{"id":5913,"date":"2021-01-23T08:48:44","date_gmt":"2021-01-23T18:48:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=5913"},"modified":"2021-01-23T08:48:51","modified_gmt":"2021-01-23T18:48:51","slug":"jan-6-the-day-our-nation-capitol-fell-to-american-radicalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2021\/01\/23\/jan-6-the-day-our-nation-capitol-fell-to-american-radicalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Jan. 6 \u2013 The Day Our Nation Capitol Fell To American Radicalism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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by Edwin Quinabo

Jan. 6, 2021, will go down as one of the darkest days in US history as Trump supporters stormed and breached the US Capitol to protest the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.

It\u2019s being called a coup, an insurrection that resulted in five deaths, and could have potentially ended in a massacre of the nation\u2019s top leaders from both chambers of Congress, including the top three presidential line of succession: Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate President pro tempore Chuck Grassley.

The insurrection was a catastrophic failure in security as lawmakers were forced to hide in undisclosed underground locations; while above them, intruders ran amok through the sacred halls of the People\u2019s House, ransacked offices and destroyed property.

The fiasco was a cautionary tale of unpreparedness on the security side; but also of what dangerous rhetoric can lead to.

Mobs threw journalists to the ground, stole and destroyed their equipment, battled Capitol security forces with metal pipes, flag poles and forcefully snaked their way up as barriers one by one were run over. Insurrectionists with more villainous intentions had heavy duty zip ties intended for hostage-taking. Two pipe bombs were found nearby.

\u201cHang Mike Pence,\u201d the rioters roared. Obscenities reverberated at Speaker Pelosi — the ugliness of the audio caught on camera, almost matched the ugliness captured on film.

In the front of the Capitol, insurrectionists constructed makeshift gallows with a hanging noose. The gallows, clearly references the French Revolution when leaders were beheaded; the hanging noose, is a grotesque symbol of the hanging of American slaves.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Post-Insurrection and Groups Responsible
<\/strong>Since the insurrection, 25,000 National guard troops, fully armed have been patrolling the Capitol grounds and perimeter in preparation for the inauguration of president-elect Joe Biden. Extra fencing have been erected and razor wires placed atop them in key high-security areas. Parked military trucks act as barricades to block off cars have been placed all along seven blocks near the Capitol.

Over a hundred arrests have been made; and the FBI has issued dire warnings of possible violence at Capitols throughout all 50 states.Gov. David Ige said state sheriffs are working with the Honolulu Police Department to protect Hawaii and the State Capitol if necessary.

Who are the main groups that stormed the Capitol? According to the FBI, among the rioters were right-wing elements, white supremacists, QAnon, Proud Boys, militia and other fringe groups.

Besides the radicals present were Trump\u2019s most trustworthy base, White, male, Republican and Christian supporters.

Hawaii resident Nicholas Ochs who founded Proud Boys Hawaii also took part in the Capitol siege. He was arrested on touch down at the Inouye International Airport in Honolulu and charged with trespassing at the US Capitol.

Ochs ran for state House of Representatives as a Republican in last year\u2019s election.

His opponent who beat Ochs, state Rep. Adrian Tam, said, \u201cIt does not surprise me. This is a person who has made offensive remarks about the Jewish community, women, the LGBT community, immigrants, Muslims, you name it, he\u2019s made fun of it.\u201d

Is Trump To Blame?
<\/strong>The US Attorney Michael Sherwin investigating the Capitol siege said Trump may be a part of his investigation. A possible criminal case could be launched against the president if evidence requires it.

Prior to the Capitol riot, Trump led a \u201cSave America\u201d event near the National Mall, spurring supporters to go to the Capitol.\u00a0 In a 70-minute address, he exhorted them to march on Congress.

Trump said, \u201cWe won this election, and we won it by a landslide. We will stop the steal. We will never give up. We will never concede. It doesn\u2019t happen. If you don\u2019t fight like hell you\u2019re not going to have a country anymore. We are going to the Capitol.\u201dCritics of the president said that rally whipped the mob into a frenzy.

Political analysts, historians and media pundits said Jan. 6 could be seen as a buildup of tension and division over years.

Timothy Snyder, a historian, professor of history at Yale University, fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, says the riot at the U.S. Capitol was \u201ccompletely and utterly predictable\u201d given President Trump\u2019s record of stoking extremism and undermining democratic institutions.

\u201cThe American republic is hanging by a thread because the president of the United States has sought to use violence to stay in power and essentially to overthrow our constitutional system,\u201d says Snyder.

Patricio Abinales, professor at the University of Hawaii, said \u201cTrump should be made to answer for this act of terrorism. Not only did he encourage them [rioters] in that speech [on Jan. 6], he also had been repeatedly protesting in Twitter that the election was stolen. His statements were chiliastic and reminded me of how the Ayatollahs of Iran \u2018inspired\u2019 their supporters to sacrifice themselves in the Iran-Iraq War. In a country where 8 out of 10 Americans believe angels exist, and 22% believe that American politics is all conspiracies, Trump had no problem getting a fired-up following. The terrorist attack on the US Capitol will go down as the biggest and most successful con job of a celebrated bunko.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe article of impeachment approved by the House of Representatives today lays out what we have all witnessed over the last few months \u2013 President Trump lied repeatedly about the results of a free and fair election, attempted to cheat by pressuring election officials, and incited an insurrection that resulted in a violent attack on the US Capitol and the deaths of five Americans.<\/strong>“<\/p>— U.S. Senator Brian Schatz<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Impeachment
<\/strong>If the Capitol siege was a reckoning of vitriol and lies, so was Trump\u2019s second impeachment, a reckoning of justice and truth.

House Democrats and 10 Republicans moved to impeach Trump less than a week from the Capitol attack. In a vote of 232-197, the House voted to charge Trump with \u201cinciting violence against the government of the United States\u201d for his role in encouraging the insurrections who stormed the US Capitol.

Trump is the only president ever in the US to be impeached twice. The impeachment moves to the US Senate for a trial that could, if Trump is convicted, bar him from ever holding political office.

Both Hawaii Congressmen Ed Case and Kai Kahele voted to impeach Trump.

In freshman Congressman Kahele\u2019s first floor speech at the Hill, he said Trump violated his oath of office by inciting a \u201cdeadly insurrection. Our sacred oaths are hollow without accountability.\u201d

Case said the president \u201cgravely endangered the security of the United States and the institutions of government.\u201d

Sen. Mazie Hirono on her Twitter account said prior to impeachment, \u201cI join Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in calling for Donald Trump\u2019s immediate removal from office. If the House votes to impeach him, I\u2019d welcome the chance to vote for his conviction a second time.\u201d

Sen. Brian Schatz said in a statement, \u201cThe article of impeachment approved by the House of Representatives lays out what we have all witnessed over the last few months \u2013 President Trump lied repeatedly about the results of a free and fair election, attempted to cheat by pressuring election officials, and incited an insurrection that resulted in a violent attack on the US Capitol and the deaths of five Americans.\u201d

Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, formerly a Hawaii resident and a leading Asian American Pacific Island (AAPI) lawmaker also called for Trump\u2019s removal.

California Congressman Ted Liu, also an AAPI lawmaker, was one of three congressmen who drafted the second Articles of Impeachment. He said of impeachment, \u201cThis is not partisan, it\u2019s about America.\u201d

New York Congresswoman Grace Meng and AAPI lawmaker blamed Trump for inciting chaos, violence, and the destruction at the US Capitol.

Accountability
<\/strong>Professor Abinales agrees with impeachment. \u201cThe American system is a system of laws. Trump is guilty of inciting an insurrection, and to counter this illegal and undemocratic act, the government should use all available legal weapons in its possession<\/a>,\u201d he said.

Pearl City resident Kelly Pascual says she\u2019s not a very political person but was angry over the attack at the Capitol. \u201cWhat Trump did by his words and false claims that he lost the election is lead his supporters to attack another branch of our government.

\u201cHe had his own vice president there. But I don\u2019t think it mattered to Trump. He only cares about himself. I\u2019m glad he was impeached. He should also be criminally charged. And the family of the officer who died in the riot deserves justice, too. They should sue Trump in civil court,\u201d said Pascual.

She adds, \u201cTrump didn\u2019t do all the inciting alone. These lawmakers who contested the certification of the election are in part to blame. If lawmakers didn\u2019t agree to contest the results then there would have been no protest to begin with.\u201d

After the insurrection, lawmakers reconvened to vote on the certification where they left off. Led by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Montana\u2019s Josh Hawley, a total of seven senators voted against certification. One hundred twenty-one Republicans\u00a0rejected the Arizona certification and 138 Republicans rejected the Pennsylvania certification.

The Senate and House majorities are mulling over possible censure of the lawmakers who voted against certification.

Some Democrat lawmakers accused Trump of giving oxygen to radicals and say Republicans who stood by him were enablers. They say calling for unity or to tone down the rhetoric now without accepting responsibility or accountability is hypocritical. Where were these same Republicans the past four years when Trump was dividing the country? \u2013 is a common question, Democrats are asking.

Pascual said if Republicans are now saying they want unity and to move forward, then \u201cmake the right bipartisan move to convict in the Senate. This is a first step to bringing the country together.\u201d

Lynn, who chooses to remain anonymous, is a Republican and frequent church-goer. She says she doesn\u2019t condone the violence that happened, but still thinks Trump was \u201cgood for our country.\u201d

\u201cMany of us who support Trump think he wasn\u2019t treated fairly since he got elected. I still think he won in some of those close races,\u201d said Lynn. Evangelical Christians have been Trump\u2019s most ardent supporters. Eight in 10 Evangelicals voted for Trump in 2020; they comprised 23% of the entire electorate in 2020.

Survey On Capitol Siege
<\/strong>Lynn is not alone for her continued support of Trump even after the insurrection.

A new survey by YouGov found that 45% of Republican voters backed the attack on the Capitol, while 43% said they \u201cstrongly or somewhat\u201d opposed the protestors\u2019 behavior.

An overwhelming 96% of Democrats said they strongly opposed the actions of pro-Trump supporters; and 67% of independents said they opposed it.

Republicans Going Forward
<\/strong>Prior to the Capitol siege, many Conservative Republicans had already left the GOP. Prominent conservatives like George Will and the Lincoln Project group. NYT Tom Friedman suggested that anti-Trump Conservatives would do better to form a new third party that would, in essence, render impotent the current dominance of Trump radicals in the GOP. This new party would only need a few members. For example, in the Senate, just a handful of them could caucus with Democrats on few issues and stifle any Trump camp initiative.

While Liz Cheney, third-Tanking House Republican, is not at this point willing to abandon the GOP. She, along with nine other House Republicans voted to impeach Trump, signaling growing discontent with the party under Trump\u2019s leadership.

\u201cA violent mob attacked the United States Capitol to obstruct the process of our democracy and stop the counting of presidential electoral votes. The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President,\u201d said Cheney.

Right-Wing Media, Corporate Responsibility
<\/strong>Nothing happens in a vacuum and it\u2019s becoming clearer how the 30-some years of right-wing media (primarily Fox News) has helped to build up radicalism in the US with half-truths and outright lies. This hasn\u2019t been more revealing in the past five years in their defense of Trump, media analysts say.I

t has been described that the recent insurrection is like the pain the nation has been feeling in their chest, but ignored that warning year after year. Then suddenly a heart attack happens (the violent coup at the Capitol) and now is the time to act.

Recognizing the powerful influence of right wing media and social media can have, Amazon, Apple and Google removed the new ultra-conservative app Parler from its cloud hosting and web service. Parler has become the alternative social media platform for Trump supporters and right-wing elements. It has been said Parler is the social media haven where lies and disinformation have been spreading like the non-evidenced based lie that the 2020 presidential election was wrought with fraud. This is why corporate Tech giants pulled the plug on Parler, as a preventative measure against future right-wing violence.

JP Morgan and Citibank, long-identified as the power centers and trendsetters of Wall Street, have decided to stop PAC donations to those who voted to overturn the election. Following their lead, the finance firm Stripe announced they will no longer process payments for Trump campaign website.

Marriott says it will ban all donations to the 147 Republicans led by Cruz, Hawley and Kevin McCarthy who voted against the certification of the Electoral College. Morgan Stanley and Dow will do the same.

Ford, CVS, Target and Exxon Mobil are said to be reviewing all their future donations to the Trump Republicans caucus.

Microsoft, Facebook, BP, Deloitte, VISA, Coca-Cola are pulling the plug on all political contributions temporarily.

Corporate newspaper giant Houston Chronicle has called on Sen. Cruz to resign.

Former Honolulu resident now Marketing graduate student in New York, Meghan Arreola says she\u2019s pleased with the moves corporate America is taking.

\u201cIt\u2019s important that corporate America sends the message that they will not tolerate insurrection and the breaking down of the rule of law.

\u201cIf we are to have a country based on democratic principles and our current free market system, corporations need to do their part to preserve our way of life. The assault on the Capitol and the dangerous radicalism we see growing are too much for corporations to sit down and idly watch,\u201d said Arreola.

She adds, \u201cOur country needs to come together. But first, those who have done damage should be held accountable. It\u2019s not a two-sided situation. Those who\u2019ve helped to incite insurrection should never receive a dime of PAC money from corporations ever, and not just for a few months.\u201d

Right-Wing Violence In The Future
<\/strong>Since Trump took office, right-wing violence against people of color and religious minorities have escalated in the US. While Trump is leaving office, the siege of the Capitol leaves people uneasy that right-wing violence could persist.

\u201cI worry that if my Filipina daughter ends up going to college in a part of the mainland where right-wing and fascist groups exist, she could easily be targeted for her skin color. But I am not just worried about the US.\u00a0 Right-wing violence has become pervasive even in Asia, including the Philippines where a President [Rodrigo Duterte] thinks that he is the law and can do anything to anyone who is not rich, including ordering their execution, and get away with it.\u201d

On Trump\u2019s Departure
<\/strong>Pascual said she is relieved that the Trump era is over. \u201cI just hope the Senate moves to convict on impeachment so he can never hold office again.\u201d

Lynn wants more of Trump. \u201cHe\u2019s been a leader for Christians. Many of us want to see him running in 2024.\u201d

Arreola said \u201cWith Trump gone, I hope racial tensions will get better. As a minority student even at a university where the general population tends to be more enlightened and educated, the atmosphere Trump created in this country sometimes can get to your head. At times you think, \u2018I wonder if he or she supports Trump, and what impressions that student might have of me.\u2019 We shouldn\u2019t have to be worrying about these kinds of things [racism] in the 21st<\/sup> century. We\u2019re better than this. But with Trump being rejected for a second term, I think we are all feeling more at ease.\u201d

Abinales said \u201cIt\u2019s about time [his presidency is over]. The fellow is an ignoramus (knows nothing about global politics.) He\u2019s a couch potato rather than an administrator. He spent more time watching cable television and posting on Twitter\u00a0than governing; refusing even to read the daily intelligence briefing. He\u2019s a misogynist, or what we Filipinos call manyakis<\/em>, and a racist. I cannot think of any other American president – including even the promoter of native American massacres, Andrew Jackson – comparable to Trump.

\u201cAnd as someone concerned that over 200 career diplomats who were experts on Asia had left the State Department since 2016, thereby allowing rival powers like China to take the lead in promoting regional cooperation,\u2019\u00a0I am hoping that his departure will afford the US a chance to recover its place in Asian regional politics. That said, I am not optimistic that it will be able to do this within one presidential term.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Edwin Quinabo Jan. 6, 2021, will go down as one of the darkest days…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3,20,5],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?fit=1280%2C960",1280,960,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?resize=150%2C150",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?fit=300%2C225",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?fit=640%2C480",640,480,true],"large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?fit=640%2C480",640,480,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?fit=1280%2C960",1280,960,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?fit=1280%2C960",1280,960,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?resize=1200%2C800",1200,800,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?resize=870%2C570",870,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?resize=600%2C900",600,900,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?resize=600%2C600",600,600,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?resize=1115%2C715",1115,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?resize=522%2C500",522,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768",1024,768,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?resize=540%2C285",540,285,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?resize=375%2C250",375,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Cover Story<\/a> Featured<\/a> News<\/a>","tag_info":"News","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/coverstory.jpeg?fit=1280%2C960","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5913"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5913"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5914,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5913\/revisions\/5914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}