Editorial Note: This post was written just after the insurrection attempt, but publication was delayed until now.
— Isolde Myles, 3SR Editor
We all watched as Trump launched his coup. It was on national television all that day and every day after. We saw heroism and betrayal. How will we deal with sedition and insurrection? How deeply has that rot infiltrated the police, military, judiciary, and federal government?
In the Beginning
On the afternoon of January 6th, feelings of relief dominated the nation’s voting population. The election was finally ending. At 1 PM, a joint session of Congress would count the Electoral College votes and certify the results. Sure, loyalists to President Donald Trump would make a few trivial objections — expected pro forma pandering to Trumpism — to slow the process. The President would rally his people, they there’d be a demonstration in front of the Capitol Building. Shouting at his loyalists always soothed Trump’s endless neediness, and it gave his most diehard and extremist supporters an 11th-hour opportunity to shout their various baseless voting fraud conspiracy theories in person. It was embarrassing and puerile, but all the nonsense would only delay the inevitable completion, and finally, this rather ugly election would be over.
Then our mood rocked from relief to horror and then shocked disbelief. The nation and the world witnessed our first coup attempt in living memory on national television.
Caught by Surprise
In the morning, it all went as expected. The joint session of Congress began. Vice President Pence presided, and the legislators worked in three shifts to accommodate Covid limitations. Trump’s delusional rally ended, and the pro-Trump protesters marched down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol Building as scheduled. The demonstration began, noisy but peaceful. People appeared edgier than expected, with extremists, angry outbursts, and an odd mix of U.S., Civil War, and revolutionary flags. Inside, Republican Senators were making the imaginary objections they’d promised, people gave their speeches, and Congress voted to keep going. Nothing unexpected.
Except…
Trump usually lies about his crowds, but this time, the attendance was as large as he’d predicted. The Park Service doesn’t issue official counts anymore, but commentators estimated above 10,000. At the top of the Capitol Building steps, with the Senate and Congress busy inside, the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) line faced a horde. From the limited camera footage, what seems like only a few dozen officers stood at the line of barriers, guarding the entrance to the Capital chamber where the Electoral College ceremony was slowly grinding to Joe Biden’s inevitable victory.
Maybe the Capitol Police leadership didn’t expect a group that big. The Electoral Count certification, a dull, ceremonial, if crucial Constitutional conclusion to the election, was ready to punctuate the end of each state’s election. A typical news cycle would barely mention it.
The Capitol Police leaders had already finished and implemented their plans. They understood effective strategies and tactics from covering hundreds of demonstrations. Couldn’t they conceive of trouble from the motley crowd?
The answer is YES. The Capitol Police leaders knew EXACTLY what was brewing at the bottom of the Capital steps. The USCP organization had all the federal intelligence, and they’d been warned directly, indirectly, and even on Twitter that a storm was brewing. Even this blog posted about the possibilities. To look at the couple dozen UCSP officers in line at the top of the steps (a scene the national and the world news replayed endlessly), you’d think they weren’t the least bit worried or anxious.
Early on, the crowd marched from President Trump’s strident White House rally, thousands of loyalists pumped-up on the lies they loved. The mostly male, white zealots were strutting down Pennsylvania Avenue in glee, an arrow Trump loosed at his target.
We’ve all wondered about the woefully undersized Capitol Police force and the flimsy bicycle barricades. We’ve all seen the video as true heroes put their lives on the line, facing overwhelming odds. Then, we stared in shock and disgust as other Capitol Police officers pulled the barricades aside to let the crowd bull their way up the steps to that thin blue line, glad-handing and taking selfies.
The entire fiasco seems like an unlikely lapse in USCP planning. They handle dozens of demonstrations every year. Would the Capitol Police have deployed so sparsely — or responded that meekly — if they were facing any other mob? We’ve already seen the response to peaceful crowds protesting racism. What was different here? White people? Trump supporters?
No, the limited staffing wasn’t a lapse in USCP planning. We know they had warnings several days in advance. And yet, they limited the deployments that day, even rejecting outside support. USCP leadership orchestrated the situation precisely. They knew what was coming.
Our President Instigated the Insurrection
While the Electoral College certification proceeded inside, a few dozen Capital Police Officers formed a meek line at the Capitol steps. The protesters massing at the bottom began surging up the steps like someone had blown a starting whistle. Most protesters kept a safe distance, shouting epithets, but the front line pushed up en masse. The Capital Police line stood their line at first, but the rioters dramatically outnumbered them. Police quickly pulled back as the mass drove to the Capitol doors. We all watched as the horde of insurgents pulled two officers down the step, beating them with their American and Blue Lives Matter flagpoles.
Violence filled our televisions as the news agencies raised the alarm. The demonstration hadn’t just turned ugly; it’d transformed into an invasion of the Capitol building as our legislators were finalizing the election. “Stop the Steal,” Trump and his enablers had told them.
Even though the Capitol Police leadership left the Capitol critically understaffed and unprepared, the USCP officers on the ground were extremely well trained and dedicated. One group barricaded the chamber doors, risking their lives to evacuate Vice President Mike Pence, the legislators, and their staff. Staffers even went back and grabbed the chest with the Electoral College papers. If USCP officers had not moved quickly or delayed the first invaders, the death toll could have been horrendous. The insurgents had guns and plastic cuffs, looking for Nancy Pelosi or other politicians. They shouted, “Hang Mike Pence!” and almost caught the Vice President. It could have been so much worse.
It wasn’t impromptu. The mob planned the event, hoping to stop the Electoral College count and overturn the election and install Trump. The rioters knew they were an insurrection before it started. They brought cuffs. They’d planned for captives before they left home. Yes, this was planned.
The federal response looked terrible. The USCP leadership deliberately allowed the Trump invasion, and some officers on the grounds just stepped aside. But not everyone. The remaining USCP officers, caught in a war zone, showed heroic dedication. Sacrificed by their leaders and betrayed by some of their own, these Capitol officers fought back with everything. Exhausted, out of supplies, many wounded, they still held out at each chokepoint. They knew that if they failed, there was nobody else. No, they didn’t protect the entire Capitol building, but they saved our people and the Electoral College. It was their sacrifice that preserved American democracy that day, even as their leaders gave Trump his insurrection with barely a whimper.
We need to reward these true patriots. And we need to find who gave those orders.
The Insurrection by Trump’s Supporters
Once past the police, the angry and rapidly advancing mob pounded out the Capitol entrance’s high-security windows. The police shot and killed the first attacker who tried to crawl through the gap, but many more followed her without hesitation. Capital Police stationed inside quickly pulled back into the chamber to lock it down, then protect the Floor entrance while evacuating the Legislators.
In the meantime, the mob swept through the main building, entered offices, other hallways, and eventually breached the Senate Floor, and later the House floor. Thankfully, all the people and the critical artifacts were safe. Police had evacuated everyone to save places. Police escorted some out of the complex through the tunnel systems. Most hid in designated safe rooms, where Republicans selfishly refused to wear masks, infecting many. Some Democrats, worried about their health or betrayal, hid in offices or other locked rooms. The Documents of the Electoral College vote, still in mid-count, were safely removed and preserved.
The Coup Attempt Failed
The successful protection of legislators and the Electoral College documents prevented the overthrow of the election certification ceremony and the Democratic Election itself. Trump told them what he wanted: “Stop the Steal!” How? “We need people to be strong! Don’t accept this!”
Nobody at the rally was surprised at Trump’s sedition. That’s why they’d come. His supporters prepared ahead of time with signs, Gadsden “Don’t Tread On Me” flags, “Trump and Jesus” flags, even new Civil War t-shirts. They had plans, police and military training, radios and earpieces for communication, and maps and coordinators. They acted in organized units.
And yet, thankfully, President Trump’s coup failed to overthrow the election. It wasn’t a certainty, especially with Congressional support, RNC financial support, and police and military in the assault. We were closer to losing democracy than we thought.
Yes, President Trump Planned and Instigated the Insurrection
During the riots, the press switched between the invasion and Trump’s rally, showing us his real agenda. There it was, right from the horse’s mouth and captured in live video at his windy podium behind heavy glass. The media were replaying the key excerpts. Between goons hammering out the doors, the world could watch Trump call for his supporters to fight harder, take immediate action, and quit being such sissies. He declared it was time to act. Then, they did just what he asked. They marched straight to the Capital building.
Trump had called for an insurrection. He launched his coup right at his enemies. The only reason the coup failed was the Capitol Police got the people and the Electoral Vote chest into hiding. If they hadn’t taken the chest, it almost certainly would have been destroyed, ending the vote. And if the mobs had captured any legislators, Democratic or Republican, many in the mob wanted them dead. At best, the Electoral College would have been left without a certified count of the Electoral Votes. At worst, there might not be enough legislators left alive to complete the certification.
Trump’s Plan to overthrow the election
Trump hoped his impromptu army would block the vote and destroy the ballots. Then his remaining loyal Republican legislators, with perhaps a few others joining in, would agree that the election would have to be set aside.
His coup could have worked with better planning, but instead, it quickly failed. Instead of victory, the insurrection created huge chaos, killed a few people on both sides of the law, and briefly delayed the count. Outside of the body blow to the idea of a peaceful transfer of power, in the end, only a few hours were lost. Thanks to our stalwart legislators, including some on the GOP as well, democracy carried on. The vote was certified, many state-level objections were withdrawn, and the few remaining all-for-show state objections were easily voted down. The vote was successfully certified, and Joseph Biden declared our next President.
But where was The Donald?
In his fiery call to action at the rally, Trump declared he would be with them to help carry out the deeds. Many in the mob were emboldened, remarking on the power of Trump with them in the march to The Capital Building. They believed him, looking around to see where he was in the press of bodies bellowing down Pennsylvania Avenue.
But of course, The Donald wasn’t with them. He made his speech, spun them up, launched his coup, slipped into The Beast and his motorcade returned to the White House. The President of the United States just called for his supporters to interrupt, by insurrection and force of numbers, the Democratic process of certifying the election he was about to officially lose.
As yes, Trump was watching it all on TV. Happily, according to his staff.
Why has President Trump not been removed from office yet?
This is exactly one of the disasters the 25th amendment was written to address. When the President showed himself incapable of performing his duties to protect the Democracy or even the government itself, the Vice President must invoke the 25th amendment. He must take over the White House’s leadership and recuse the President. Not doing so is an abdication of his responsibilities under the Constitution. It’s not as if the Vice President has an extensive list of Constitutional duties to watch.
Trump had even used his remaining influence to delay the deployment of National Guard troops, forced to wait for authorization before they could help quell the storming of the Senate and House floors. After hours of unimpeded occupation of Capital Building offices, and after pleading by White House staff, Trump finally released the National Guard to mobilize. With large numbers of officers, and a lock-down curfew declared to start at 6 PM, the insurrectionists were carefully but forcefully pushed back out to the street. Although dozens have been charged in the aftermath, only fourteen insurgents were arrested during the event.
Did this not prove that Donald Trump was the instigator, architect, and now enabler of the violent insurrection and attempted coup at the Capital? And with his strategy clear, to throw out (literally) the Electoral College certification, and overthrow the election of his opponent, Mr. Biden? I’m not sure if he really meant them to lynch Mike Pence, too, but he didn’t seem unhappy about it.
Why is the sitting President Still Sitting in the White House?
The question gets stronger every today: why is our seditious President still occupying the White House? He advocated the overthrow of the election. Why has he not been nicely but forcefully told to recuse and remove himself, and allow Vice President Pence to take over at the Oval Office, and steward the remainder of the transition of power?
Isn’t the next logical step a call for immediate Congressional motion to Impeach the President, who would not step down after his coup failed?
The New Republican Party of Trump
The answer: this is the “new” Republican Party. The only result will be spin doctoring. All those sycophantic “news outlets” making barrels of cash will just bury the entire affair in disinformation, deceit, and misdirection. The right-wing not-so-free press will sling even nuttier conspiracy nonsense than usual and blame the entire affair on the Antifa (which doesn’t exist as an organization). The conservative press machine will usher in the next news cycle with lightning speed, and the insurrection will be quickly buried as an old and minor news story.
The real, ideological Republican Party members we believed in, even when we disagreed, are almost all gone. Mitt Romney, clearly a moderate, is one of the few who remain to voice dissent within the Party. Hopefully, he isn’t alone in the GOP ranks. For the others, ideological conservatism died (or was removed) over the course of Trump’s first and hopefully only term. Now, all that’s left of the Republican Party, the members that Democrats relied on to support the Democracy and disagree with them regularly, have been replaced by sycophants and power grabbers in the Trump mania maelstrom.
Anyone in Congress and the administration still supporting the current Trump regime can only be categorized as sociopaths, pandering con artists sucking up to our sitting President Donald Trump. Every Republican with a conscience, an honest conservative political ideology, and a backbone, has been driven out of this administration and Congress. Even the Judiciary isn’t immune. Some have chosen to leave now by personal choice, to retain at least a small shred of their dignity after the unfolding of events on January 6th.
Chillingly, some Republicans may know they’re acting badly but choose to join the mob because if they don’t, the Trump mob will try to hurt or kill them or their families. That same threat drives out an uncounted number of public servants. Where high-level people get security details, lower-level public servants are on their own against the mob. Trump manages to hollow us out again.
For those who remain with the GOP, the spin management process ramps up. Lurid stories of Antifa actors, wearing costumes and MAGA hats, are just the beginning of the disinformation.
Congress Must Act Now
Congress must push Trump’s impeachment, even after the Inauguration. Trump launched his coup, and even if the first battle failed, he won’t stop. Trump must be prevented by Congressional action from running for re-election in 2024. If not, he will continue using his influence to take America down the path he began in 2016: divide the country and use those divisions to create an autocratic government ruled by the Republican Party. While he doesn’t stand a chance of achieving this goal, he would most certainly settle for increasing the divisiveness, disinformation, and mistrust, he weaponized during his first term. In effect, Trump would attempt to make a divided and distrusting America into the “new normal.”
We need to root out the people in power who acted against their orders, their oath, and their country during this insurrection. The collapse of the Capitol building defense — at the hands of active and retired police and military — remains a national humiliation
If Congress and the Senate don’t intervene, and from both sides of the aisles, this move to the divided, distrustful, and downright religious “new normal” will continue unabated on January 21st. It won’t stop, and it will only continue to get worse. President Joseph Biden will be facing a difficult struggle to heal this nation. Then comes 2024.
