Insurrection at the Capital

    On January 6, 2021, the Capitol was breached on a large scale for the first time since the British invasion of 1814. Last Wednesday, a pro-Trump mob stormed the capital in protest of the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the election. This was a shock for many of us. How did this happen? What led up to this?

    Since the use of automatic mail-in ballots was announced before the 2020 election, Donald Trump has stirred up suspicion of mail-in votes. Given that democrats tend to vote more by mail, Trump knew this would be a threat to his re-election. He loomed at the near-impossible chance of election fraud, but only in the case of his loss. In the Presidential Debate, Trump insisted that, "This is going to be a fraud like you've never seen." In doing this, Trump laid the foundation for suspicion before the election even began. 

    Of course, since Biden was elected president, Trump has continued pushing the narrative of voter fraud, and his supporters have firmly latched onto it. Trump and his allies have filed at least 57 lawsuits to contest the election results, however at least 50 have been denied, dismissed, or settled. Not a single lawsuit has been successful. Joe Biden's victory remains standing. 

    On January 6th, the members of the House and Senate met in a joint session, overseen by Vice President Pence, to count electoral votes and officially certify the results. Things took a sharp turn as Trump and his followers were growing desperate. 

    Around 9AM EST, Trump tweeted encouraging Pence to reject the election results. Pence refused, contesting that this was not within his unilateral authority. Generally, the VP's role in the certification of the election results is meant to be ceremonial. 

Meanwhile, Trump supporters congregated in DC for a "Save America" rally. Around 11AM, Trump spoke at this rally, and vowed to his supporters, "We will never give up, we will never concede." He reiterated his false claims of voter fraud, claiming that he had actually won by a landslide. Again, he provided no evidence to back up his statements. He then encouraged his supporters to march down to the Capitol and "cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women," but "we're probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them..."

    Following this speech, the mob marched to the Capitol and Trump retreated to the White House. At 2PM, U.S. Capitol police evacuated congressional office buildings as the mob quickly inched closer onto the surrounding area of the Capitol.

    Around 2:30 PM, the pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol. Trump supporters scaled the walls of the Capitol and banged on the walls of the Capitol. Windows were smashed, doors were busted, and parts of the Capitol were trashed with graffiti. Lawmakers were then evacuated from the House floor. 

    At 3:30PM, a woman was shot inside the Capitol. At 4:35 PM. an explosive device was found outside the Capitol. Trump released a video around 4:40PM repeating that, "We had an election stolen from us... but you have to go home now. We have to have peace." He told his supporters, "we love you, and you're very special." Many were taken aback by Trump's seemingly sympathetic attitude to the rioters. 

    By 8:45PM, the Capitol had been cleared and Congress returned to confirm the electoral count. 

    In the aftermath of the riots, five individuals have since then died. Elected officials, both Democrat and Republican, have discussed invoking the 25th amendment, and even impeachment to avoid further violence in Trump's remaining days as President. More and more republicans have lost support for President Trump due to Trump's rhetoric and role in inciting the violence in the Capitol. Members of Trump's own administration have resigned in the days following the insurrection. 

    The Trump officials who have since stepped down from their positions include: education secretary Betsy Devos; transportation secretary Elaine Chao; special envoy to Northern Ireland Mick Mulvaney; deputy national security advisor Matthew Pottinger; deputy assistant secretary at the commerce department; acting chairman of White House Council of Economic Advisers Tyler Goodspeed; first lady chief of staff Stephanie Grisham; social secretary Rickie Niceta; deputy White House press secretary Sarah Matthews; assistant attorney general Eric S. Dreiband; five National Security Council officials.

    This morning, Nancy Pelosi announced that the House will pass a resolution calling on Pence to invoke the 25th amendment, and then proceed with impeachment. A source close to the VP has told CNN's Chief WH correspondent Jim Acosta that the Pence team is worried about the risks with impeachment and invoking the 25th amendment, but has not ruled out the course of action in the case that Trump becomes more unstable. The House's resolution calls on Pence to respond within 24 hours. 

    As more events unfold, the recent events are the most perfect and fitting ending to the Trump presidency. Regardless of what course of action Pence takes, January 6th will go down in infamy, along with Trumpism and perhaps conservatism altogether. Trump's support has diminished exceedingly in the days following the Capitol violence, and it seems as though all that remains are his die-hard supporters. In the days that follow, we must ask ourselves what side of history we want to be on.