They did not hide their faces, and they felt absolutely no shame. They did not care who saw them. In fact, they advertised their presence on video, in photos, throughout social media and in interviews with journalists. They wore shirts that said, “Camp Auschwitz,” and carried Confederate battle flags. The insurrectionists who stormed the United States Capitol on Jan. 6 made it clear exactly what matters to them more than anything: White supremacy.
And, it appears, they may not have acted alone.
While It’s unfathomable to think we are talking about the United States of America, we are speaking about members of our Congress allegedly colluding with domestic terrorists to attack fellow colleagues and the seat of government.
This is not supposed to happen in America. This happens in a banana republic. It occurs in failed states or third world countries. However, it did happen here, and it’s a fitting end to Donald Trump’s presidency.
Jan. 6th's uprising was the perfect storm.
Between the racism that has gone unchecked in this country for too long, the corruption within the GOP, the rise of conspiracy thinking and the grave economic inequality we have been trapped in for 50 years, it all led to this.
It cannot be dismissed that a large percentage of this country wants an “other” to blame. This means people of color, immigrants and anyone leaning toward a more inclusive society.
The GOP bears most of the responsibility. They no longer believe in democracy. They are authoritarians. They stood behind Donald Trump when he defended white nationalists in Charlottesville, hardly bristled at his courting of the Proud Boys, and looked the other way at his countless other reprehensible racist acts.
There is a direct correlation to the terrorist attack on Jan. 6th, 2021.
As more evidence leaks, it is looking possible that some members within the GOP could have aided, planned and helped execute these events; that they may have conspired to commit sedition.
Speculation about such coordination has been simmering online, but Rep. Mikie Sherrill sent it viral when she claimed in a Facebook video that she saw unnamed fellow representatives guiding what she characterized as "reconnaissance" tours inside the Capitol the day before.
Some of the invaders displayed an uncanny knowledge of the notoriously complex Capitol building, indicating insider knowledge of the premises. All of this is under investigation, and it is highly suspicious.
Now 10 out of 211 Republican members fear for their lives, because they voted for impeachment. I will reiterate this point; they fear for their lives for fulfilling their constitutional duty.
And why?
It all comes back to Trump’s unwillingness to concede, his corruption, but most of all his race baiting.
Members like Rep. Ayanna Pressley told the Boston Globe on Wednesday that panic buttons in her office appeared to have been ripped out of the wall. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave an impassioned speech about white supremacy being directly linked to the attacks in a recent Instagram video.
Almost as if some lawmakers were trying to prove Ocasio-Cortez's point, many Republicans booed Black Rep. Cori Bush on the House floor when she stated the obvious, that they must remove the White Supremacist-in-Chief.
What an unapologetic lack of respect, and not even thinly veiled racism.
Donald Trump will be gone in two days, but his stain and contribution to white supremacy lives in the minds of his followers and in government. Democracy cannot survive with a sizeable percentage of its citizens living in constant fear. The greatest threat to white supremacy is true democracy.
There remains only one way to rid ourselves of this scourge. It means being courageous enough to admit that what happened at the Capitol is who we are as a nation. It means understanding that being silent is accepting the side of white supremacy.
That’s why we need accountability, justice and truth.
The time to hide behind meaningless words is over. We need action. We need unity, yes, but we cannot truly move on as a nation until the traitors are exposed and face consequences for their actions.
In America, we don’t negotiate with terrorists. Not even when they come from within our own government.