Written by Alixana Moreland
Half of America saw the events of January 6 as saving democracy from an election they felt had been stolen, while the other half saw that day as an attempt at an unlawful coup. What January 6 really was, was history.
President Biden was sworn into office January 20, which was the cause of the protests. Some supporters of our former Commander in Chief, President Donald J. Trump, believed that President Joe Biden’s win in the race was spurious; hence the protests at the Capitol. Their reasoning being that if they could stop the Senate from confirming President Biden’s presidency, then they could keep President Trump in office. This attempt was stopped.
Overall, the country didn’t know what to make of it. The protests at the Capitol on January 6 stirred up the conversation at Greenwood; despite polarizing opinions the one common thing everyone shared was shock. Ms. Morris, a Greenwood history teacher, was asked what her first reaction was to this event. She replied, “...History has shown that transitions of power are not always peaceful, but for something like the Capitol Riot to happen in this day and age, it is surprising!” You couldn’t help but just stare at the news on your television in awe, bewildered by the vandalism of our nation’s Capitol.
What we witnessed that day will be in our history books. It is an event that will be remembered for generations to come; it will be read in history text books by our children 25 years from now.
The last time the United States Capitol was breached was more than 200 years ago in 1814 when British troops set fire to the Capitol during the war of 1812. However the difference between then and now, is the fact that the Senate was trespassed on by its own countrymen, and not an invading country.
Let’s look at the chronology of the events that took place on January 6: President Donald Trump posted on his Instagram feed on January 5, 2021 to get his supporters to protest at Capitol Hill at the Ellipse the next day.
Although the Twitter posts are no longer available due to violation of Twitter rules and guidelines, before they got taken down Trump tweeted to his supporters that they were “patriots” and said “we love you”. President Trump incited these riots through both Twitter and Instagram and ignored the part he played in doing so.
The march was to start at 7:00 A.M. Eastern Time Wednesday January 6, but events took a turn for the worse around 2:30 P.M. Eastern Time. The mob started to get violent, and breached the Capitol.
Protesters were climbing the walls leading to the doors and banging on them, broke windows, and chased police officers throughout the Capitol building. Despite earlier “support our police” mantras, one Capitol City officer is now dead because of this insurrection. Soon people were trying to break into the building, meanwhile Senate members were given gas masks while they left the building through a series of tunnels under the building. Authorities had released tear gas in hope of flooding out the intruders.
All members of the Senate were evacuated safely and later that night continued what was interrupted, validating the Electoral College results for President Biden’s election victory.
In comparison, on June 1, 2020, America saw another protest at the Capitol of a similar size; the Black Lives Matter protest. This group had assembled after the death of George Floyd, a member of the black community who was killed by two police officers, who had not yet seen justice. This group was met with great hostility, a lot of police officers were there and to show their domination, these police under orders from President Trump sent the protesters running from rubber bullets and chemical agents.
If we come back and look at the protest on January 6, the police were understaffed, and the majority of protesters were white. These ‘protesters’ stampeded through the halls of the Capitol, defacing the building and stealing souvenirs as they went, such as Nancy Pelosi’s podium, her laptop, and several other items.
The country is divided, and it is causing distress on both sides, this past protest at the hill just one of the primary examples. No matter how Americans -- and the rest of the
world -- saw the events of January 6, it was still history and something that will be remembered for ages. Whether it be saving democracy or an attempt at an unlawful coup, we as a people have been changed forever.
*Disclaimer: this article does not in any way reflect the views of Greenwood high school or the Paw Print journalism club.*
Works Cited
“Insurrection At The Capitol: Live Updates.” NPR, NPR, www.npr.org/sections/congress-electoral-college-tally-live-updates.
James Clayton, Leo Kelion & David Molloy. “Trump Allowed Back onto Twitter.” BBC News, BBC, 8 Jan. 2021, www.bbc.com/news/technology-55569604.
Miller, Maggie. “Laptop Stolen from Pelosi's Office during Capitol Riots.” TheHill, The Hill, 9 Jan. 2021, thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/533384-laptop-stolen-from-pelosis-office-during-capitol-riots.
Rachel Chason, Samantha Schmidt. “The Freedom to Assemble, in Two Acts.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 Jan. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/interactive/2021/blm-protest-capitol-riot-police-comparison/.
Staff, Washington Post. “U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund to Resign Later This Month; New Capitol Fence in Place for 30 Days.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 8 Jan. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/01/07/capitol-protests-dc-live-updates/.
“US Capitol's Last Breach Was More than 200 Years Ago.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 7 Jan. 2021, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/06/us-capitol-building-washington-history-breach.