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Capitalizing the Attack on the Capitol

  • Writer: Muskaan Makkar
    Muskaan Makkar
  • Jan 19, 2021
  • 7 min read

Washington Post/ Evelyn Hockstein


- If you don’t already know about the events that took place on January 6th, 2021 at the United States Capitol, I urge you to do your own research first. Use whichever media sources you would like, but it is imperative that you educate yourself on the situation through sources that are much more credible than my blog. I will also attach the sources that I used at the end of the blog post and embed them throughout.


Again, this blog should not be the main source of your knowledge on these events; it is filled with sarcasm and my personal touches.


Now with that being said, let’s talk about it!


Since it is very evident that the “protestors” (don’t worry, there will be more on that term later) resorted to juvenile and immature tactics in the “peaceful” (did you laugh too?) protests displayed at the Capitol, let’s take it back to when we were in fact, juvenile. This is a handy dandy tool I learned back in grade 3: The Five Ws & an H. So using that method, here’s what we, the American people, know (or should know) about this situation:


1. Who:

So these “protestors” were crowds of Donald Trump supporters, gathered in a pro-Trump rally on the morning of January 6th. Donald Trump addressed these “protestors” and said to them: “And after this [rally], we’re going to walk down there, and I’ll be there with you, we’re going to walk down… to the Capitol and we are going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.” And after this rally, these “protestors” do indeed walk down to the Capitol. They walk down, hold “Make America Great Again” and Confederate flags, and grapple with the Capitol police (wait… what happened to Blue Lives Matter?).

Let me now call these “protestors” exactly who they are. Terrorists. Is that too extreme of a term? Should I perhaps have said rioters? Well, let’s look at Oxford Dictionary’s definition of terrorism.

ter·ror·ism

/ˈterəˌrizəm/


noun

the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.


Let’s examine Trump’s quote and the definition above in the next section to see if my use of the word is correct.


2. What:

It is very important to note that Donald Trump did not walk down to the Capitol after the rally; it is very important to note that what he said to his supporters was a lie. He was not walking with the terrorists to the Capitol. He returned to the White House, his home for only two weeks (and now only two days) more.


Now to the subject of terrorism. I will be using The Washington Post’s article for this breakdown.

“By the hundreds, they [the “protestors,” and this is the last time I will be using this word] climbed the grand marble 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...”


This is referred to by some historians as the “most severe assault on the Capitol since the British… in 1814.” And this is the FIRST time a Confederate flag was brought into the Capitol… even in the Civil War was there never a Confederate flag. And this assault was in the pursuit of four more years of Donald Trump as President of the United States.

In case you didn’t know, all of these actions were illegal! A.K.A, they were UNLAWFUL. This whole coup was an unlawful use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. Sound familiar? Point made? Great, let’s scratch “protesters” and call terrorists what they are: terrorists (with no quotation marks).


Twitter/ Rep. Stacey Plaskett


Let’s talk more about this timeline in Section 3.


3. When:

The date of the coup was January 6th, and USA Today reports more exact times. The Trump rally started at about 11 AM, and terrorists reached the Capitol (and began to struggle with the police) at about 1:10 PM. The terrorist attacks continued for the next few hours. At 4:17 PM, Donald Trump tweeted this:



Oops! It’s no longer available because it violated the Twitter rules. Actually, Trump was put under a 12 hour Twitter freeze, and most of his tweets addressing the terrorist attacks (he likes to call them protests performed by the Party of Law & Order though) were deleted. IN FACT, Donald Trump is now permanently suspended from Twitter. Moving *cough* KARMA! *cough* on though.


Donald Trump tweeted, before it was deleted, this:

“I know your pain. I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. So go home. We love you, you’re very special. I know how you feel. But go home and go home in peace.”


I don’t think I need to say this, and this is hardly the most disturbing part of his tweet… but math says that it was not a stolen election. In fact… lawmakers were gathered for a joint session in the House of Representatives chamber for this reason – to count Electoral College votes. This is not a coincidence, and this will be discussed in section 5.


4. Where:

The United States Capitol Building. One of the most secure buildings in the United States, daresay the world. Ironic, isn’t it then, that terrorists broke in so easily?


5. Why:

But Trump’s rally, the protests… why January 6th, 2021?

To reiterate, it was not a coincidence. Donald Trump’s rally happened on January 6th, because this was the day when Congress would affirm the result of November’s election and count electoral college votes. So the literal day of democracy.


This is a bit of a tangent, but I find it… humorous. In December, Donald Trump’s announcement of his rally was (obviously) through Twitter, and it read “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”

Will be wild. This isn’t a fraternity party, Mr. Trump.


6. How

How? How did these attacks even happen under the security of the United States Capitol Police? Well… because of white privilege (it exists… although if you refuse to recognize white privilege… I doubt you would be this far into my blog post).


Cover Photo Illustration Credits: @colorsofhoney on Instagram


If these terrorists were not white, they would have been treated very differently.


This is a fact. It also ironic, because I have faced microaggressions as an Indian American my whole life, and I even got one very specific comment in my freshman year of high school Student Council election: “Don’t Vote for ISIS.” When Nina Davuluri won Miss America 2014, there were constant comments about 9/11. Brown people as a whole in America have this constant need to prove their allegiance to this country. Prove that they are for this nation, that this is our home. We have a constant need to fight the label of “terrorist.” I’m more likely to be checked more at the airport rather than a white woman, though. That’s just probability, and it speaks volumes to the situation we are in right now.


And Black people in America have it worse. If the coup at the Capitol was compared side-by-side to the peaceful protests of the Black Lives Matter movement this summer, the contrast in police action would be stark. In fact, it has been compared by the Washington Post and it IS stark. See link below:




The heavily funded Capitol Police… couldn’t protect the Capitol… from a mob of Trump supporters? Policemen… helped… Trump supporters… down the stairs… when they were injured…. In an attack on the Capitol? Yet the police will shoot and kill innocent, PEACEFUL, Black Lives Matter protestors because they practice their right to protest?


The thing is, actions like helping the injured opposition down the steps of the Capitol are GOOD actions. It shows that the police can choose nonviolence, and that they respect the rules and regulations of our democracy. I want to emphasize that this is how it SHOULD be, but for EVERYONE. Because why is it only when the demographic is white that laws seem to be followed?


President-elect Joe Biden said, if the rioters had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesters, they would have been treated “very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol.” And this is true, but the thing is… no minority or Black Lives Matter supporter would ever dare to storm the United States Capitol. Out of respect for the democracy, but also for the sake of our lives. It would have been a very different outcome if there was not a shield of white privilege protecting the terrorists at the United States Capitol… because the other outcome could have never occurred.


- How do we go on now? What is the takeaway?

I hope that now, 12 days after the event, the takeaway from the terrorist attacks at the Capitol is the recognition of white privilege. I hope that we can see the biased treatment of the police. I hope we now know that for America to survive internal terrorism is by taking action and speaking out.

On that note, I especially hope that we are capable enough of hearing and calling out silence and apathy. Because the silence is really, REALLY loud. It’s very obvious how much you care about human rights in your own nation when you can share football player proposals and Tesla giveaways on social media, but are silent in the face of terrorism. If you were not angry and frustrated and upset at what our nation became on January 6th, it is very obvious what you support. It is very obvious that you shared the black square to fit in. To this day, if your excuse for not checking your privilege and paying attention to current events is “I don’t like politics,” then you need to reevaluate the message you are sending to your family, friends, and colleagues and peers.


It is not “quirky” to act oblivious to the problems in your nation. Cut the performative activism, and for once, DO something. Stop staying SILENT.


In all honestly, this blog post was supposed to be published last week but I had a computer malfunction and it deleted completely. But I wrote this piece from a more honest perspective. If I get backlash for writing my honest truth, my firm beliefs, then so be it; today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and he always spoke his truth peacefully, but firmly. I intend to do the same with this blog.


I hope you all have a wonderful week <3


- Muskaan Makkar



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