U.S. Capitol Attack Needs to be Taken More Seriously
In the month after the November general election in which Joe Biden emerged the victor from the Democratic Party as the next President of the United States, the Trump team has unsuccessfully litigated over 60 cases alleging voter fraud, sowing distrust in our electoral system, and the combination of social media giants Facebook and Twitter refusing to take down Trump's inflammatory rhetoric resulted in Trump supporters storming the US Capitol after using State Capitol buildings as test run to see how far they can get.
Governor Whitmer of Wisconsin was repeatedly threatened with death and other grotesque acts of violence because she wanted to keep public health and safety in mind to ward off the COVID-19, which continues to devastate the country as the death toll climbs. Trump supporters stormed state capitols all over the country as a test run to see how far they can get and how much they can test the limits of their privilege as white people.
We also seen the resulting inaction from police who are usually the first to attack Black Lives Matter protestors and unleash unlimited brutality on black and brown protestors who are there to explicitly protest the state-sanctioned violence that has seen the deaths of black people while they sleep, while they’re out jogging, breaking up a fight between two people and so many more instances of the police demonstrating to us that they are indeed, the white supremacists we have been thinking they are and that their only goal is to protect other white people at the life of black and brown people.
Police in this country literally steal the bread out of the mouths of poor communities with the funding they get from local and state governments to carry out their duties in terrorizing communities of color. What happened yesterday at the U.S. Capitol put that in perspective for white people and other detractors who have said that BLM protests were ‘riots’ and that police were ‘incapable, unwilling and unable’ to take action against the white domestic terrorists that activists have been warning about for the past four years.
With the attempts to certify the election and as Joe Biden as the next President of the United States Trump supporters have gotten increasingly vocal on social media and in plain sight have plotted against elected officials and carried out multiple threats. Yesterday the scenes on the US Capitol highlighted to so many that white privilege is real and that it exists. Despite the attacks on the U.S. Capitol yesterday, Republicans still went ahead and vocalized their objection to the certification of results, a duty that Congress has after the States have completed their process. Speaker Pelosi should not have seated the members of the 117th Congress that refused to comply with the certification of a legitimate election.
Yesterday's events make it crystal clear, that the police reserves brutality for protesters of color then they do for the white supremacists that come knocking on the US Capitol doors thinking that they will find a manager here to do as they want and circumvented the will of the people who voted for Joe Biden. Representative Maxine Waters, has said that she was trying to verify if the U.S. Capitol would be a safe place to be when certification would happen and she was assured that security would tight and would not impede the proceedings.
Media Reports Show U.S. Hypocrisy
In times of great crisis the US media has proved itself to be the propaganda arm of the United States government. This was seen yesterday as well when reporters kept saying that they weren't in a " Banana Republic" or that they weren't reporting from Baghdad, Iraq, but they were reporting from the U.S. Capitol.
The United States has a long history of interfering and destabilizing countries through excessive militarization. Countries in Latin America especially saw the scenes unfolding yesterday and were triggered by seeing the violence that was unfolding. Yesterday was a very big display of what it means to live in a country with two separate sets of laws and how you were treated according to who you are and what you’re advocating for. What happened yesterday was definitely domestic terrorism and it was enabled by the President of the United States to overturn results he did not like. But that is not how it works in America and that is not the president that we have set for a peaceful transition of power between administrations. It is shameful and egregious to allow this person to remain in political office for another 13 days. It also showed the need for D.C. to be it’s own state instead of having to rely on Maryland and Virginia when the Department of Defense refused a request to send in the military. As the Washington Post reports:
Control of the National Guard operates differently in the District of Columbia than in the 50 U.S. states. Because of the capital’s unique status, the president serves as commander in chief of the D.C. National Guard. In practice, however, command authority has been delegated through the Secretary of Defense to the civilian Secretary of the Army for the Army National Guard and the Secretary of the Air Force for the Air National Guard. Upon request, other states — like Virginia — can augment the D.C. guard.
State Capitols Were the Test Run
Over the past few months Trump supporters have been invading state capitols to intimidate lawmakers against doing things that they don't like. Some of the issues that Trump supporters had with lawmakers was around coronavirus pandemic restrictions and also the outcome of the election. Washington DC wasn't the only sight of carnage.
As Vox Reports:
In Arizona:
Pro-Trump rioters in Arizona gathered by the hundreds to demonstrate anger and deny the election results. They could be seen in videos banging on the locked doors of the state capitol building in Phoenix. The group struck on the window until the glass fractured.
In California:
In Sacramento, Trump supporters, including right-wing militia group the Three Percenters and the far-right street-fighting group the Proud Boys, confronted counterprotesters. Groups rallied around the state capitol giving speeches that denied the results of the presidential election and cursed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s coronavirus rules. The Sacramento police announced on Twitter that they arrested individuals carrying pepper spray.
In Colorado:
Colorado was able to avoid any activity inside the State Capitol because officials closed it earlier on as a precaution.
In Florida:
about 150 Trump supporters, including dozens of Proud Boys, rallied outside the state’s capitol in support of the “Stop the Steal” movement. One publication described the gathering as tame, with protesters praying together as early as 8 am. By afternoon, the large crowd broke off into smaller groups.:
In Georgia:
Just a day after Georgia held its runoff elections — with Democrats winning control of the Senate — senior staffers, including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, were escorted out of the state capitol building as a group of demonstrators rallied outside. Tensions rose after the insurrection in DC unfolded.
The article goes on to describe the many different states in which Trump supporters rallied as a last ditch effort to protest the results that they don't like. Calling Trump supporters ‘protesters’ is just being nice because when Black Lives Matter protests were going on they were called ‘rioters’ and ‘thugs’ and it was the ‘summer of burning.’ Conservatives have tried to ‘both sides’ of this issue. But I can’t imagine trying to ‘both sides’ white supremacists and the people of color who are demanding their own humanity.
As the scenes from the US Capitol are being shared online another seat was happening at the Governors mansion in Washington state.
Sikh Coalition Speaks Out
In a statement put out by the Sikh Coalition -which is America’s largest Sikh-based civil liberties organization- they spoke out about yesterday’s events. The Coalition said:
“Today in response to the ceremony accounting of the electoral college votes that will certify president elect Biden 2020 election victory, Trump supporters violently storm the US Capitol building. The immediate scope of the injuries and destruction remains unknown, but the impact of this traumatizing day will be forever remembered. This violence and destruction was inside it directly by President Trump and his relentless effort to de-legitimize an election he lost fairly. We condemn him for inciting his supporters to act this way and for deliberately continuing to undermine our democratic process by continuing to spread lies about the election
The Sikh Coalition urges all Sikh families to be vigilant and cautious as tensions remain high across the country
https://twitter.com/sikh_coalition/status/1346959089159475201
A Sikh correspondent, Amitoj Singh was also at the scene, and had this to share:
Despite there being a curfew in Washington DC starting at 6 PM, the police were in no rush to expel the riders from the scene of the capital. At least not with the excessive force that they have previously used against protesters of color.
Indian Flag Spotted at the U.S. Capitol
Leaders from around the world expressed shock, fear, outrage at what was happening at the US capitol yesterday. Even the Prime Minister of India who is currently brutalizing the farmers who are protesting in New Delhi -because of his capitalist giveaway of small independently owned farms- had something to say. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, tweeted:
Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the rise of the Hindu right wing has made India much less safer for the minorities that live there. The current farmer laws are not being retracted and millions of people are protesting the capitalist giveaway of India's small farms to the ultra rich. His attacks against religious minorities is also destabilized the country and also divided the country. This statement coming from him is just very hypocritical. What was really troubling to see in yesterday’s coverage of the carnage at the US capitol, was the Indian flag and the supporters of Narendra Modi who felt comfortable enough to show their support for Donald Trump. White supremacy and Hindutva that are closely linked, as I write about here.
Perhaps the Indians were angry about the flag being flown during this violent terrorist attack on the US Capitol should also start to learn about the links between white supremacy and what their Prime Minister is doing back home to religious minorities.
Another user on Twitter had mentioned that one of his close colleagues had been at the protest and he was very enthusiastic about being the only Indian American there.
UPDATE: Some of the individuals who were waving the Indian flag on Wednesday’s mob attack on the U.S. Capitol have been identified. From this twitter account Hindutva watch, we have seen the links between the Trump sympathizing Indian American community which also supports Modi back in India.
Alt News, an Indian news network also pointed out the links between fascist supporters in India and America.
There has been much discussion as to whether supporting Trump in America necessarily translates back to support for Modi. The short answer is yes. Trump and Modi have the same ideas in mind when it comes to promoting white supremacy and hindutva. It should not come as a surprise that the same people who don’t believe that the Dalit community shouldn’t have human rights are the same ones in the diaspora who are actively egging on sedition, if it means their white supremacist leader can fulfill his promise to his base.
Whats Next?
Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, started to draft articles of impeachment while lawmakers were huddled together for their own safety. There have been several co-sponsors of this impeachment support and even Senator Schumer has decided that invoking the 25th amendment of the United States Constitution is important if we are to have a safe transition of power.
Removing this president is so crucial. Even though we have 13 days to go until Biden is sworn in to the presidency, we need to ensure that we don't have Donald Trump in the White House on January 20. Lawmakers right now are deciding what course of action to take right now and I do hope that they choose to put in Vice President Pence until Biden is inaugurated.
