Insurrection on the U.S. Capitol
By Michael Limon
El Rodeo Staff Writer
El Rodeo Staff Writer
Before the storming of the capitol the president of the United States told thousands of his supporters that this was the last stand, it was their moment to overturn the results of the presidential election and ensure Donald Trump a second term in office. “We are going to have to fight much harder,” Trump told his numerous followers before noon moments before the insurrection.
With that statement being said Trump unleashed a mob. Thousands of Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol. The Members of Congress hid under desks, stripped their identification pins from their lapels to avoid being attacked, and had to escape through secret passageways. Rioters ransacked the office of the House speaker. Flag-waving protesters smashed windows and assaulted police inside the nation’s iconic symbol of democracy. The process of affirming the next president was halted by the mob violence.
“You’ll never take back our country with weakness,” Trump told his followers. “You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.” They did as they were told. By the thousands, they walked and surrounded the U.S. Capitol. By the hundreds, they climbed the staircase and breached police gates and smashed windows and shoved police officers and broke through doorways, and forced their way in. They burst into the offices and chambers of the Capitol, taking over the place as though it were their own, lounging in members’ offices, strolling through the statuaries, halting the constitutional process of completing Joe Biden’s election to the presidency.
The attack, which some historians called the most severe assault on the Capitol since the British sacked the building in 1814, was “instigated at the highest level,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelos. The assault left one woman fatally shot inside the Capitol, and three others dead from medical incidents. The woman was later pronounced dead. The assault resulted in at least 52 arrests, four hours of chaos, the evacuation of congressional buildings, the paralysis of the city, and the humiliation of a nation that has long considered itself the world’s greatest democracy. The ultimate inspiration of the mob’s passion, the president himself, had repeatedly urged his followers to come to Washington on the day when Congress would affirm the result of November’s election.
“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,” Trump tweeted last month. “Be there, will be wild!” For over an hour, people banged on the doors of the Capitol chanting, “Let us in! Let us in!” There wasn’t enough police enforcement at the capitol during the storming, “The Capitol Police weren’t prepared for so many protesters who were pushing their way in,” said one law enforcement official briefed on the incident. “Not all windows and entrances were protected.” Police and law enforcement didn’t expect Trump to incite the mob and that they would forcefully push their way in. Bottom line, there just wasn’t enough personnel to hold back the mob. The attempt to keep Trump in office and overturn the election failed. It is already clear that Jan. 6, 2021, would go down in history as one of America’s darkest days.
With that statement being said Trump unleashed a mob. Thousands of Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol. The Members of Congress hid under desks, stripped their identification pins from their lapels to avoid being attacked, and had to escape through secret passageways. Rioters ransacked the office of the House speaker. Flag-waving protesters smashed windows and assaulted police inside the nation’s iconic symbol of democracy. The process of affirming the next president was halted by the mob violence.
“You’ll never take back our country with weakness,” Trump told his followers. “You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.” They did as they were told. By the thousands, they walked and surrounded the U.S. Capitol. By the hundreds, they climbed the staircase and breached police gates and smashed windows and shoved police officers and broke through doorways, and forced their way in. They burst into the offices and chambers of the Capitol, taking over the place as though it were their own, lounging in members’ offices, strolling through the statuaries, halting the constitutional process of completing Joe Biden’s election to the presidency.
The attack, which some historians called the most severe assault on the Capitol since the British sacked the building in 1814, was “instigated at the highest level,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelos. The assault left one woman fatally shot inside the Capitol, and three others dead from medical incidents. The woman was later pronounced dead. The assault resulted in at least 52 arrests, four hours of chaos, the evacuation of congressional buildings, the paralysis of the city, and the humiliation of a nation that has long considered itself the world’s greatest democracy. The ultimate inspiration of the mob’s passion, the president himself, had repeatedly urged his followers to come to Washington on the day when Congress would affirm the result of November’s election.
“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,” Trump tweeted last month. “Be there, will be wild!” For over an hour, people banged on the doors of the Capitol chanting, “Let us in! Let us in!” There wasn’t enough police enforcement at the capitol during the storming, “The Capitol Police weren’t prepared for so many protesters who were pushing their way in,” said one law enforcement official briefed on the incident. “Not all windows and entrances were protected.” Police and law enforcement didn’t expect Trump to incite the mob and that they would forcefully push their way in. Bottom line, there just wasn’t enough personnel to hold back the mob. The attempt to keep Trump in office and overturn the election failed. It is already clear that Jan. 6, 2021, would go down in history as one of America’s darkest days.