Today marks one year since the Capitol riot.Hundreds of Trump supporters overran police on January 6, 2021 and broke windows inside the building. They broke into congressional offices and stopped Joe Biden’s victory from being officially certified.
This was a shameful spectacle for which Trump is responsible. Trump, and not Democrats or antifa. Over the past weeks, Trump made false statements regarding the election results and declared that his win was fraudulent. He fed his voters lies and promised them that the results could be overturned—perhaps by the Supreme Court, perhaps by Vice President Mike Pence. He spoke before the Washington, D.C. crowds on January 6th and promised his supporters that he would not give up, and will never compromise. He said “we will stop the steal,” and encouraged his people to march to the Capitol and “give our Republicans…the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”
The following was bold. Among thousands of people, only a small number stormed Capitol Hill and destroyed it. It was so embarrassing and counterproductive, many of the conservative media personalities firmly rooted in MAGA World privately contacted Trump to ask him to stop this from happening. Trump Jr. was also concerned. Donald Trump Jr. sent Mark Meadows, his chief of staff, a text message and begged him for help in exposing Trump’s out-of control violence and destruction. They all knew—or at least, they presumed—that mob violence, stoked by Trump, would destroy his legacy and prevent him from ever running for president again.
It has been proven wrong. Trump enjoys strong support even after a year. On the other side, many Republican politicians who condemned the rioting paid a heavy price.
So this is something https://t.co/CfrhwNjmnL pic.twitter.com/SidaYWfgm5
— David Byler (@databyler) January 5, 2022
The McConnells and Pences around the globe would prefer that Trump resign voluntarily and calmly. Trump refused and indicated that he would run in 2020.
The surest option for preventing him from returning to the Oval Office was conviction during his second impeachment trial, but the 57–43 vote in the Senate (which did attract some Republican support) fell 10 votes short. A conviction for inciting the riot would have correctly located significant responsibility for the chaos where it belonged—with Trump.
This did not occur. Instead, the U.S. House of Representatives convened a select committee—the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol—that continues to search for new answers and information, and seeks to question figures like Steve Bannon, Devin Nunes, and Katrina Pierson, and also tangential figures from outside the administration, like Alex Jones and Roger Stone. By demanding testimony and records from people who were not government figures at the time of the riot—and had the First Amendment right to organize peacefully in opposition to the election results—the committee’s work should be of increasing concern to civil libertarians. It is clear that there is no mystery. Trump ought to have been charged, and the Senate’s failure to convict means there are no more steps to take.
The individuals that entered the Capitol to cause property damage should be charged with the same crimes. They should also be accountable for what they did, just like Trump. This is a problem because many Democratic politicians, unlike the Department of Justice which weighs sentences on the front, have shown every sign of following a script post-9/11, treating criminals as more than mere vandals. They should be treated as domestic terrorists. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.In one instance, the Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), called for the Department of Homeland Security’s addition of January 6 protesters onto the nofly list. It is a “civil rights nightmare,” in his words. There are reasons‘s C.J. Ciaramella described the situation at that time. Some January 6 detainees have been held in jail awaiting trial for months, subjected—in some cases—to solitary confinement for 23 hours each day.
Jacob Chansley, the “QAnon Shaman” whose horns and lack of a shirt drew the media’s attention and made him the riot’s de facto leader, was sentenced to 41 months in prison—after already spending 10 months in solitary confinement. Chansley did not have an opportunity to defend his innocence in court. A potential felony was presented to Chansley. Sentence of 20 yearsAs almost every defendant does, he pleaded guilty.
Tragic and alarming events occurred on January 6. The current president was not allowed to claim he had won reelection. He encouraged his supporters and unleashed a furious rage that culminated with vandalism at our Capitol. Trump and the mob did significant damage.
However, it is also crucial for the government not to overreact. Bush government launched a devastating war on terror after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. They invaded sovereign nations and killed American citizens abroad. In addition, they routinely monitored Americans at home and infringe civil liberties in several other broad ways. Frustratingly the mainstream media have indicated that they will provide intellectual cover to any Biden Administration effort to react to January 6 in a similar extreme fashion. According to the newspaper, Every Day is January 6 Now. New York Times Editor’s board. Let’s pray it doesn’t.