The Ramifications of The Storming of The Capitol

Capitol Siege
Photo via CNN

By Makheru Bradley

January 15, 2021 11:55AM
Makheru Bradley
Bradley

2021 is 1861?

In an October 14 article written for The County News titled, “Polls indicate Americans fear a Civil War,” I had a subsection titled “2020 is 1860?” I began to articulate that theory as events unfolded across America for two reasons: (1) a presidential election with an incendiary incumbent (2) an explosion of racial justice protests after the public lynching of George Floyd on May 25. Such protests usually lead to some form of a white backlash.

The article asked, “Why 1860?” and answered, “Because tens of millions of Americans are likely to view whoever wins the 2020 presidential election as not their president.” That would have been the case, without all of the claims of a “stolen election” by President Trump. The corporate media narrative that Black voters in key swing states provided Joe Biden with his margin of victory added a racial political component on top of the backlash to the George Floyd Rebellion.

January 6, 2021

On the January 4, 2021, Afrikan Liberation Media podcast (see Afrikan Liberation Media), I predicted that January 6, 2021 could be a defining moment in US history. That prediction was based on media reports of protests planned for Washington, D.C, against the congressional certification of the Electoral College declaring Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Those protests were expected to attract large numbers of Trump's supporters, including conspiracy theorists, militia and extremist groups, who hoped to pressure lawmakers into voting against certifying the results of the election.

Trump promoted conspiracy theories about the election and encouraged his supporters to show up at the protests, tweeting in December: “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild! I will be there. Historic day!" His followers got the message. A member of Red-State Secession said: “If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.” Twelve Republicans in the Senate and over 100 in the House of Representatives said they would vote against the Electoral College certification of Joe Biden as US president.

After President Trump spoke to his supporters, they were urged to march on Capitol Hill. Newly elected Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) tweeted: “Today is 1776.” The die was cast.

Storming Capitol Hill

How this happened is being questioned, but that it happened was not a surprise. Armed protests at, and sometimes inside, various state capitols (Michigan e.g.) were a harbinger of things to come. Compared to the COINTELPRO-assault on Black Liberation organizations during the 1960s/70s, the national security agencies of the US basically allowed these armed groups to continue to operate without interference.

A pro-Trump protest in Washington on December 14 had turned violent. During that demonstration police arrested 33 people, four people were stabbed, eight officers were injured, and two historic Black churches were vandalized.

Despite these warning signs, law enforcement which operates like a Police State against racial justice protests, were either unprepared or some of their leaders were complicit. As the protesters, turned rioters and looters, breached the Capitol Building, America’s elected officials, who have voted to fund the overthrow of numerous governments leading to assassinations, to fund wars of aggression, and for sanctions that have killed hundreds of thousands of people, including children, around the world, were forced to run and seek cover.

While one rioter (a 14-year Air Force veteran) was shot and killed, and three others died from being trampled or from medical issues, only 52 rioters were initially arrested. Two Capitol Police who were on duty during the riot have also died, one from a stroke, the other via suicide. By comparison between May 30 and June 2, D.C. police arrested 427 racial justice protesters.

Law enforcement allowed the US Capitol to be stormed because they didn't want images of Trump supporters being tear gassed, shot with rubber bullets, and billy-clubbed, projected all over the world, particularly considering the violent reaction those images would have inspired in Trump supporters.

The Aftermath

President has been roundly condemned for his role in the storming of Capitol Hill. Certainly, Trump has exacerbated militancy among his minions. He has poured gasoline onto burning white rage, telling his followers on January 6 to march to Capitol Hill and provide Republicans with “the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”

The ground Trump is exploiting has been ploughed for years by the policies of corporate Democrats (NAFTA, e.g.) and the practices of Wall Street oligarchs (deindustrialization e.g.). Once elected, the Democrats and Democrat-leaning media accredited Trump’s 2016 victory to Russian interference. Democrats like Congresswoman Maxine Waters shouted, "He's not my president." Those politicians and the media made Trump's conspiracy theories believable to his zealots.

The corporate media used Trump as a cash cow for four years, raking in millions of dollars, while inflaming his supporters in the process. A few of those chickens came home to roost on January 6.

In a move that alarmed free speech advocates, Twitter permanently suspended Trump’s account on January 8, “due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” a day after Facebook banned the President of the United States, at least through the end of his term.

Democrats in the House are scheduled on January 12, to vote on resolution calling for the removal of Trump from office by the 25th Amendment. On January 13, House Democrats plan to vote to impeach President Trump for the second time.

Law professor Jonathan Turley noted, “Democrats are seeking to remove Trump on the basis of his remarks to supporters before the rioting at the Capitol. Like others, I condemned those remarks as he gave them, calling them reckless and wrong. I also opposed the challenges to electoral votes in Congress. But his address does not meet the definition for incitement under the criminal code. It would be viewed as protected speech by the Supreme Court… So Congress is now seeking an impeachment for remarks covered by the First Amendment.”

The real objective of the Democrats is to disqualify Trump from holding any future elective office. However, that turns out, some Democrats are suggesting that Speaker Nancy Pelosi will not deliver the “articles of impeachment” to the Senate until after Joe Biden’s first 100 days in office, giving him a chance to implement his programs and policies.

“A House Divided Cannot Stand”

Why is 2021 similar to 1861? Several southern states did not recognize Abraham Lincoln as their president, seceded from the United States over the issue of slavery, and formed the Confederate States of America in February 1861. A civil war erupted between the secessionists and those remaining loyal to the Union in April 1861. Whatever happens to Trump politically or legally, his followers are not going away.

The majority of the people who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020 are just voters, many voting primarily against Trump, rather than for the Democrats. A majority the people who voted for Trump, as a symbol of their beliefs, have a sustained emotional investment in a cause. They are willing to fight for their cause in the streets of America.

This week the FBI issued a bulletin stating: "Armed protests are being planned at all 50 state capitols from 16 January through at least 20 January, and at the US Capitol from 17 January through 20 January.” The bulletin suggests there are threats of an "uprising" if Trump is removed via the 25th Amendment before Inauguration Day.

Media outlets are reporting: "Several police departments across the country have opened investigations into cops among their ranks to find out if they were involved in the siege on the U.S. Capitol on Washington, D.C. on January 6th." Commanders at Fort Bragg are investigating Captain Emily Rainey's involvement in the events of January 6 in the nation's capital. Captain Rainey, who has resigned her commission, allegedly led 100 people from North Carolina to the pro-Trump rally in Washington.

Certainly, the Power Elite in the US knows the ranks of law enforcement and the military are filled with people who believe in the Trump Rebellion. Are some of those people ready to follow in the footsteps of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and all of the other Confederates who abandoned the US military to fight for what they believed in? This has to be a major concern.

I do not see the political fossil that is Joe Biden possessing the moral fortitude to lead the United States through this crisis. Our best hope is for a scaffold of truth and justice to emerge, in the context of the words of the poet James Russell Lowell: “Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne, Yet, that scaffold sways the future.”

For more from the author, follow his blog Makheru Speaks.

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