Stories are now becoming more plentiful about the events preceding and during the violent act of sedition and insurrection that Pro-Trumpers committed on Wednesday. Among them are photographic and video evidence that some of these insurrectionists had actually planned a far more horrible and violent attack than the one that occurred.
Conspiracy theories are insidious and at the heart of Trump’s long term incitement of his cult-like followers as well as in the short term when he gave his speech to whip them up before ordering them to march on The Capitol. So it is important that in the analysis of the actual plots that were in motion, there is a clear distinction between what actually happened and theories as to what could have happened. In this examination of the facts, I intend to draw that bright line.
OPINION: There are numerous facts that provide support for the proposition that one or more far more dangerous groups had embedded themselves within the chaotic and raging mass of insurrectionists. They appear to have planned to hold Congresspeople and perhaps the Vice President as hostages. What they would have done next is unknown right now but we do know that a militia group was arrested previously in Michigan for plotting to kidnap Governor Whitmer, convict her in their own “trial” of her and execute her. They planned on live streaming it on social media as well.
That seems like a likely template for the coordinated group camouflaged within the Capitol Seditionists. It is only because of good fortune and quick action that this plot didn’t succeed.
FACTS:
- There were at least two men who entered the Senate Chamber in military-style gear, equipped with plastic zip-tie handcuffs.
The troubling picture is coming into focus: multiple people on front lines of breaching the senate chamber were ex military. At least one carried restraints.
— John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) January 7, 2021
Onwards to identifying Males #1 & #2. Please help. pic.twitter.com/AkqYWyV3zf
2. There was theft and destruction in a number of offices but only the Senate Parlimentarian’s office was ransacked.
The ransacked office of the Senate Parliamentarian: pic.twitter.com/E7PsSgoAEX
— Ali Zaslav (@alizaslav) January 7, 2021
3. One of the two men in military gear who occupied The Senate Floor was also photographed leaving Nancy Pelosi’s office.
There are so many other threads to pull including some of the Capitol Police’s apparent support of the insurrection, allegations that off duty police and military were among the insurrectionists, the refusals by the Defense Secretary to allow National Guard to come to the aid of overwhelmed police, Trump’s phone calls to Republican Senators during the siege to insist that they object to and delay the certification of Biden and Harris, and so much more.
But focusing for a moment on what the bloodiest plan appeared to be by those who apparently organized and attempted to instigate an operation they had worked out previously.
Why would these two men carry a big supply of easily-accessible handcuffs into The Senate chambers? Why did they target the Senate Parliamentarian’s office for ransacking? How did they know where that office was in this building?
OPINION: It seems pretty simple to connect the dots. The intent of the general mob was to disrupt and stop Congress from fulfilling its Constitutional requirement of certifying the vote of the Electoral College to confirm our next president and vice-president. The coordinated group hidden among the masses appears to have wanted to find and destroy the envelopes that contained electoral votes and hold Congresspeople hostage to prevent their certifying the next president.
So let’s dispense with any doubt on this, it was a real and dangerous coup, a violent one that caused the deaths of five people. It was sedition. And…it may well have been an attempt to hold hostage or murder the leadership of the United States who weren’t named Trump in order to install Trump as a fascist leader.
Had Nancy Pelosi been in The Senate Chamber when these men stormed in, what do we think would have happened to her?
My opinion is that she and other Dem Congresspeople and maybe even Mike Pence would have been taken hostage, possibly beaten, possibly executed, possibly thrown to the mob like raw steak to rabid dogs. There would have been a hostage crisis and the demands of these terrorists would need to be absolute, they would demand that Trump was certified as the next president by a returned Congress and that they be pardoned for their crimes.
They might have held “trials” against Pelosi, other Dems, maybe Pence and they might have executed some of them for their “crimes” one by one until their demands were met. This is what the militia in Michigan was about to do to Governor Whitmer.
Imagine where we could have been right now. A hostage siege still underway in the Capitol. Trump praising them as patriots while emptily claiming to oppose violence. The Vice President of the US and/or Democratic congresspeople tied up and possibly much worse. And while all decent Americans would be in shock and disbelief at what they were seeing, the entire world including America’s most dangerous enemies, would be watching and considering how to respond as they witnessed the United States helpless, threatened and demeaned.
The true horribleness of what did happen hasn’t hit everyone yet. A defeated president in his lame duck period, nurtured and finally incited his cultist followers to stage an insurgent attack against the U.S. government to bring down America’s democracy and install himself as the first American dictator. Yes, it really happened and the last chapter hasn’t been written yet, he is still president for 12 more days and could do even worse things even if that’s hard to imagine.
Democrats in Congress, who were all terrorized by this lunatic in the White House and his deranged followers, are rightly hurrying to impeach Trump to remove him from power ASAP if at all possible. Also, as some have made clear, to insist on there being justice and set the precedent that sedition can’t be politically justified. Ever.
Donald Trump committed an act many of us expected he would, using his violent cult to try and overpower and dominate our democracy. Even with the blowback that’s resulted, it would be naive to assume his cult won’t want to try again on January 20th, Inauguration Day, to somehow prevent President Elect Joe Biden and Vice President Elect Kamala Harris from taking office.
Since the Secret Service is in charge of security for this event instead of the corrupt Capitol Police and in light of the attack on The Capitol, it seems less likely that these enemies of our democracy will have the opportunity to get anywhere near the inauguration to disrupt it.
There were pipe bombs planted outside the RNC and DNC in Washington DC. A Trumper was arrested with Molotov cocktails and a gun in his truck on the day of infamous sedition so a more destructive plot may be in the planning anyway.
The only way to get through this period or terrorism and dissuade these terrorists from continuing their fascist campaign (because Trump will still be around after he leaves office and exhorting them to sabotage the government), is to fully prosecute ALL those who can be identified in photos and video as invading The Capitol, punish the Republican politicians who supported Trump’s Big Lie and tried to overthrow democracy in Congress and prosecute Donald Trump and all those around him who gave aid and comfort to this attack on our democracy for all the crimes they’ve committed.
There is a time to focus on unity and coming together but that comes after those who would have cut the throat of democracy and possibly those who represent us, are brought to justice and this insidious, terrorist movement built of racism and fascism is crushed into the dirt by the hand of justice.
I find the case you lay out to be logical, plausible and likely. Brilliant. It is because of thinking along this line, mine and others like yourself, that I want the inauguration moved to the White House where the Secret Service and the military can secure the area. Keep it small. Eliminate comparisons with “the real inaugurations” with side by side images of the capital. Have a distinctive Biden/Harris flavor ad flair to it.
Thanks Murph. I’m far from alone in seeing a far more dangerous plot hidden under the cover of that mass of raving nutjobs. I think without a doubt, there needs to be a commission to investigate this entire attack, from the planning and funding of it to Trump’s involvement and incitement to support for it by Repub politicians and leaders and members of police and military forces.
That’s the second commission I am hoping for in addition to a Trump Crimes Commission that investigates Trump, his family, cabinet and donors for all of the theft of government money that’s gone on, other extortion and blackmail plots like Ukraine, Georgia Secretary of State, etc.
Let the crimes of Trump and his cult add up then handed off to AG Garland for thorough prosecution.
As for the inauguration, I feel a little differently, I think it would be a sign of weakness and fear to change the site. This is the U.S., the presidency, and our celebration of our democracy. I would instead suggest a beefing up of police and military forces with orders to be highly aggressive towards any potential threats.
The police have armored carriers and powerful weapons, the military has heavily armed and trained soldiers and helicopter gunships, not to mention all the “crowd control” weaponry we’ve seen used against the innocent George Floyd protesters.
I would not be heartbroken to see these seditionists show up and be crushed and arrested by the hundreds or thousands. They think law enforcement is only to be used against people of color and they are entitled to overthrow our elections when they lose? I’m fine with watching them learn a very hard and painful lesson.
It was very heartening to watch Congress return defiantly after being chased out of their chambers and take care of business just as they were going to. I feel the same way about the inauguration. It’s a matter of not bowing to terrorists and giving them the power to change us, that’s their whole goal and what further empowers them. I think they would see a move of the ceremonies as a major victory, one I do not want them to have.
And if all of the might of the U.S. can’t protect the president from a rag tag band of nutjobs, the U.S. has already been lost. We can and will defiantly stand against these traitors, Biden and Harris will be inaugurated just as planned (if not with greater force protecting them) and the traitors had better reconsider their foolish ideas or find themselves killed, injured and/or imprisoned for many years as the terrorists they will have proven to be.