The storming of the United States capitol occurred on January 6th, 2021. A crowd of President Trump supporters marched to the U.S. Capitol and laid siege before breaking windows and storming inside. President Trump rallied his supporters against the elections’ results and told them that it was “stolen” and the results were not credible. The Capitol’s storming took place as senators were counting and confirming the Electoral College votes to secure the presidency for Joe Biden.
The storming of the Capitol started as a peaceful demonstration. Massive throngs of people gathered outside the White House from different states, where President Trump addressed them. Mr Trump then instructed the supporters to go to Capitol Hill and convince republicans into being ‘proud’ and ‘bold’ and ‘take the country back’ (Guff et al., 2021). The protestors then marched to the Capitol, where they staged what seemed like a peaceful demonstration. According to an interview by CNN with one of the rioters, there were discussions about whether or not they should break into the buildings. Some had reservations about this and wanted the protests to go on peacefully, albeit knocking over a barricade to get that close to the Capitol. One man took the initiative by breaking into a glass window, and his action birthed the rest of the violent scenes. The capitol police were overwhelmed, with some protesters even claiming that the police were supportive inside the Capitol and “some of them were on their side” (Guff et al., 2021).
The supporters got in and vandalized the premises. The lawmakers who were still inside counting votes from the Electoral College had to be evacuated to safe areas. Donald Trump later ordered the National Guard’s deployment to Washington to assist civilian law enforcement agencies in quelling the chaos. Eventually, the circus stopped when Donald Trump asked the rioters to disperse. Senate proceedings called to order at 8 pm. A total of 5 people lost their lives due to the insurrection (Barrett & Raju, 2021).
Following the riots, the FBI was called in to investigate and criminally charge the participants. Over 400 cases have since been opened. According to Washington DC’s District Attorney’s website, 359 people have so far been arrested and charged, and some are awaiting trial. The most common charges leveled against rioters were civil disorder, obstructing an official proceeding, illegal entry and occupation of restricted buildings and grounds, behaving in a disorderly manner while in a restricted area, parading, demonstrating, picketing and being disorderly in the Capitol (District of Colombia Attorney’s Office, 2021). Assault of federal officer or obstructing a federal officer from performing their duty, possessing weapons on restricted grounds, carrying large capacity ammunition feeding device, theft, and destruction of government property and conspiracy were leveled on a few of the rioters. What remains a mystery to this day are the assailants behind two improvised explosive devices planted in capitol grounds (Barrett & Raju, 2021).
The incident at Capitol Hill was an insurrection, an act of rebellion against the government, and an abuse of American democracy. The rioters’ actions undermined the rule of law, the rights of millions of other Americans who thought the election was fair, and the judicial system designed to handle election disputes through unbiased analysis of claims and giving the final verdict.
The insurrection also brought to mind some weaker aspects of our society. The insurrection brought white supremacists from the woodwork, as known QAnon leaders and members came out in numbers to support the rioting, dressed in ridiculous outfits and carrying the confederate flag. These groups’ existence, which finds purpose in delusion and unfounded claims, proved to be very dangerous as they encourage racist sentiments to their members and instil fear in members by propagating baseless claims of the existence of a deep state controlling every aspect of American life. This sparks the legality of these groups as potential sources of civil unrest and domestic terrorism (“Text – H.Res.103 – 117th Congress (2021-2022):”, 2021)
The insurrection happening against a backdrop of months of anti-discrimination protests did not further help the situation. It brought matters of inequality to light, where commentators compared this to the black lives matter protests. While both took a nasty and violent turn, it was noted that rioters were inside the capitol building, which should ideally be one of the most protected places in the U.S., for an entire 3 hours before the National Guard was deployed. It brought one to question the true commitment of law enforcement agencies to promoting security in the country. Several black lives matter protests were immediately countered with the National Guard’s deployment in the months preceding the riot. These protestors were mainly unarmed. On the other hand, those attacking the Capitol held guns, blunt objects, made their way to a restricted area and ransacked it for three hours before the National Guard was sent. Even that did not seem helpful because, at the time, the president finally decided it was time to tell the people to go home.
The cases brought against the rioters are yet to be concluded. It is doubtful that some of them will have the charges against them dropped. Some news sources even went as far as saying that these rioters had probably ruined their lives for good. The FBI put out a most wanted list on their website for those who participated in the riot and are still at large (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2021).
References
Barrett, T., & Raju, M. (2021, January 7th). 4 dead after rioters stormed the halls of Congress to block Biden’s win – CNNPolitics. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/06/politics/us-capitol-lockdown/index.html
Text – H.Res.103 – 117th Congress (2021-2022):. Congress.gov. (2021). Retrieved 15 April 2021, from https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/103/text?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22qanon%22%5D%7D&r=6&s=6.
District of Colombia Attorney’s Office. (2021). Capitol Breach Cases | USAO-DC | Department of Justice. https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/capitol-breach-cases?combine=&order=title&sort=desc
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2021). Capitol Violence — FBI. https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/capitol-violence
Guff, S., Brunswick, D., & Almasy, S. (2021, January 8th). A mob swarmed the U.S. Capitol and this is what some said – CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/07/us/trump-supporters-capitol-riot/index.html
