Was The Trump-Inspired Mob Labeled As “America Under Siege” A Reality Show?
by Elpidio R. Estioko
I was reminded of a reality movie Under Siege starring Steven Seagal while watching the television on Jan. 6 when President Donald Trump-inspired supporters were staging a riot in the Capitol while Congress was in session.I thought it was a reality show (just like Trump’s The Apprentice)where his unknown supporters were rampaging in the halls of Congress under his direction.
I was wrong! It was real! No less than our president is directing the siege and inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol and seize power. That is outrageous! Is this the kind of president we have? Why can’t he just accept the reality that he lost and pave the way for a peaceful transition? He is insane and no longer capable of leading the country. In fact, he really is a mad leader and no longer capable of discharging his functions as the president of the United States.
“US Capitol Hill Siege: An armed and angry mob of Trump supporters stormed Capitol Hill and clashed with police on Wednesday as Congress convened to validate Joe Biden’s presidential win,” The Indian Express wrote.
The paper narrated: “US President Donald Trump’s relentless efforts to reverse the results of the 2020 election took a dangerous turn Wednesday, when an armed and angry mob of his supporters stormed Capitol Hill and clashed with police just as Congress convened to validate Joe Biden’s presidential win.”
The violence led to five deaths, including a police officer who died in line of duty!
“The pro-Trump protestors,” The Indian Express said, “breached barricades and advanced into the halls of the Capitol building, smashing windows and brawled with police officers in what is widely being considered one of the worst security breaches in US history. The pandemonium appears to have deepened the divide within the Republican Party, with several leaders pointing a finger at Trump for inciting violence by urging his supporters to reject the results of the presidential election.”
The paper further described the incident as “A raucous group of demonstrators — many of whom were waving ‘Trump 2020’ flags and wearing T-shirts and hats with the president’s signature ‘Keep America Great’ tagline printed — entered the second-floor lobby of the building right outside the Senate chamber, the doors of which were being guarded by law enforcement officials. The mob managed to get past the guards and enter the Senate chamber, where just moments earlier the election results were being certified.”
This is outrageous! It is heartbreaking to see protesters roam through the halls freely, breaking windows, some even entering and looting the offices used by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers. I saw on television their anger and rage in perpetuating havoc in the Capitol.
Take this out! The Trump supporters even stopped to take photographs and film themselves as they made their way around the building. What a blatant display of arrogance and indiscretion on their part! Videos show people breaking windows and pushing past barricades to forcefully enter rooms and offices in the Capitol. What a barbarous scene!
The New York Times also described it as a deadly siege… and a restive crowd encouraged by President Trump set the stage for the unthinkable. The crowd is acting in response to Trump’s instructions to storm the lawmakers place of work.
According to Jason Andrew for The New York Times, “President Trump’s call at a rally that day for the crowd to march on the nearby Capitol was surely a spark that helped ignite the deadly riots that left five dead — including a policeman and a woman who stormed the building — injured dozens of others and damaged the country’s reputation for carrying out peaceful transfers of power. But the tinder for the blaze had been gathering for months, with every tweet that the election had been stolen, every refusal by Republican lawmakers to recognize Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the next president, every dog-whistle call that emboldened white supremacist groups to violently strike.”
In and outside the Congress building was chaos and confusion. When the rioters breached the Capitol, reports said Republican Senator Kevin Cramer from North Dakota uttered a quick prayer as he and the other senators made their way out of the chamber to the basement because the rioters were closing in.
This led Congress to impeach Trump, for the second time, due to incitement of insurrection with 10 GOP representatives led by Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney, the third ranking House leader, siding with the Democrats. With this, a source believes that “impeachment will help rid Trump from the GOP” so he can never run to office again. Trump became the only US president who was impeached twice!
In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the husband of Labor Secretary Elaine Chao who resigned from the cabinet as a result of the riot, believed “Trump committed impeachable offenses.” Senate deliberations, however, will start after Biden’s inauguration on January 20, 2021.
The Justice Department said it would not rule out pursuing charges against President Trump for his possible role in inciting the mob that marched to the Capitol, overwhelmed officers, smashed windows and ransacked the Hall of Congress including the rostrum of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“We are looking at all factors, not only the people who went into the building,” Michael Sherwin, the U.S. attorney in Washington, told reporters.
After a tumultuous rally staged by President Donald Trump’s loyalists, the delayed Electoral College joint proceedings confirmed former Vice President Joe Biden as the 46th president of the US despite attempts by a dozen of GOP senators and more than a hundred GOP congressmen to thwart the results of the election.
Prior to this, two Democrats from Georgia flipped the balance of power by winning the two Senate seats. Rev. Raphael Warnock won over GOP incumbent senator Kelly Loeffler while John Ossoff won over GOP incumbent David Perdue. The Democrats will have control of the Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie (50 Democrats and 50 Republicans) as the presiding officer.
Georgia says enough is enough! After almost 20 years of Republican dominance in the state of Georgia, the Jan. 5 run-off election for two Senate seats shifted the balance of power to the Democrats when Rev. Warnock and Ossoff won over their incumbent opponents.
This is also a victory for the American people that solidifies the age-old concept that democracy is alive in the United States of America!
Mr. Trump, your time is up… it is time for you to leave the White House. “You’re fired!”
ELPIDIO R. ESTIOKO was a veteran journalist in the Philippines and an award-winning journalist in the US. For feedbacks, comments… please email the author @ estiokoelpidio@gmail.com.
