By Quentin Young
I recently watched hundreds of videos from the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Many of the stark moments from the attack on the U.S. Capitol are well-known — the battle at the west terrace tunnel, the shooting of rioter Ashli Babbitt, the desecration of the Senate chamber.
But nothing provides the kind of granular and exhaustive understanding of that day like a mass of videos taken by rioters themselves as they converse with one another, chant together, coalesce as a mob, commit violence, and take stock of what they accomplished. Here’s the top takeaway: The insurrection represented a greater threat to America than casual observers think.
ProPublica published a collection of videos posted to the social media site Parler by people who were present at the Jan. 6 attack. The videos cover almost six hours, from the early afternoon when President Donald Trump delivered an incendiary speech at The Ellipse to the evening as law enforcement finally cleared the Capitol grounds of attackers. The collection includes more than 500 videos.
I watched every one. Here’s what I learned.
Rioters attacked the Capitol because they believed that’s what Trump wanted them to do. This is indisputable. Trump, who had been claiming without evidence that the 2020 election had been stolen from him, during his speech exhorted followers to march on the Capitol and “fight like hell.”
One man posted a video of himself coming from Trump’s speech on his way to the Capitol, and he says, “Maybe we’ll break down the doors,” shortly before the mob did just that. “We were invited here,” a person screams at police. “We were invited by the president of the United States!” Another person made a video shortly after 2 p.m. as the mob swarmed the east side of the Capitol. “They’re ready to really stand up and do a revolutionary war,” he observes. “Hey, Trump asked for wild. He got it.”
Revolutionary war — that’s the spirit in which the insurrectionists took action on Jan. 6. Rep. Lauren Boebert that morning tweeted “Today is 1776.” What becomes clear in scores of videos from the attack is that the memory of the American Revolution animated the whole violent episode. Crowds chanted “1776.” The conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, armed with a bullhorn, led his own “1776” chant. Some of the first rioters to break into the Capitol shouted, “1776, motherf***ers.” Throughout the afternoon, attackers purported to fight as if in the manner of a colonial citizen militia.
The presence of contemporary militia elements was conspicuous at the Capitol. It is now well-known that organized factions of the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and other militia groups were active on Jan. 6. The videos demonstrate that their participation in the attack could not have been missed by anyone who was there. The Three Percenters, to which Boebert has ties, were especially visible. Members wore insignia on their clothes. They flew identifying flags. The Southern Poverty Law Center says the Three Percenters is “an extremist movement that claims to be ready to carry out armed resistance to perceived tyranny.” They don’t have to just claim it. They did it on Jan. 6.
An underappreciated aspect of the attack is that it was undergirded by strains of religion. This is plain in the Parler videos. Group prayers and singing in the midst of tumult were a frequent occurrence throughout the afternoon. The “An Appeal to Heaven” flag, which carries both revolutionary and religious meaning, was carried prominently amid the rioters.
But the primary feature of Jan. 6 to which the videos attest is violence. The event was brutal, and no amount of spin and obfuscation will alter that truth. The Republican National Committee last week officially cast the insurrection as “legitimate political discourse,” a characterization that even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected. The hundreds of videos prove that violence did not just occur sporadically as an extreme expression of the crowd’s displeasure but rather dominated the mob’s collective energy.
The videos provide numerous examples of hand–to–hand combat, which occurred throughout the afternoon at multiple locations around the Capitol complex. “Where are the f***ing traitors,” someone yells upon entering the Capitol. “Drag them out by their f***ing hair.” A person making a speech outside the Capitol called for Vice President Mike Pence to be hanged and executed by firing squad.
The full weight of the crime that occurred on Jan. 6 is hard for Americans to measure because it is hard to imagine it could have occurred in America, where constitutional order and the tradition of peaceful presidential transitions were taken for granted.
The insurrection broke that tradition in a spasm of violence. Constitutional order for an afternoon collapsed. The government survived, but it’s still under threat. The threat is greater now than ever, because so many Republicans have rationalized the insurrection, lauded the perpetrators, perpetuated the “big lie,” and escaped accountability.
If there is another Jan. 6, as many experts believe is possible, the attackers will have already had their practice run.
Quentin Young is the editor of Colorado Newsline, an affiliate, like the Florida Phoenix, in the nonprofit States Newsroom network. This commentary was published earlier by the Colorado Newsline, an affiliate of the nonprofit States Newsroom, which includes the Florida Phoenix.
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Rick G says
Excellent piece. The entire ordeal on Jan 6th is and should be a disgrace to this nation. Those responsible should be held accountable . Read this report linking Christian Nationalists to the riot.
https://ffrf.org/news/news-releases/item/40419-christian-nationalism-key-force-behind-jan-6-capitol-attack-asserts-new-report
Marty Sorrentino says
This writer must have awoken from the coma on New Year’s Day. No one speaks of the Summer of Love in which more people died than on January 6th. Remember Pelosi refused to call upon 20,000 National Guardsmen while Trump and others had suggested this well in advance of his speech.
If this writer doesn’t believe that domestic “terrorists” attacked multiple once great cities and caused over a billion dollars in damages then I have to believe that this article is one sided. January 6th was a horrible day, but it did WAKE UP many politicians. This day will live on in infamy as long as the democrats remain in power AND Donald Trump walks the earth.
Steve says
Look what they did, Whataboutism, Others are to blame, Deny Accuse Deflect Project Whatever
Edith Campins says
First of all no trump didn’t ask Pelosi to call the National Guard:
“But Trump’s claim was debunked by fact-checkers in March, after he first made the statement during a Fox News appearance, and it’s still not true. There is no evidence Trump made any formal request about deploying 10,000 National Guard troops before the rally.” AS of the “Summer of Love”, no one attacked one of our national institutions. Stop trying to deflect and rationalize the stark truth…trump is responsible for one of the worst attacks on our Democracy, full stop.
Edith Campins says
The facts:
“As Speaker of the House, Pelosi does not direct the National Guard,” the AP reported in its fact check. “Further, as the Capitol came under attack, she and the Senate Majority leader called for military assistance, including the National Guard.”
Ken S. says
The Secretary of the Army is responsible for approval of activation of National Guard in DC. Mayor Bowser did request and it was ignored. Pelosi has no authority in ordering them. She already had Capitol Police and DC Police in place.
brewski says
Trump should be in prison!!!!!
Marty Sorrentino says
Right after they lock of Hillary and the rest of the Swamp Dwellers.
proudpatriot4USA says
Pelosi had nothing to do with ‘calling up the national guardsmen’. That was Trump’s and his military leaders’ call, and they hemmed and hawed and refused to do it, despite the Capitol police begging them for help. Don’t believe the BS you hear from ‘republican’ newscasters and leaders. They try to twist everything around so those who are to blame get off scott free.
Timothy Patrick Welch says
This event may be a precursor of continued conflict. As our two major political parties move further apart.
With the Republicans aligning with their conservative Christian base. And the Democrats aligning with a growing Socialist base. Its hard to even imagine reconciliation between supporters.
Pray for our leaders.
A Concerned Observer says
This commenter above says it all…
The United States of America is a horrible place to live until you compare it to most every other country in the world. I’ve spent some time in several countries and have lived long term in a couple other countries and there is none that I would rather live in than here.
Having said that, do I see a militarily strong, fiscally sound, united future for the United States of America in the immediate future? Sadly, no I do not. I believe it will not begin to improve until our politicians start working together for the greater good of everyone and not for their own agenda or that of those whom they “owe” for getting them there; not until self-created ethnic or socio-economic groups of people constantly look to blame someone, anyone, else for their presently perceived plight; not until people stop demanding others to pay them for their groups past perceived slights and begin to live in the present and work toward improving their own condition; not until people stop expecting continuous government handouts at the expense of others who constantly pay into pot; not until our politicians realize that our country cannot continue to bury our country in debt it can never repay and simply print more money to pay for political pork bills to benefit a few (BTW the current national debt is over $23,000,000,000,000 or 23 TRILLION Dollars!); not until every bill brought forward by politicians is evaluated on its own merit and not bundled with other critical bills, too important not to pass. Politicians must see that they are not into it to pad their own financial growth, ego and personal power. We need term limits for all elected officials. It seems that there are very few if any altruistic politicians. The United States seems to be in a self-perpetuating downward spiral and I do not see any real chance of these conditions actually turning around, but then, even my blood is B-Negative. Moving to Canada is NOT the answer.
The dude says
The “leaders” are the very ones propagating and perpetrating this division.
Why should we pray for them?
Pray for us, and for our country.
proutpatriot4USA says
The republicans are moving farther and farther from what Christianity is the more they listen to the liars in charge in their party. Another lie, democrats are ‘socialists’. It is the republican leaders in Congress who are all cozy with North Korea’s, Russia’s and Cuba’s leaders – all avowed facist communist socialists.
AndyP says
These traitors were lucky enough to have the right complexion to not get slaughtered for their actions.
Marty Sorrentino says
Slaughtered liked the “peaceful” protestors of the summer of love? Most good people died and more damage was done in those major cities.
The Unvarnished Truth says
Tell that to the “rapper” who used this event to shoot a music video and actually used a picture of him at the melee as his album cover. What? CNN or this biased author didn’t tell you that not everyone was “white”?
beachcomberT says
I’m sure watching hundreds of cell-phone videos must have been scary. It would have been much more scary if the Capitol Police and National Guard had “shoot to kill” orders. Thank God most of the demonstrators went no further than yelling obscenities and trashing some furniture. Look at the charges that have come out of it — most are just misdemeanors, and as far as I know, no case has actually gone to a jury trial. So far, Trump himself, a year later, has not been charged with anything. Leftists continue to insist democracy nearly collapsed. What I saw was a ceremony was interrupted for 2 or 3 hours and then resumed peacefully. Did any Democratic legislator get beaten, or even pushed?
Tired of the excuses says
Really? Did you miss the videos? Tell that to the families of the injured and dead,
“It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election from one administration to the next,” said McConnell, R-Ky.
But McCarthy later talked with NBC News and said that anyone who broke into the Capitol on January 6th was not taking part in ‘legitimate political discourse.’ ‘I think anybody, we all know this, who entered this building, that rioted, is not legitimate political discourse,’ he said. ‘
Enough excuses says
A noose seen hanging from a gallows outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection is in the custody of federal agents.
As rioters bludgeoned, beat and berated police inside the Capitol and out, a gallows with a bright orange noose was erected as marauders screamed, “Hang Mike Pence.”
How deluded dan you be?
Ray W. says
BeachcomberT attempts to justify a portion of his argument by pointing out that “no case has actually gone to jury trial.” Let me help beachcomberT gain a less ignorant perspective on how the criminal justice system works by quoting from Leon Jaworski’s chapter titled “Ordinary Fairness”, in his book: The Right and the Power. Mr. Jaworski was named the second Watergate special prosecutor after the infamous “Saturday Night Massacre” that involved Nixon’s firing of Archibald Cox, the first special prosecutor. Mr. Jaworski prosecuted war crimes in Europe shortly after WWII, although he was not part of the team engaged in prosecuting the Nuremburg Trials. War crimes prosecutions occurred all over Europe after the war. Indeed, the SS officer who commanded the murder of the captured pilot who led my father’s crew throughout its training prior to deploying to Italy (he was shot down while flying his first mission as a co-pilot with an experienced heavy bomber crew) was executed after being prosecuted for that war crime. Mr. Jaworski went on to be elected by his peers to the presidency of the American Bar Association.
Here is Mr. Jaworski’s explanation of the societal importance of plea bargaining:
“Trials, however, by no means represent the major activity of a prosecutor in the administration of criminal justice in the United States. The vast majority of criminal cases are disposed of without trial as the result of guilty pleas and, if the system as a whole is working properly, this is as it should be. The process of plea discussion serves important social interests and is one of the most important social functions of both prosecution and defense counsel.
Properly conducted, plea discussion may well produce a result approximating closely, but informally and more swiftly, the result which ought to ensue from a trial, while avoiding most of the undesirable aspects of that ordeal. Disposition without trial of course provides a substantial cost saving to the accused and to the public in terms of the time of lawyers and all other participants. Although the cost saving alone would not be an appropriate justification for abridging the legal process if it were achieved at the expense of fairness or equal justice, from the standpoint of the objectives of the criminal law, a fair and just disposition of a case without trial is obviously preferable to its disposition by trial, as is true in civil litigation. The speed and certainty of a disposition by plea promotes deterrence, a basic goal of criminal justice.”
The Right and the Power, Reader’s Digest Press (1976) (pgs. 159-60)
All prosecutors should read Mr. Jaworski’s book.
When a person enters a plea to a crime, he or she is asking the court to punish him for that crime. The very act of submission to the authority of the court and the acceptance of punishment for a charged offense is an important social goal of the criminal justice system. Many of the insurrectionists have entered guilty pleas to charges arising from their acts. It is no secret that prosecutors build cases by going up the ladder, i.e., using the little fish to go after the big fish. So far, many of the little fish are cooperating with prosecutors. In January, federal prosecutors filed conspiracy to engage in sedition charges against some the middle fish, starting with the Oathkeepers. The statute of limitations on federal felony offenses is nowhere near the expiration threshold. I am not predicting what will happen or if any of the big fish will ever be prosecuted. We very well witness the trials of a number of the outstanding cases filed against the insurrectionists, particularly if the big fish are charged.
Marie says
Thank you. Well written and factual. Sadly, those who NEED to read and understand this most likely will not bother. It is a cult, plain and simple. (And no, I am not a registered Dem, just someone who likes to look at all the information and determine what appears to be the truth.)
John Stove says
You have got to turn off Fox News for a few minutes and watch UNEDITED videos of the traitorous imbeciles who attached the police with metal bats, fire extinguishers, flagpoles etc… Cases havent gone to a jury trial because the people who got caught PLED GUILTY because of the video evidence of them wailing pipes and bats on the police officers.
No legislator (Republican or Democrat) was beaten or pushed because THEY WERE ALL BEHIND LOCKED DOORS HIDING from the traitors who were trying to break in and get to them and one female traitor was shot in the face by a cop while protecting the legislators…..
I thought Republicans were pro police? Why arent you yelling about all the cops who were beaten by the traitors?
Republicans are a bunch of right wing hypocrites…..and losers to boot. Get over it, TRUMP LOST.
Deborah Coffey says
The Capitol Police and National Guard SHOULD have had “shoot to kill” orders. Those of us who realize the depth of this terrorism can’t understand why those 700 indicted criminals aren’t dead! They injured 140 cops, many seriously, and you call it misdemeanors (as far as you know…which isn’t very far). It is past time you begin to get REAL news and REAL FACTS. Your comment shows either you don’t know much, don’t WANT to believe much, or you’re rationalizing the whole thing and saying it was all “okay” with you. Shame!
marlee says
We would frequently be sent to DC on TDY and stay on Capitol Hill and walk over to the Capitol in the evening and sit on the steps chatting with the patrolling Capitol police.
The steps were as far as we could go and we respected that. It overlooked the view of the Washington Monument.
When possible we would go thru the Capitol on a walking tour and were always in awe to where we were, the history and what it meant to our Democracy.
Everyone seemed to be speaking in low tones out of respect.
To this day, I cannot even imagine how anyone could have thought they were entitled to crash into the “People’s house” with violence and intent to overturn an election.
It is scary and more than sad to think there are people who think this way in our Country.
Michael Cocchiola says
They were all insurrectionists and must feel the full weight of our justice system. But most of all, the Trump gang must be held accountable. They, collectively, incited this insurrection by appealing to the blind ignorance of those people who attacked the Capitol Police with clubs, sprays, and improvised weapons.
Maybe justice will be meted out to those most deserving. But until they are held accountable, there is no justice, no consequences, and no closure.
Marty Sorrentino says
Now you know how we feel about Hillary and Watermelon Head. Lies that are perpetuated by more lies. Does the left think that we will fall for “gaslighting”? The far left has done more damage to their own party. Thank you AOC and your gang.
Ray W. says
In “The Trial of Socrates”, I. F. Stone wrote:
“To understand how the events of 411 and 403 (B.C.) must have changed popular attitudes toward Socrates, one need only recall how the democracy was twice restored. As in so many revolutions, like the fall of the czar and the kaiser in World War I, and the collapse of the Greek junta and the Argentine military dictatorship in the 1980’s, the political overturn followed military disaster: For Athens in 411 it was the defeat at Syracuse; in 404, it was Athens’ loss of its fleet — through treachery or unbelievable incompetence — at Aigospotomi and its surrender to Sparta.
In the wake of these defeats, there ensued not a struggle between rich oligarchs and poor democrats but a three-cornered class struggle. Those led by Critias represented aristocrats who had been organized in clandestine conspiracies waiting for an opportunity to overturn the democracy. A second faction spoke for the middle-class, the third, for the poor, who provided the labor force and owed their achievement of political equality to the role they played as sailors and light infantry — the marines — in the navy on which the imperial power and trade primacy of Athens rested.
In 411 and 404 the democracy was overthrown by a coalition of the aristocrats and the middle class against the poor, whom they disenfranchised. But that coalition twice broke down when the aristocrats tried to disarm and disenfranchise the middle class as well as the poor, and to establish a dictatorship rather than an oligarchical or “republican” government based on a franchise limited to property owners. In 411 and in 404, the conduct of the aristocratic dictators proved cruel, rapacious, and bloody. Never in the history of Athens were basic rights and property as insecure as in those two interludes. Both times, the middle class in its own defense had to form an alliance with the poor and restore democracy.
The restored democracy in 403 acquitted itself with magnanimity. Except for a few aristocratic leaders who lost their lives, the contending classes and factions were reconciled on the basis of a sweeping amnesty that won the admiration of antiquity. Aristotle, though he himself favored middle-class rule based on a limited franchise, paid his tribute to the restored democracy. ‘The Athenians,’ he wrote, about a half century after the overthrow of the Thirty, ‘appear both in private and public to have behaved towards the past disasters in the most completely honorable and statesmanlike manner of any people in history.’ In other cities the losers were often massacred and aristocratic landowners lost their estates to the landless. But the Athenian democrats, Aristotle notes with evident wonder, did not ‘even make a redistribution of the land.'”
The Trial of Socrates, Little, Brown and Company (1988) (pgs. 145-46)
Those of our founding fathers who attended the various universities of the day were trained in the manner of the Scottish Enlightenment mold. They studied the classics, including Aristotle, Plato and Socrates. They revered the political scientists of their own generation. They were aware of many negative facets inhering in factions and the destruction that would likely accompany any one political party gaining complete control of their fledgling liberal democratic Constitutional republic, which is why they instilled checks and balances on every limited power granted to the government by the people who ratified the Constitution. They hoped the untested government would produce men (and women) of virtue, but they feared mob rule above all else. Make no mistake. When a local so-called conservative takes to the airwaves and talks of beheading Democrats, he really means it. When attendees at oligarchical rallies call out for the killing of Democrats, they really mean it.
Local says
Law abiding citizens in Oregon are saying the same thing! Difference is …Noone is listening….
Johnny says
Michael — -Some are being “held accountable” — held for over a year in solitary confinement — with no day in court.
Jim says
Trump set the date, set the time, and where to meet up. Then trump directed the mob where to go and what to do when you get there. Lock him up already.
Alonzo says
AndyP I agree. I am surprised the FBI investigated and started arresting these folks. I really thought it would go some what unnoticed. I also said if they were people if color, it would have been a blood bath.I will say a lot of the people sentences is too light. At least they are getting some consequences. The people 9f color who didn’t get kill would be sentenced to death or prisoned for life. My thoughts.
palmcoaster says
I totally agree Mr. Cocchiola..where is the justice served so far? Trump still on the loose still cauising havoc, as all his henchmen/women that attacked our Capitol in January 6th, We are supposed to elect our government not by cul de etat killer violence (police officers killed), by price gouging oil barons at the pumps etc., by creating inflation via shorteges and price gouging or by orchestrated truckers rig convoys obstructing traffic and generating unemployment and millions in losses. No that is not the way, because when the candidate we wanted did not win, we need to endure, abide and wait for the ballot box on the next election like we did with Trump! And meaning wait for the next round of elections here and in Canada as well! Because what is happening here now is just what I have seeing in 3rd world countries not in our USA history! Since when a defeated president takes classified information that belongs in our government archives to his private residence and/or destroys vital docs flashing them down the toilette? Only dictators do that!
Jonathan says
I am still have a difficult time that our own President of our country would have orchestrated a attack against his own government. I do not trust any Republican that haven’t stood up against him for criminally doing this to our nation.
Rumors have always said that he was working for Putin to destroy our country and our democracy but now after January 6th they are no longer rumors it appears to be a fact.
I hope justice wins and that he will never be able to hold public office and better yet I hope the Attorney General presses all charges according to the laws and the best lesson for him is serving time in jail, like those he encouraged to help him attack our Capitol.
He is destroying our country, our democracy and the Republican party. He now appears to have been destroying official documents and what is even more scary is what has he done that hasn’t come out yet? I am sure there is more since he is a very destructive individual. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and you would think he would be positive, happy and love our country but he is a miserable violent nasty person with a lot of issues. He needs professional help which at his age will never get nor has he ever had anyone that cared enough about him to get it. Very sad.
The Geode says
It must be nice to fixate on this while I have to sit here and worry about inflation, gas prices, rising crime, and the fact that thousands are murdered and tens of thousands are affected by gun violence (which is actually “culture violence”).
Is this what they mean by “white people problems”?
John says
Since the FBI had agent’s in the group pushing the agenda and Nancy Pelosi denied requests for more security and how they murdered Ashlie Babbitt and got away with it should have Americans more disgusted with our government
Enough excuses says
And you have facts to support your statement? Babbitt was part of a mob that broke into a government building and dd thousands of dollars worth of damage. What requests for security did Ms. Pelosi deny? Be specific, cite facts and sources. The FBI had agents in the group? And you know this because you heard it on FAUX? So the FBI was trying to stop a legal election from being certified?
No Political Affiliation says
Can you imagine if Obama had encouraged his supporters to storm the capital, build a gallows, and attempt to kidnap politicians and overturn an election, claim then call it, “Legitimate Political Discourse”?
I recall as the events of January 6th were starting, delusional right-wing shill Kevin Sorbo tweeted something to the effect of, “It’s happening!” And then when it was over, and the yall’qaeda mob had failed at overturning the election, he realized republicans were gonna have to change their tune real quick to avoid the consequences of their actions, he tweeted, “ ANTIFA led the charge into the capitol building dressed as Trump supporters.”
What a bunch of clowns.
Sherry says
Not to confuse John, Marty and many, many other members of “the cult” with the actual facts:
A recent fact check by The Associated Press found that an assertion being made by members of the House Republican Conference that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was responsible for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol due to security reasons is NOT true.
“As Speaker of the House, Pelosi does not direct the National Guard,” the AP reported in its fact check. “Further, as the Capitol came under attack, she and the Senate Majority leader called for military assistance, including the National Guard.”
Sherry says
Not to confuse cult member John and other Tucker Carlson sycophants with actual facts:
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/nov/04/tucker-carlson/tucker-carlsons-conspiracy-theory-about-fbi-and-ja/
Sherry says
Lame attempts at “whataboutisms” and deflections from the FOX/trump cult are nothing short of completely pathetic!
The SEDITION and the violent criminal “Insurrection”. . . in addition to the “behind the scenes” trump coordinated fascist plan to become a “DICTATOR” and destroy our democracy with an “Attempted Coup” will go down in history as horrific crimes against the entire United States of America!