On January 6th, a group of Trump supporters violently attacked the United States Capitol building, the meeting place of Congress in Washington D.C. during a joint session of Congress meeting to certify the 2020 election, resulting in the death of five people and dozens injured. This act of domestic terrorism was spurred by tweets from President Donald Trump and a speech at a morning rally, which not only falsely claimed the election had been stolen but also urged protesters to march onto the US Capitol. When hundreds of rioters climbed through windows, broke through barricades, and crashed through doors, Trump delayed in sending the National Guard to stop the violence. It was not until a few hours later that Vice President Mike Pence, who was in the joint session, took control of the situation and approved the order to deploy. The rioters, which included mostly people from far-right, white supremacists groups, were able to inflict a lot of physical damage without a significant police presence to stop them. This includes vandalizing and wrecking halls and offices, such as the offices of Nancy Pelosi, and destroying relics and art in the building. As a man ripped a scroll with Chinese lettering off of a wall, a woman said, “We don’t want this Chinese bulls***”. In one room, a man was smoking pot; “This is the pot room!” a man said.
Fortunately, the Capitol Police were able to evacuate the Senators and House Representatives from the chambers, but five people were still killed. Police Officer Brian Sicknick was bludgeoned to death by a rioter with a fire extinguisher. Four other rioters were killed: one was shot, one was trampled to death, one died of a heart attack, and another died of a stroke. Sixty Capitol Police officers were injured and fifteen were hospitalized. More D.C. police were injured, too. These rioters entered the Capitol with weapons and later explosives were found outside the building. They beat officers with pipes, stun guns, and bear spray. Additionally, Colorado Congresswoman (and Trump supporter) Lauren Boebert tweeted Speaker Pelosi’s location twice as the Capitol was being breached. While it is still unclear why she revealed the location of the Speaker when she and others were at risk, many speculate that she wanted the rioters to find Pelosi, as some had expressed a desire to hurt and kill her. Pelosi’s office, which had been vandalized, had a note left on it after the rioters left, with the words “We will not back down” written upon it. Many supporters of the riot, including Boebert herself, compared the violent assault of the Capitol to the Black Lives Matter protest that occurred over the summer. This claim and comparison could not be more wrong. The movements and protests of the summer occurred because people want equal rights as individuals. While a few of those protests had violence, over 90% of the protests were completely non-violent, and the insurrection at the Capitol began because Trump supporters simply did not get their way, and the violence was quick to occur. Their acts of violence and terrorism must be condemned.
President Donald Trump, who has recently been impeached due to “incitement of insurrection,” will be put on trial at the Senate on the 8th of February. While he can no longer be removed from office, if he is found, he would lose many perks that come with being a former president and he will not be able to run for office again. In order to convict, two-thirds of the Senate must vote him guilty, so it is likely he will not be found guilty. Despite this, he is still the first president to be impeached twice. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have blocked Trump from posting since the riot, so he has been less vocal about the political situation. As we move into February and into Biden’s administration, we will see what will happen to President Trump and how his former supporters will react to this transition of power.