Was Blind, But Now Will We See?
Brother against brother, America’s future depends on lawmakers acting now.
“The genius of apartheid was convincing people who were the overwhelming majority to turn on each other. Apart hate, is what it was. You separate people into groups and make them hate one another so you can run them all.” -Trevor Noah, Born a Crime
Trumpism has made us hate each other. Without even knowing each other, many Americans hate each other right now, so much so that five lives were lost as a result of Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol. President Elect Biden said last week, “this isn’t who we are,” but he is wrong. It is exactly who we are. And according to FBI reports, Wednesday’s insurrection will not remain an isolated attack. Without congressional action to hold people accountable and to act as a deterrent, America’s future seems uncertain.
As details continue to emerge from Wednesday’s attack, my family and I have had time to sit down and reflect together. Our discussions have allowed us to process the initial shock and horror, and I’ve moved on to anger and frustration. I’d like to think I’ll get to a different place of healing and hope, but I’m not there yet. I find it helpful to sit and write, especially when I’m angry, and I offer my thoughts as contributions to yours. You may be in a totally different place than I am. That’s ok. While I may make judgements about what happened on Wednesday and about elected officials, I’m not here to judge you.
Within my community, in my brief political run, and as a teacher, I’ve always maintained that words matter. I’ve been incredibly vocal, rebuking others for abusing their positions of power, and for using their words in ways that seem intent on dividing people or stoking hate. This has often been countered by someone claiming I don’t support free speech. I won’t delve into a discussion about the 1st Amendment, but I will say this: I support free speech, but I don’t believe that speech is free of consequences, nor do I believe it should be. Words are incredibly powerful. They make us laugh. They make us cry. And they can also compel us to take action. They can manipulate.
Effective politicians use words to persuade supporters, and few have been as effective as President Donald Trump. Since the November election, President Trump has been telling his supporters the election was stolen. For this discussion, it’s irrelevant that his claims were baseless, what matters is that his supporters believed him. He spent two months using social media, political pundits, media outlets, and politicians not only to amplify his message but also to lend credence to it. This came atop of a nation divided unlike at any other point in American history, perhaps since the Civil War. Before Wednesday’s rally, he stoked the fire, tweeting on December 19th, “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” At the rally, he reiterated the election had been stolen and fomented the impending breach of the Capitol with a reminder that the country needed to be rescued, “Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong.” His closer, Rudy Giuliani, didn’t mince words, “So let’s have a trial by combat.”
And their words were heard, believed, and taken to heart. Trump supporters came by the thousands to D.C. and they marched to the Capitol.
An important distinction has to be pointed out: all Trump supporters present at the rally and those who marched to the Capitol are not necessarily the same as those who illegally forced their way through police barricades. While many may still be dumbfounded by Trump supporters who sincerely believe machines have been tampered with, or signatures forged to steal an election, there were thousands of people who went to D.C. and did not set foot in the U.S. Capitol. So now, let’s focus on those who did.
Leading up to January 6th, message boards suggested that the most fervent supporters planned to siege the Capitol. A day before, the FBI released an internal warning about it. Ordered by the Commander-in-Chief, Trump supporters dutifully marched down Pennsylvania Avenue and arrived at the base of the Capitol. Trump had indicated he would join them, but he was nowhere to be seen. Without further instructions, his most zealous and fanatical devotees were left to infer their leader’s words and act accordingly. And so, they did. Their initial approach revealed hesitancy — they didn’t come running and charge at full force. This suggests the majority of those present did not work as a collective and didn’t have a premeditated plan to attack the Capitol. Nevertheless, the Capitol Police were woefully unprepared and understaffed, standing by barriers more suitable for a high school football game than barriers intended to thwart an insurrection. Video footage shows that when the barriers were initially breached, at least one officer was knocked down, but most officers retreated, not because they wanted to provide access to the Capitol but because martyrdom was futile. Capitol officers were warned to step aside. They were threatened. They were crushed. Several were attacked. One beaten with an American flag. One crushed to death. Videos lay bare chants to execute Vice President Pence, people searching for Speaker Nancy Pelosi — lawmakers were being hunted. Then doors and windows were bashed and broken. And while the FBI is investigating whether rioters intended to harm lawmakers, videos and photographs show people had zip ties on their person, others with guns, and pipe bombs were located nearby.
Much of this was livestreamed on social media and carried on the news. My kids, who are doing school remotely, were home and couldn’t believe what they saw. I called my husband, who is on a semester sabbatical working in another room, to stop and come to be with us. My kids are older (14 and 16) and so we generally don’t feel the need to shelter them like I would have had they been, say 4 & 6. But when the image of Colorado Rep. Jason Crow comforting Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania flashed on the screen, I froze, gasped, and felt the need to put on my “Mama Bear” face as to not worry them. At that moment, it was as if I could feel everything Rep. Wild was feeling as she hid. I could hear her imagining if the final moments of her life would be at the hands of American citizens encouraged to “take back our country” by the president of the United States who had sworn, like she did, to serve the American people. We then saw the face of what can only be described as a terrorist, with wild eyes, peering into the House chamber through broken glass with guns aimed at his head. It was like the scene out of The Shining when Jack Nickleson’s face pokes through a hole in a door he just created and shouts, “Here’s Johnny!” — a scene heralded by many as the most terrifying in movie history. But this wasn’t a Stanley Kubrick film or a Stephen King novel, this is America. An America in which we later witnessed people dressed to the hilt in tactical gear. My kids asked, why would anyone need the zip ties? Why indeed? And then came the image of a man with his feet up on Speaker Pelosi’s desk, the first female Speaker of the House in our nation’s history. His disdain wouldn’t have been any clearer, even if he had urinated on it. The Confederate flag waved high in the halls, a flag today so tightly linked with white extremist groups, from a time our country pitted brother against brother. It was now inside a building that represented our united nation — a building that hadn’t been breached since 1814, by the British during the War of 1812, our country then in its infancy.
Oh, how we have fallen.
This wasn’t a bunch of high schoolers playing a prank, messing the principal’s office with toilet paper. These weren’t peaceful protestors looking to have their voices heard. This was a group of terrorists, forcibly, violently entering federal property, interrupting a sacred duty for the government to complete the electoral college votes and confirm the presidential election. They forced everyone inside the building to lock down and go into hiding. The Vice President was reported to be in a bunker in the House with his family. Did the President call to check in with him? No. Staffers and lawmakers hid in rooms, many behind doors and under tables while bloodthirsty “patriots” tried to break down doors, roaring as they hunted. An entire branch of the government was inside this building, and it had been breached; it was under attack, and it was essentially defenseless.
Did the President call the National Guard? No. He was calling lawmakers, encouraging them to reject the electoral college votes.
The Capitol Police chief tried to call for help, but without command from the President himself, he was given an impossible charge. In anticipation of a possible riot, he made a request for National Guard units days in advance, but it was denied. During the insurrection, he made six requests for backup; each request was denied.
I do not doubt that there were many people present who did not intend to hurt anyone, but I cannot submit to any argument suggesting that this wasn’t terrorism. Anyone breaking into my house in a similar fashion would surely terrorize me or my family. The fact that this happened in the People’s House — to government officials — is what makes it seditious and an insurrection. And while we may never know how many people really intended to do harm, the fact that more harm didn’t occur is beside the point. Whether it was a concerted plot, or a chaotic mob that acted in the spur of the moment, insurrection is insurrection — motive and planning seem immaterial if we want to protect lives and our democracy.
Ultimately, in our post 9/11 world, the Capitol was shockingly easy to breach. We should all be grateful this group did not come better prepared. As it is, this insurrection led to the deaths of five Americans, directly or indirectly, at the hands of fellow Americans. I say the loss of “American” lives deliberately. Of course, any loss of life is a tragedy. But in light of Trumpism’s constant America First rhetoric, and a desire of his staunch supporters to “protect our own,” that “American” lives have been lost should be striking to them. These were people who claimed to be the true patriots.
Patriots.
In fact, for each and every person who entered the Capitol on Wednesday claiming to be a “patriot,” I submit the following:
If Osama bin Laden had been sitting in Speaker Pelosi’s office, leaning back in her chair, with a smile on his face and his feet on her desk, how would you feel?
If someone forcibly knocked down the doors and marched through the halls with an ISIS flag, would that change things?
Every person who put foot inside of the Capitol on Wednesday can be charged with a federal crime and I firmly believe they should be. However, I don’t believe they are solely to blame. First and foremost, President Trump led them there. This has been years in the making. Trump has effectively spent the last six years dividing us as a nation, and we have let him. But he hasn’t done this alone.
People like Senators Susan Collins, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and even Lindsey Graham saw him coming and initially fought back. Senator Collins retreated early in the Trump presidency. Rather than become a leader in the Republican party like John McCain and put country over party, she became complicit through her silence. The others realized quickly speaking against him would be political suicide, and so they put their political careers and aspirations above our democracy. More jumped on the bandwagon, taking a page from the Trump playbook. These lawmakers have served as his bullhorn and they have all forgotten that they have sworn to uphold our constitution. The heart of America isn’t about the one. It isn’t about Trump. It isn’t about Red. Or about Blue. It isn’t about making our country great for some of us, it’s about making America great for all of us.
But Wednesday we watched people invade and attack the Capitol in the name of a false idol that led them to believe their actions would save our democracy. We watched them terrorize lawmakers, staffers and even officers feared for their lives at the hands of people who have claimed for months to cherish them. Officers like Eugene Goodman, Brian Sicknick, and Howard Liebengood may have even voted for President Trump. But that doesn’t matter. Their names will forever be linked to this stain in our history. Officer Eugene is being heralded as a hero, but can anyone doubt that what he experienced was short of terror? How can anyone say, “It’s time to move on?” or “It’s time to unite?” When I think of Senators Cruz, Graham, and Hawley, and others, I can’t help but feel like ethical leadership is a paragraph that gets recited at a prayer breakfast when they need money. And don’t get me wrong, because I know it goes both ways. But at this moment in time, I don’t see how we can come together and heal as a nation, if lawmakers can’t demonstrate the following:
1) Recognition of how this happened;
2) That there are consequences for those who participated; and
3) Willlingness to prevent it from happening again.
So, what now? It’s actually quite easy. These terrorists aren’t hiding in caves. We know who attacked us. The criminals filmed themselves for us. They celebrated their crimes on social media. Many have already been arrested and more will be arrested. However, we must also remember that within our legal system, we don’t just punish people who commit violent acts, but also those who incite others to commit acts of violence. This means, for example, the people who cheered on the folks beating the officer with the American flag are also culpable. Therefore they can be, and they should be, charged with the crimes they incited even if they aren’t ones physically committing the crimes.
As for the man who led us here, President Trump won’t accept any responsibility and he isn’t going to resign. Futhermore, Vice President Pence has said he won’t invoke the 25th Amendment. Impeachment and conviction are non-negotiable. Too many members of the Cabinet have resigned — indicators that they are disgusted with the President’s behavior, but too weak to hold him accountable to use the 25th Amendment. It’s now up to lawmakers to put aside their self-interests and put us and our democracy first. All eyes will be on the House vote and the Senate decision on Impeachment. Additionally, if there are any lawmakers who are deemed culpable, they may also be subject to removal from office under the 14th Amendment, Section 3, though that is even more difficult and less likely to happen.
The fundamental role of American government is at a crossroads. Will the checks and balances function as designed? You want justice? So do I. Justice isn’t about breaking windows or crushing someone’s head. But it also isn’t about calls for unity and holding hands. You want to heal? Good. Then let’s hold these terrorists responsible. I want lawmakers to show me my “house” and the people inside it will be safe. Only then can I imagine a country ready to heal.
