White or black, Democrat or Republican, rich or poor – anyone should look at what happened at the US Capitol Building on Wednesday, January 6, as a disgrace to the United States of America. And if you don’t, you may need to reconsider what you stand for. This was an event that will define a generation, similar to 9/11. I was in a trance watching the crisis unfold on my TV screen. Hearing President Donald Trump’s statements on the situation did not douse the flames of the conflict; in fact, they seemed to fan them, only making the situation burn hotter. The attack on the Capitol building was inexcusable, and should never have happened. Let’s take a look at how this unfolded.
At 12:15 in the afternoon, President Donald Trump began a speech that included the words “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators, and congressmen and women.” I believe this genuine rally for support was taken the wrong way by many in the congregation, because by two in the afternoon, a chaotic mob had stormed into the Capitol building. There’s photo evidence of men in full combat gear, armed with rifles, the likes of which you would see on soldiers overseas, roaming the hallways, possibly looking for congresspeople to seemingly kidnap with zip ties. The fact that people stormed the Capitol with a plan to kidnap elected officials, or even worse should scare Americans\ because it shows it, and showed that there was a genuine effort to hurt politicians elected to represent the people.
The radical right-wing website Qanon.com has become publicized for its many conspiracy theories that attack Democratic politicians. One of its theories is that “a group of Satan-worshiping elites who run a child sex ring are trying to control our politics and media,” which just sounds like pure lunacy. The fact that some people believe that is crazy. I bring up Qanon because that was the website used to organize and plan the raid, even before Trump encouraged people to cheer on the politicians that opposed the 2020 Presidential Election. Trump’s invitation to cheer on the opposition of the 2020 Election was just a way in for those radicals. This shows that the Capitol Riot was planned and organized by people who wanted to disrupt American Democracy.
It seems like there has been conversation attempting to relate this anarchy to the BLM protesting movement over the summer. With 19 people dead in more than 7,500 protests, the percentage of safe protests was 95% (Time magazine). Only a very small minority of riots with people brought together to protest the systemic discrimination of Black people in society by the police ended in bloodshed. In conclusion, what happened at the Capitol was inexcusable and a shame on America.
