Trump supporters storm the Capitol Building

[Alstein]

At this point, Middle America is going to have to use the playbook they use against minorities and left to be used against these folks. It’s the only way to solve this, and unlike the first group, these criminals would deserve every bit of it.

[Nesrie]

Was the US Capitol attack "domestic terrorism"?

If only someone mentioned before there is no single definition but there are several… and you can actually, you know, look them up.

[scottagibson]

@Soma

The attack is serious, but IMO is of a different kind to terrorism. It is political violence, a coup attempt, but not as far as terrorism.

So…insurrection.

[strategy]

@Alstein

I think it’s a legit concern- minorities and leftists really aren’t allowed to dissent the way everyone else is.

Oh, 100%.

Watch the Lindsey Graham speech after this. He immediately goes to the - “I have been for arresting demonstators all the time” and draws direct parallels from this demonstration to the 2016 demonstrations against Trump. This will 100% be used to justify use of violence and deadly force against largely peaceful protests.

[Rward]

I’ll do it for you:

Definition of TERRORISM

Definition of terrorism
:* the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion

Definition of terrorism | Dictionary.com

terrorism

• the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.
• the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.
• a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.

terrorism | Definition, History, & Facts

Terrorism , the calculated use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective.

Definition of terrorism

There is no universal agreement on the definition of terrorism

In the United States of America, terrorism is defined in Title 22 Chapter 38 U.S. Code § 2656f as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents”.[5]

In general, terrorism is classified[ by whom? ] as:

• The use of violence or of the threat of violence in the pursuit of political, religious, ideological or social objectives
• Acts committed by non-state actors (or by undercover personnel serving on the behalf of their respective governments)
• Acts reaching more than the immediate target victims and also directed at targets consisting of a larger spectrum of society
• Both mala prohibita (i.e., crime that is made illegal by legislation) and mala in se (i.e., crime that is inherently immoral or wrong)

The following criteria of violence or threat of violence usually fall outside of the definition of terrorism:[6][7]

• Wartime (including a declared war) or peacetime acts of violence committed by a nation state against another nation state regardless of legality or illegality and are carried out by properly uniformed forces or legal combatants of such nation states
• Reasonable acts of self-defense, such as the use of force to kill, apprehend, or punish criminals who pose a threat to the lives of humans or property
• Legitimate targets in war, such as enemy combatants and strategic infrastructure that form an integral part of the enemy’s war effort such as defense industries and ports
• Collateral damage, including the infliction of incidental damage to non-combatant targets during an attack on or attempting to attack legitimate targets in war

[FinnegansFather]

From the Vox article @Nesrie linked:

“Don’t dare call them protesters,” President-elect Joe Biden said Thursday, referring to the pro-Trump mob that had seized the US Capitol the day before. “They were a riotous mob. Insurrectionists. Domestic terrorists. It’s that basic. It’s that simple.”

That’ll do it for me.

Maybe when the full evidence against individuals is examined, it will be necessary to distinguish between an insurrectionist and a domestic terrorist, but for now, the main thing is to insist that these were not protesters.

However, the winning arguments are going to be the images and the fact of the policeman’s death, not “terrorist vs. not-terrorist.”

[strategy]

I think they’re right that many people will balk at calling these people terrorists, for some of the reasons mentioned above. Insurrectionists on the other hand, is a term that is hard to argue about, and is definitely how I’d describe them in a conversation.

[kerzain]

They identify as revolutionaries. They’re just like Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson… only a lot poopier.

[jpinard]

Not feeling good about any of this. While he needs to be de-platformed, his psychotic followers are going to be whipped into a fever pitch. I guess Parler, Fox News, and OANN can take responsibility for whatever happens.

Meanwhile 4,000+ people died yesterday thanks to the Trump family caring about nothing but themselves.

[schurem]

In the end, good is going to come off this. For a while, I reckon about 8 years, there will probably be a wave of scorn heaped upon the (extreme) right. They shat their bed and now get to lie in it. I have good hope this shit will kick some processes into movement to fix the shit that gave us the orange shitgibbon.

Couple this with a riproaring economic revival due to corona ending in a year or so and green new deals all over the west, the future is looking bright imo.

[Woolen_Horde]

So normally Rupert would be, “yeah, we need to tone it down” after something like this, but he hasn’t muzzled Tucker and co. Surprised Fox hasn’t come under fire for its role yet.

[schurem]

oh but it’s going to.

[scottagibson]

@Calelari

Flex cuff, the thing that the dude was actually carrying, which has a million riotous household uses:

I use ‘em to gird my loins.

[Scrax]

His eyebrows are oddly on fleek for a Proud Boy.

[YakAttack]

@kerzain

They identify as revolutionaries. They’re just like Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson… only a lot poopier.

From around the same time period, the Boston Tea Party was kind of embarrassing. LARPers dressing up as Native Americans and dumping tea…

[HumanTon]

@Dejin

The mob actions at the capital were for a specific purpose, to overturn the results of a lawfully conducted election. They weren’t just there to trespass or to assault someone. They were there as a direct assault on our democratic political process.

Absolutely.

Also, regular reminders (not directed at you, mind, but rather because these things keep coming up)

• Just because your attempt at a crime was sloppy and stupid doesn’t mean it somehow doesn’t count as an attempt at crime. If you wander into a bank in your underwear and socks wearing a viking helmet and say, “Errr, um, give me all your money or I will beat you with, ummm, one of these stanchions, I guess” you may not be well-organized but you are still guilty of attempted armed robbery.

• Sideshow Bob to the contrary, you can still be charged with a crime even if the crime wasn’t fully executed, so long as you got far enough along that it’s clear it wasn’t just empty talk.

• A single action can count as several different crimes. If you slug a copy with a fire extinguisher while en route to trying to prevent Congress from doing their job, you can be guilty of insurrection and assault and murder, for example.

[kerzain]

I believe the tale that their intention was to be seen as actual Indians has long been discredited.

7 Surprising Facts About the Boston Tea Party

Yes, Tea Party protestors dressed as ‘indians,’ but not convincingly.

The Sons of Liberty famous masqueraded in Native American dress on the night of the Tea Party raid, complete with tomahawks and faces darkened with coal soot. But were they really trying to pass themselves off as local Mohawk or Narragansett tribesmen?

Not likely, says Carp. For starters, it was in 18th-century England for protestors to “crossdress” in one way or another—blackening their faces, dressing as women, or even Catholic priests—to create an atmosphere of misrule.

Secondly, the Sons of Liberty were cashing in on the image of the Native American as an independent spirit, the epitome of anti-colonialism. “By adopting that identity, they’re saying, ‘We are defiant. We are unbowed. We won’t be defeated,’” says Carp.

And third, there was the practical reason for masking their identities. They were committing a crime! Even if they knew that no one would believe they were actual Native Americans, the disguise sent a clear message to anyone who would dare to snitch: don’t you dare!

[YakAttack]

My bad. I stand corrected.

[Slothrop]

I’m pretty fucking terrified.

[jpinard]

Unreal.

Decoding the extremist symbols and groups at the Capitol Hill insurrection