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The invasion of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday was stoked in plain sight. For weeks, the far-right supporters of President Donald Trump railed on social media that the election had been stolen. They openly discussed the idea of violent protest on the day Congress met to certify the result.
“We came up with the idea to occupy just outside the CAPITOL on Jan 6th,” leaders of the Stop the Steal movement wrote on Dec. 23. They called their Wednesday demonstration the Wild Protest, a name taken from a tweet by Trump that encouraged his supporters to take their grievances to the streets of Washington. “Will be wild,” the president tweeted.
President Donald Trump on Aug. 15, 2020. By Logan Jaffe, Lydia DePillis, Isaac Arnsdorf and J. David McSwane, ProPublica The invasion of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday was stoked in plain sight. For weeks, the far-right supporters of President Donald Trump railed on social media that the election had been stolen. They openly discussed the idea of violent protest on the day Congress met to certify the result. “We came up with the idea to occupy just outside the CAPITOL on Jan 6th,” leaders of the Stop the Steal movement wrote on Dec. 23. They called their Wednesday demonstration the Wild Protest, a name taken from a tweet by Trump that encouraged his supporters to take their grievances to the streets of Washington. “Will be wild,” the president tweeted.
By Tom Nolan
Jan 08, 2021
When die-hard Trump supporters are able to storm the U.S. Capitol and forcefully occupy offices in the House and the Senate, questions over security are going to be asked.
I am an academic criminologist who in an earlier life served as a senior policy adviser at the Department of Homeland Security. Moreover, as a 27-year veteran of the Boston Police Department, I have firsthand experience of major policing operations.
Something clearly didn’t go to plan on Wednesday. The man in charge of policing that day, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, has since announced he is resigning. But even with him gone, what will remain are serious questions that will need to be answered about how an angry mob was able to circumvent security and enter the Capitol building.
“In 2021, journalists must use history to report stories that proactively
invite reckoning and, ultimately, accountability.”
Sometimes I type the word “reckoning” into the Google search bar and hit the “News” tab. I enjoy seeing what news editors think the world is reckoning with this week.
For example, as I write this, The Wall Street Journal is writing that “A Reckoning Looms for Commercial Real Estate and Its Lenders.” A letter writer at the Helena Independent Record argues “A reckoning is coming for Republicans.” There are apparent reckonings on the way within the travel industry, the tech industry, and French soccer, too.