Carnage Comes to the Capitol
Donald Trump decried ‘American carnage’ in his 2017 inaugural address on the Capitol steps. His rhetoric made it a reality in 2021.
Incited by the president of the United States, a violent mob of Trump supporters broke through barricades and stormed the U.S. Capitol yesterday as lawmakers gathered to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. Four people died, one after being shot by police. Across the nation’s capital, several explosive devices were identified and defused. Legislators donned gasmasks and hid under furniture, fearful of being attacked by roving gangs marauding through office buildings on Capitol Hill.
Incited by the president of the United States, a violent mob of Trump supporters broke through barricades and stormed the U.S. Capitol yesterday as lawmakers gathered to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. Four people died, one after being shot by police. Across the nation’s capital, several explosive devices were identified and defused. Legislators donned gasmasks and hid under furniture, fearful of being attacked by roving gangs marauding through office buildings on Capitol Hill.
In late October, in Foreign Policy, we warned that Election Day violence was likely. Thankfully, most of the country was spared that day. We also argued that “the dangers may only grow should Trump lose,” and the only way to avoid violence was if “the president tones down his rhetoric and should he lose, gracefully concede defeat.”
What occurred yesterday in Washington, D.C. happened because of outgoing President Donald Trump’s violent rhetoric and relentless incitement of his most fanatical and deranged supporters, enabled by feckless politicians motivated more by ambition than principle. In a moving prayer, the Senate chaplain warned, “We always reap what we sow” and that “these tragedies have reminded us that words matter, and that the power of life and death is in the tongue.”
The violence and lawlessness that unfolded was without question politically and ideologically motivated. The throngs of Trump supporters who gathered to engage in property destruction, trespassing, and acts of physical violence—including attacking U.S. Capitol Police—should not simply be dismissed as people distraught over the loss of their preferred candidate.
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Daniel Byman is a professor at Georgetown University and a senior fellow at the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. His latest book is Spreading Hate: The Global Rise of White Supremacist Terrorism. Twitter: @dbyman
Colin P. Clarke is the director of research at the Soufan Group, an intelligence and security consulting firm headquartered in New York City. He is also a senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, an independent nonprofit center offering research, analysis, and strategic dialogue on global security challenges and foreign-policy issues. Twitter: @ColinPClarke
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