Coup, Tourists, and Terror: The Many Stories of the Storm on the US Capitol

What exactly happened is pretty clear by now. Protesters overcame security forces at the US Congress building on January 6, 2020, stormed inside and devastated it. Researchers say: It was an act of terrorism from the right. The Republicans do something else with it.

The US had never seen anything like it: Citizens forcibly entered the Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2020. They did not want to accept President Donald Trump’s defeat in the presidential election or believed in fraud. In the building, the electoral vote count, led by Vice President Mike Pence, had to be interrupted to seal the victory of Democrat Joe Biden. The intruders devastated the building, politicians fled, and several people died during and as a result of the clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

Trump had previously given a speech about one and a half kilometers away and talked about the upcoming march of the audience to the congress building, who would “peacefully” make their voices audible there. But Trump also said, “If you don’t fight like crazy, you will soon run out of land.” Signs that were seen in Washington that day read “Off with their heads”, paired with a skull and a Trump quiff. “Hang Mike Pence!” Shouted some intruders later, as they roamed Congress. Others wanted to execute the elected Vice President Kamala Harris.

The tone of ultra-conservatives and Trump’s supporters is often martial. It is difficult to put words and actions into direct causal context. Where does the rhetoric end? What is the evidence?

The dynamic of violence at least, who was where and when, is what the “New York Times” has with the analysis of thousands of videos reconstructed. But the country is still debating why it happened and whether there were possibly people behind the outbreak of violence. The question is the subject of large-scale research. Law enforcement officers arrested at least 570 suspected participants, including right-wing militias, who were involved in the storm by the end of August 2021. At the same time, the House of Representatives is conducting a parliamentary investigation and summoning witnesses, including those close to Trump. Are you responsible for the storm on the Capitol? It is also about allowing conservative circles as little as possible to interpret what happened on January 6th.

Is everything completely harmless?

The attack on the Capitol was an expression of political failure. The election was lost and there was no evidence for Trump’s fraud allegations. Many Republicans had helped to spread it and should now give up power. “He’s not an innocent bystander. He cheered you on,” said a Republican congressman about Trump, probably speaking from the soul of many colleagues. Previously allied party friends broke with the president and his grassroots – most of them only temporarily, until the mechanisms caught up with them and the historic event became just another to advance their own agenda.

A good example of this is Kevin McCarthy, the Republican parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives. McCarthy had helped Trump spread his election fraud allegations. However, when its supporters ravaged its congressional office, it was enough. The parliamentary group leader fought a roaring duel over the phone with Trump, demanding that the president do something about the violence. Trump refused, as he did in talks with other Republicans. It was a few hours before the president told people to “go home”. A week later, McCarthy criticized him sharply: Trump was responsible for the attack, he should have done something immediately to stop the mob. He spoke out in favor of sanctioning the president.

Like McCarthy, many Republicans interrupted their litany of perpetual trivialization for a few weeks because the images that were practically in a loop on the TV stations were clear: Trump’s supporters had stormed the Capitol. McCarthy said the attack was undemocratic, un-American and criminal. But now, a year later, he is fully back on Trump’s line, and so are others. Party colleagues who have remained true to their criticism of what has gone on, such as MP Liz Cheney, have been removed from leadership positions. Others want to withdraw from politics. The party is fragmented into a majority of Trump supporters and a minority of dissenters. January 6th was a key moment for the future of the party.

Anger of the disappointed

The attack on the Capitol was also an outburst of anger from below. According to Reuters, the FBI said 90 to 95 percent of the intruders were spontaneous perpetrators estimated, that is, uncoordinated individuals. “There was no big plan with Roger Stone and Alex Jones and all these people to storm the Capitol and take hostages,” an informant familiar with the investigation is quoted as saying. About 5 percent were members of militias such as “Oath Keepers” and “Proud Boys”. They had forged detailed plans to get into the congress building and, according to internal chats, wanted to encourage the other demonstrators to do so. No plans are known about what should happen then.

Stewart Rhodes, founder and head of the ultra-conservative “Oath Keepers”, pointed out several times in internal chats on January 6th towards the role of Trumpthat the President must “act decisively” and do his “duty”. It had previously been posted on the organization’s website referencedthat outside the restricted area of ​​the capital “well-armed and equipped rapid reaction troops are on hold (…) for the worst case, if the president asks us as part of the militia to support him in DC”.

Without the organizational help of such militarized networks, a study by the George Washington University (PDF), it would never have come as far as it did on January 6, 2020. The participants in the Capitol Tower came from at least 40 states, they were a mixture of militarized networks, organized cells and inspired believers; and the attack, a violent siege by far-right actors, interspersed with racists and conspiracy theorists such as Qanon supporters. According to the indictment, one of those involved wore a sweater with the inscription: “Camp Auschwitz – Work Brings Freedom”. So the day was also an act of terrorism from the right.

Trump is the most influential figure in the party, whose voters are also anchored in ultra-conservative circles. The violence is a fact that is being played down, especially by the Republicans. Andrew Clyde, Georgia Republican MP, said the attack was not a riot, but “a normal tourist visit.” At the same time he reported that on the day of the attack he himself helped to barricade the plenary hall against the mob. Some were just “undisciplined,” said Clyde.

There are also claims that have long since been refuted, but distract and sow doubts. For example, that “Antifa” members, i.e. leftists, subverted the protests, incited them to violence or even led them to do so. No evidence is known of this, on the contrary: several alleged anti-fascist activists surrendered out as supporters of Trump. Some also keep suggesting that the FBI was responsible for the violence. The attackers were either patriots or not armed at all. Ashli ​​Babbitt, who was shot trying to break into the House of Representatives, is sometimes transfigured as a martyr.

A tiny “lost cause”

Distracting from facts, playing down violence or even romanticizing it – these are well-known patterns from conservative circles in US history. Especially as far as the Civil War is concerned, the bloodiest conflict on US soil. It was the slave owners of the south who did not want to submit their business model to the ideas of the industrialists of the north and therefore went to war against him from 1861 to 1865. In other words: They did not want to accept the election of the anti-slavery opponent Abraham Lincoln as president and went into armed resistance against him.

After the defeat, the defeated romanticized the former life in the slave-holding states; including those who had robbed and exploited their freedom. They glorified their generals and the armed conflict as heroic. With this so-called “lost cause” they gained the authority of interpretation and maintained power structures. More than 150 years after the end of slavery, the United States still suffers from this racist legacy.

The storm on the Capitol a year ago, on the other hand, was tiny. But parallels can still be made out. President Biden is clear in his interpretation of the event: “A mob of extremists and terrorists carried out a violent and fatal attack,” he said. “It was a riot.” This is supported by the facts known so far.

But the Democrats are also trying to use the events for themselves; they would like to expose this uprising as a coup coordinated from above. The puller, the evil wizard behind the curtain is in this version, who do you think? Donald Trump, of course. Those around him, family and right-wing militias would then be the auxiliary magicians and the Republicans willing supporters of an attempted coup. Ultimately, this was intended to interrupt the democratic process and create the conditions for leaving state power in Trump’s hands. The Democrats owe evidence of this. This is what they have in common with Republicans who believe in electoral fraud.