On Wednesday, January 6, 2020, supporters of the outgoing President of the United States, Donald Trump, gathered in an initially peaceful protest of the election results on Capitol Hill, where Congress was gathered to certify the election results. By 3 PM Eastern that afternoon, hundreds of his adherents had trespassed onto Capitol Hill, breaching the inside by force, while meeting little military or police resistance until much later that evening. The no-longer-peaceful rioters caused 6 deaths, mostly of themselves, accessed the computer of Nancy Pelosi, among others, rummaged through the chambers of Congress, and stole a podium, among other things.
After the breach, the President tweeted on his now defunct account, @realdonaldtrump, to “stay peaceful,” repeated his repeatedly debunked claims of election fraud (which was the motive behind the attack), thus stirring the pot, then told his now-violent supporters, “We love you.” At this point, it doesn’t matter to them or to us that he also said “go home,” because if the “God-Emperor of the United States” (that’s not my phrase) supported their actions, they would stay until they were victorious.
During this entire time, Democrats and Republicans alike were huddled together in a (potentially) COVID-infested room. (UPDATE: There have been at least three confirmed cases of COVID-19 due to this.)
Shortly after the events took place, the entire tech world united and, over the course of several days, denied Donald Trump nearly all public speaking privileges. Shortly after that, the supposed “patriots”’ favorite hangout, Parler, was removed from the App Store and Google Play, then it was booted off of the Internet. Now, the “free speech” platform is struggling to find a new home, as even their lawyers refuse to work with them.
The events this week in the Capitol are unspeakable. Without the President’s disproven, debunked, and outright false rhetoric of “widespread voter fraud,” America’s transition of power would be happening peacefully. Now, as more insurrections are being planned everywhere, the incoming President, Joe Biden, will have to be protected from all angles from any potential Trump cultists who believe he must have cheated to win the election, and so his inauguration on January 20 will have to be done in armed defense of the new President.