This column originally published online on January 17, 2021.
Q: Seeing the terrifying images of what happened in Washington, D.C., recently, I was wondering if the Texas Capitol has ever been the site of any violence?
Joel Fischbacher, Austin
A: Before he proceeds to answer your question, Mr. Fischbacher, the Texanist would be derelict in his duties to not say out loud what many Texans have been thinking: the events that unfolded in our nation’s capital on January 6 were shocking and sad. Until the Texanist witnessed on television the mayhem that ensued that day, he had been under the impression that he was a fairly imperturbable sort. He was wrong. The horrific barbarity of the insurrection left him completely perturbed.