U.S. Capitol Riots
By: Julia Zhou
On the morning of Jan 7th, we awakened to a new graveness from the usually-peppy Mr. Richards in the daily morning announcements. After turning to our mothers and fathers, we were told of the skirmish the day before. Tuning in to each of our classes, we were greeted with silence and seriousness from our teachers, who told us about the events of Wednesday. What exactly happened January 6th, 2021?
See here for a brief explanation of the election.
Donald J. Trump, our nation’s current president, took on ex-vice president Joseph R. Biden (Joe Biden) in this year’s election. In an intense sequence of events, Biden is now definitely the next President of the United States, a turnout which elicited anger from Trump’s supporters.
Trump’s law making decisions and overall effect on our country especially during these times are quite controversial. However, during these 4 years of his presidency, he has amassed quite a base of supporters. As can be expected, they were furious when Biden’s campaign won the race to become president, staking claims of cheating and fraud on the basis of the unfairness of mail-in ballots and “computer votes”. As said by Trump: “By the way, does anybody believe that Joe had 80 million votes? Does anybody believe that? He had 80 million computer votes. It’s a disgrace.”
On Wednesday morning, before noon, Trump rallied his supporters with a speech, inciting them with “false promises”, as said by The Washington Post. Trump told his followers to “show strength” and “don’t give in”, to “storm the Capitol”. The crowd roared in response to his words. Having been “incited” by Trump, his supporters carried out a meticulously-planned scheme.
For four hours, thousands of Trump followers entered the Capitol whilst Congress members cowered under tables. The followers climbed the walls and stairs of the Capitol, breaking through the door and glass windows. They stole precious possessions of the U.S. government, like Nancy Pelosi’s lectern. The rioters carried flags through the hallways of the Capitol (particularly the Confederate flag, which is deemed as socially unacceptable and offensive). They roamed about with zip-ties, looking for Congress members to abduct.
When the police approached them, they responded with violence, with crowbars and even guns of sorts. This resulted in a similar response from the police, with five deaths following the occurrence of the attack immediately, with one being a police officer, the other a woman shot in the chest, and the other three caused by medical conditions. Many later deaths after receiving medical attention were noted, and many police officers and rioters were injured.
Other than the protestors inside the Capitol, there were also Trump followers outside, surrounding the Capitol, and it’s security systems. Spectators along with the more timid Trump followers climbed trees, watching the violence and uproar.
From both sides of the spectrum, there are vastly different opinions regarding the riot. Some believe the police acted on prejudiced and racist views. Some believe the shooting and arrests of Trump followers was entirely unjust. Some are proud of their comrades for standing up for what they believed in. Some are horrified by the outcome of November’s election. Some simply mourn their lost loved ones. One thing is clear: Though Trump may or may not have incited his followers, eliciting this response from them, their response was uncalled-for and unnecessary. Violence is never the answer.
The words of Mr. Richards, our principal:
“…it’s a very sad time for our country, but we will rise above this. Our nation is strong, it’s a nation of laws, and we have a constitution that will guide us to safe [inaudible]. I want you to know that you are safe, your family is safe, and we live in a democratic society that serves us very well. But [inaudible] that transpired yesterday was just wrong. Unacceptable. Violence never serves a purpose, ever. Everyone has the right to protest, everyone has the right to disagree, but there’s a right and a wrong way to do it, and yesterday what we all witnessed was the wrong way to go about doing such a thing. But know that our country is strong, we are resilient. The sun rises, this morning over a great, great country, which we can all be very proud of, so know that today – maybe, take a chance – that you have the opportunity to speak to a trusted adult, maybe your parents, someone who you respect, and have a conversation! See what they think. Certainly voice your concerns. Let them know what you see and what you think about, that you’ve seen. But by all means, have [inaudible] conversation today. Just know that we will be okay, so let’s all stand and pledge allegiance to our great country this morning, and we will get on with our day.”
How this tremendous political divide came to be is not important; our next step is not to deduce that, but restore peace and “one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”.