Angry, disillusioned Americans crash through security barricades, climb scaffolding, and scale walls to breach the United States Capitol. A furious and frantic mob shatter windows, splinter doors, and carry Tasers, guns, baseball bats, tear gas, truncheons, zip-tie handcuffs, and American flags with sharpened poles.

Members of the United States Congress, elected by We the People, crouch behind benches and lock themselves in bathrooms, terrified for their lives. The vice President of the United States and his family hide in a closet while trying to coordinate some sort of rescue. Enraged men pull a journalist down a flight of stairs, past graffiti that says, “Murder the Media,” then throws him over a ledge, screaming “We’ll f---ing kill you.”

Flags portray Donald Trump as Rambo and others have him astride a Tyrannosaurus rex, carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Flags honor QAnon, with the favored abbreviation “WWG1WGA” (Where We Go One, We Go All).

Inflammatory flags reach as far as the eye can see. Confederate battle flags and American flags with stars replaced by the Roman numeral III, a symbol of the Three Percenters. Green-and-white flags of Kekistan, an alt-right fictional god of chaos and darkness. Flags with Nazi imagery and flags with the skull-like symbol of the Punisher. A yellow banner from the time of the American Revolution that has a rattlesnake along with the phrase Don’t Tread on Me. 

            Nooses, crusader crosses, fur and horns, and Pepe the Frog masks illuminate the scene. Chants of Stop the Steal and Trust the Plan; patches that read Oath Keepers and Zombie Outbreak Response Team; Camp Auschwitz sweatshirts; and t-shirts that say MAGA Civil War, Jan. 6, 2021, RWDS (Right-Wing Death Squad), and 6MWE (Six Million Wasn’t Enough), referring to the number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust, pretty much tell the story.

One protester died from a gunshot and over 140 law enforcement officers were injured. Over half of the nearly 1,600 defendants pled guilty and 200 more were outright convicted. Sentences ranged from days in jail for misdemeanors to twenty-two years for seditious conspiracy. The total cost of that day and its repercussions estimated to be over $2.7 billion.

            These are words that, if I lived a million years, I never thought I’d write, but there is no other way to say it: A United States president tried to overthrow a democratically held, perfectly legal election.

He tried to overthrow it in the courts. He tried to overthrow it by sweet talking, shaming and threatening members of the Electoral College. He tried to overthrow it by submitting fake electors. He tried to overthrow it by harassing and bullying election officials, Department of Justice employees, members of Congress, state legislators and governors. And, in the big finale, he tried to overthrow it by inciting his devoted followers to stop the constitutionally mandated congressional electoral vote count.

One might even call Donald Trump and his supporters’ actions a failed coup d’état (i.e., defined as a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government).

            Republicans may think my likening the events surrounding January 6th to a coup is hyperbolic – and that I’m being overly dramatic – but am I? Seriously, just stop and really think about this for a second.

“Seditious conspiracy,” as defined by the U.S. criminal code is an effort by two or more people to “conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof.”

That was exactly what many of those people at the U.S. Capitol were trying to do that day. It’s critically important we do not reduce what went down on January 6th to nothing more than “free speech.” Many people that showed up that day were actively trying to prevent our government from functioning, by preventing, hindering, and delaying the execution of a law of the United States.

As United States District Judge Timothy Kelly, who was appointed by President Trump, said of the Proud Boys: “No matter defendants’ political motivations or any political message they wished to express, this alleged conduct is simply not protected by the First Amendment. Defendants are not, as they argue, charged with anything like burning flags, wearing black armbands, or participating in mere sit-ins or protests.”

We cannot allow people to rewrite history, and they are trying hard to. In the years after the insurrection, Donald Trump and his sycophants went into overdrive trying to flip the script of that day. Convicted rioters suddenly became patriotic martyrs, political prisoners, and even hostages. One of the darkest days in American history suddenly became, in Donald Trump’s words, “a day of love.” The song “Justice for All,” performed by the newly formed the J6 Prison Choir, featured Donald Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Just weeks before his second inauguration, President-elect Trump’s spokeswomen Karoline Leavitt issued a statement to all the “political losers” that said, “the mainstream media still refuses to report the truth about what happened that day. The American people did not fall for the Left’s fear mongering over January 6th.”

In the final act of his made-for-television re-write, Donald Trump signed a clemency order for the almost 1,600 January 6th rioters just hours after being sworn in a second time. John Kinsman, a Proud Boy who served four years in prison, seemed to speak for all of them when he said, “This is leaps and bounds better than I could have hoped.”

This is absurd. The attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th – and the events leading up to it – were seditious (i.e., conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state). As Americans, it’s super hard for us to wrap our minds around this, but the assault on the Capitol was an insurrection (i.e., a violent uprising against an authority or government). When you look at the evidence, listen to their words, and see the images, there is really no doubt about it.

            The 1200+ people charged with various crimes from that fateful day must take personal responsibility for their own actions. But many people present that day were nothing more than chess pieces in a game they didn’t know they were playing. As U.S. District Judge Amit B. Mehta said to a man named John Lolos as he was sentencing him to jail for entering the Capitol that day, “I think you are a pawn. You are a pawn in a game that’s played and directed by people who should know better.”

As Judge Mehta so perfectly put it, “People like Mr. Lolos were told lies, falsehoods, told the election was stolen when it really wasn’t.”

Although the attack on the Capitol was obviously planned and groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys coordinated in the weeks before the attack, there is no denying that President Donald Trump played a major role, both before and on January 6th. The causation is clear: But for Donald Trump, the revolt on January 6th would not have happened.

            If you really think about it, he had been grooming his army of insurrectionists for years. It started in earnest the minute he descended that escalator: The incendiary language, the constant undermining of the media and government institutions, the subtle racist undertones and the not-so-subtle nod to white supremacists – to the point where, after the domestic terrorist event in Charlottesville, former KKK leader David Duke gushed on Twitter: “Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa.”

As a result, the treasonous events on January 6th couldn’t come fast enough for the Proud Boys, Three Percenters, Oath Keepers, and other anti-government militias and far-right extremists, plus QAnon whackos and other violent conspiracy theorists who had been waiting for this “storm” for years. None of them could believe their luck!  Finally, there was someone in power who validated their delusions.

Once forced to hide in the darkest corners of the Internet, Donald Trump gave these people permission. He gave them legitimacy. He gave them cover. He gave them orders: Stand back and stand by you very fine, very special people…we love you… “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”

The morning of January 6th, Donald was on a roll: Remember, Joe Biden is being controlled by “people in dark shadows” so “we’re going to have to fight much harder…You have to show strength, and you have to be strong…When you catch somebody in a fraud, you are allowed to go by very different rules…We will never give up. We will never concede. It doesn’t happen. You don’t concede when there’s theft involved…Our country has had enough…We will not take it anymore, and that is what this is all about.”

If we don’t fight “you will have an illegitimate president. That is what you will have, and we can’t let that happen. These are the facts that you won’t hear from the fake news media. It’s all part of the suppression effort. They don’t want to talk about it; We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” “It’s just bullshit.” “Bullshit!  Bullshit!” repeated his adoring crowd. Then the chants turned to “Invade the Capitol.”

That morning, the defeated president’s incendiary, inflammatory language reflected the exact same themes his little army had been hearing from him for years… and they answered the call, some well before that fateful day. 

In May 2020, Couy Griffin, a New Mexico county commissioner who also led the group Cowboys for Trump, said on a video, “The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.” Naturally, Donald Trump wasted no time promoting the video adding, “Thank you Cowboys. See you in New Mexico!”

Later that month, Mr. Griffin told The Daily Beast that Democratic governors who shut down their states because of the coronavirus could be guilty of treason and could get the death penalty: “You get to pick your poison: You either go before a firing squad, or you get the end of the rope.” When the reporter asked Mr. Griffin if violence may be necessary, he said, “I’ll tell you what, partner, as far as I’m concerned, there’s not an option that’s not on the table.”

A bodybuilder and self-proclaimed “dating coach” named Samuel Fisher, who went by the name Brad Holiday online, posted that “at 1 when congress certifies the election …Trump just needs to fire the bat signal…deputize patriots…and then the pain comes.” 

Samuel/Brad was arrested with over 1,000 rounds of ammunition, a tactical vest plus another vest with ballistic plates and a knife, two machetes, a shotgun, and, of course, a copy of the Daily News with Donald Trump’s face on the cover and an American flag. He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison (but, of course, was then pardoned). At his sentencing, Mr. Fisher told the court, “I know what I did was wrong and I accept that my actions have consequences.”

In the days after Donald lost the election, one of the leaders of the Oath Keepers, the convicted Stewart Rhodes (whose sentence was commuted by Donald Trump), said the group was ready for a “bloody fight.” Another one of their leaders, Thomas Edward Caldwell, said, “This kettle is set to boil. It begins for real Jan 5 and 6 on Washington D.C. when we mobilize in the streets. Let them try to certify some crud on capitol hill with a million or more patriots in the streets.”

At one point, a QAnon supporter tweeted: “It was a rigged election but they were busted. Sting of the Century! Justice is coming!” Naturally, Donald Trump quickly retweeted the message.

An FBI situation report, released on January 5th, warned that: “An online thread discussed specific calls for violence to include stating ‘Be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in, and blood from their BLM and Antifa slave soldiers being spilled. Get violent. Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die. NOTHING else will achieve this goal.’”

The FBI also found social media posts directing people to the multiple rally points across the country: “MAGA Cavalry to Connect Patriot Caravans to Stop the Steal in D.C.” There were maps of the U.S. Capitol building showing how the various tunnels were connected. The maps had the heading: “CREATE PERIMETER.”

On the day of the assault, inside the Senate chamber, one devout Trump follower said, “While we’re here, we might as well set up a government.” Another one reminded his fellow insurgents, “You are executing citizen’s arrest. Arrest this assembly; we have probable cause for acts of treason, election fraud.”

Two ladies (I use that term loosely) in red MAGA hats, Dawn Bancroft and Diana Santos-Smith, recorded a video for Bancroft’s children (these poor kids) documenting their big day which was later confiscated by the FBI: “We broke into the Capitol …We got inside, we did our part.”

            But Bancroft, who is obviously not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, wasn’t finished. “We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin’ brain, but we didn’t find her.” …thereby threatening to kill the fourth highest ranking person in the United States government.  On tape.

            On January 7th, the day after the Capitol riot, Couy Griffin of New Mexico reappeared on video, saying of Joe Biden’s inauguration: “We could have a Second Amendment rally on those same steps that we had that rally yesterday. You know, and if we do, then it’s going to be a sad day, because there’s going to be blood running out of that building.”

If you are not convinced that Donald Trump’s words incited the riot at the U.S. Capitol – both before and on January 6th – just ask the very people whom he incited.

            The leader of the Florida Oath Keepers, Kelly Meggs – who, as I mentioned earlier, was convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 12 years in prison but whose sentence was, of course, commuted by Donald Trump – made it clear he was answering his hero’s call when he posted on Facebook, “He called us all to Capitol and wants us to make it wild!!! Sir yes Sir!!! Gentlemen we are heading to DC.”

            Oath Keeper Jessica Watkins sent messages in advance of the 6th that said, “Trump wants all able bodied patriots to come” and “if Trump activates the Insurrection Act, I’d hate to miss it.” The day of the assault, Jessica – dressed, as the rest of her group was, in tactical gear including bulletproof vests and helmets – posted a message that said, “Trump’s been trying to drain the swamp with a straw. We just brought a shop vac.”

            Incidentally, this is also the gal that said, “If (Biden) is (sworn in), our way of life as we know it is over. Our Republic would be over.  Then it is our duty as Americans to fight, kill and die for our rights…If Biden get the steal, none of us have a chance in my mind.  We already have our neck in the noose. They just haven’t kicked the chair yet.”

QAnon loyalist Kenneth Grayson said, “I’m there for the greatest celebration of all time after Pence leads the Senate flip!! OR IM THERE IF TRUMP TELLS US TO STORM THE FUKIN CAPITAL IMA DO THAT THEN!”

            Throughout the Capitol that day, insurrectionists can be heard on camera yelling at law enforcement, things like: “Our president wants us here; Stand down. You’re outnumbered. There’s a f---ing million of us out there, and we are listening to Trump – your boss; We wait and take orders from our president; We were invited here by the President of the United States…”

            Interestingly enough, many of these Donald Trump loyalists were pretty quick to throw him right under the bus once they got arrested. For instance, Jessica Watkins’ attorney wasted no time in saying that Jessica was there that day “not to overthrow the government, but to support what she believed to be the lawful government. She fell prey to the false and inflammatory claims of the former president, his supporters, and the right-wing media.”

            Dominic Pezzola, a once proud Proud Boy, said that, despite all appearances, he had “honorable intentions” that day and was only “protecting his country.” However, he “now realizes he was duped into these mistaken beliefs” and “is consumed with guilt.”

            There are plenty of others who are complicit in this attempted hostile takeover, including the eight Republican senators and 139 Republican members of the House of Representatives who, on January 6th during the Electoral College vote count, introduced or voted for at least one of the objections that were based on false allegations of election fraud … as are Donald Trump’s laughable attorneys, members of his White House staff, and anyone else who amplified his election fraud lies – particularly conservative media outlets.

            < As I write this, it is still shocking to me that any American would jeopardize our country in this way. All of this feels almost like an out-of-body experience. It still makes me really, really, really sad. >

            The most important reason we cannot allow people to rewrite the events of January 6, 2021 is that it absolutely, positively cannot happen again. In Russia, Hungary, Poland, Turkey and the Philippines, populist leaders have made lying and corruption an artform. Because these countries don’t have strong, independent legal systems and autonomous news media outlets, the lies of these leaders know no bounds.

            Thank God we do have these guardrails, and more. The United States was protected from this assault on our democracy by honorable judges, heroic election officials, steadfast state legislatures, and the brave American citizens who remained faithful to the constitutionally mandated Electoral College process. God Bless Them All.

            But still, this feels way too close for comfort. In their outstanding book How Democracies Die, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, both Harvard professors, warn:

“During the Cold War, coup d’état accounted for nearly three out of every four democratic breakdowns. Democracies in Argentina, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand, Turkey, and Uruguay all died this way. More recently, military coups toppled Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in 2013 and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in 2014. In all these cases, democracy dissolved in spectacular fashion, through military power and coercion.”

“But there is another way to break a democracy. It is less dramatic but equally destructive. Democracies may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders – presidents or prime ministers who subvert the very process that brought them to power. Some of these leaders dismantle democracy quickly, as Hitler did in the wake of the 1933 Reichstag fire in Germany. More often, though, democracies erode slowly, in barely visible steps.”

            On February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military (a.k.a. the Tatmadaw) declared a state of emergency and took control of the country – in what amounted to a military coup. 

            The Myanmar (Burma) military detained the head of state Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the National League for Democracy, who had been reelected by a landslide in November 2020, in only the second democratically held election since the country moved to a democracy from almost fifty years of military rule.

            The military announced that power would be transferred to the commander in chief, Min Aung Hlaing, then handed to Myint Swe, the military-backed vice president. The violence escalated. In late March 2021, security forces killed over 100, including seven children.
           What reason did the Myanmar military give for this coup d’état?  Well, election fraud, of course! The fact that the country’s election commission continued to insist there was no evidence to support this claim didn’t seem to matter one bit.

            Meanwhile, before the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, there had been four democratically held presidential elections in the two decades since the United States arrived on the scene. Three of the four were disputed.

            On March 9, 2020, Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah both took the oath of office as the rightful president of Afghanistan – at the exact same time. The incumbent, Ghani, was declared the rightful winner of the election, but Abdullah insisted that the election was…wait for it…stolen! Incredibly, the media dutifully did the split screen thing as both men simultaneously gave their acceptance speeches.

As this was taking place, rockets rained down over the presidential palace in Kabul. I can practically hear Abdullah’s people shouting…

 أوقف السرقة

(this means “Stop the Steal” in Arabic)

 

            Really, America? We were, at least on this day, in the same place as Myanmar was? And Afghanistan?  …which, as a reminder, has now been taken over by terrorists. Really? This is what we’re gonna do now?

I’m not overreacting. Who among us cannot picture Donald Trump staging that split screen acceptance speech deal? And we may have seen just that if he had lost the 2024 election.