, aides and other Capitol employees sheltered in place, feared for their lives, not knowing what the mad crowd would do. This event was horrific, the photos of the angry crowd are even more disturbing. Pictures of a man wearing a hoodie with “Camp Auschwitz” emblazoned on it, Proud Boys displaying their 6MWE T-shirts, which means 6 million jews was not enough, MAGAs with their “Civil War: January 6, 2021” hoodies, all the while shouting that Trump won the election, and that all of our legislators should be dragged out in the street. It was a display of sheer hate, madness and insurrection.
What happened Wednesday was nothing more than a horrific display of white privilege and hate. We all know that the National Guard would have been there in minutes if African Americans gathered near the Capitol building, and we all know that they all would have been arrested on the spot. Let’s face it, Raphael Warnock was arrested at the Capitol Rotunda in 2017 for praying in protest over GOP proposed cuts to the healthcare budget. But that didn’t happen to the white Baptist pastor from Missouri who joined the fray. Wednesday was a cluster, and the fact that the Capitol police were totally unprepared is also unbelievable, and it makes sense that lawmakers called for the resignation of Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, along with two other security officials. The lives of VP Pence, our senators, and their aides were in danger, and the fact that they had to abandon the Senate floor because a mad mob of angry terrorists stormed their chambers is nothing less than shocking!
These Trumpers, these QAnon, Proud Boys, so-called patriots are nothing more than domestic terrorists. They are fueled by hate, misinformation and conspiracy theories. And how did we get to this point? It’s been years in the making, but during Trump’s tenure, the ugly underbelly of white supremacy and hate groups in America was been exposed, fueled by his divisive rhetoric and the way he revels in stirring the pot and creating drama. Of course we cannot let Trump’s enablers in Washington off the hook, his GOP sycophants ignored the warning signs, they cow-towed to Trump’s ego, themselves being drawn into Trump’s pathological delusions of ANTIFA taking our cities, left-wing Democrats bent on establishing a communist state, a stolen election and destroyed ballots. All of those who perpetuated Trump’s delusional claims and accusations are complicit in what happened Wednesday. They have demonstrated that they are not concerned with Democracy, and many have failed to condemn the terrorist act that desecrated our Capitol and caused the death of a police officer, an Iraq war veteran who was both a father and a husband. His death, and those of four rioters, is a direct result of Trump’s malignant actions, his GOP enablers, and those who peddle lies, hate and conspiracy theories on social media.
But Wednesday may just be the start. And we can learn from history. Hitler’s first coup was a failure, but it succeeded the second time. In November of 1923, Hitler’s Nazi Party, along with other right wing factions, attempted to overthrow the Bavarian government in an armed uprising. Known as “The Beer Hall Putsch,” Hitler and 2,000 Nazi’s marched through the streets of Munich to the famous Munich Beer Hall, aiming to disrupt a meeting chaired by three Bavarian lawmakers. They were unsuccessful, they were arrested, and Hitler was imprisoned for treason, originally sentenced to five years, but released nine months later. During this time, he dictated “Mein Kampf.” After he was released, Hitler rebuilt the Nazi Party, the Nazis learned from their mistakes with the failed “putsch,” and eventually succeeded in gaining power through mainstream political methods.
Wednesday was Trump’s “putsch,” and along with the support of his children, Trump incited his supporters to storm the Capitol. He vowed to “never concede” and urged his supporters “to fight,” as he continued to push baseless claims of election fraud. He went on to spew lies. “All of us here today do not want to see our election victory stolen by emboldened radical Democrats.” He added, “We will never give up. We will never concede. It will never happen. You don’t concede when there’s theft involved. Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore.” The frenzied crowd followed Trump’s cries, and did as he commanded. They marched down to the Capitol and ransacked it.
This act of frenzied terrorism was horrific, and as the conspirators and traitors are rounded up by legal authorities, we cannot sit back and think that this is the end. This “putsch” may have been unsuccessful, Biden was still confirmed and will be inaugurated on January 20th. However, those hate groups who have found a champion and a voice in Trump are not going to go away quietly. If we as a nation fail to address the damage of hate speech and conspiracy theories on social media, we will fail in defending our fragile democracy. If we do not prosecute the perpetrators and organizers of this act, as well as those members of the GOP who still justify and support Trump’s delusional rhetoric, we are headed for another “putsch,” and next time, it might be worse. Next time, like Hitler, they might be smarter and use loopholes in the law and the Constitution to succeed.
I am so very relieved that in less than two weeks, the Democrats will lead all three branches of government, but there is a lot of work to do. Our democracy is fragile, and now more than ever, we must seek reform, justice and equality in order to ensure it’s longevity.
Sources:
Https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/capitol-breached-protesters/story?id=75081629