January 6, 2021

You’re at work. You love your job and have been a dedicated employee for many years. You have taken the required course to become effective at your job and open to attending professional trainings to evolve and become better. As time moves on, you gain a strong sense of safety at your workplace. You trust the people you collaborate with daily. They trust you as well. Eventually, through team-building exercises and ice breakers, you gain a sense of “family” with your workplace peers. Life could not be any better.

An email pops into your in-box. The subject line titled: Performance Review. Nothing daunting because, in the past, they were uplifting and inspiring. Praising you for a job well done. You click to open it. Instead of the expected praise, you gasp. It’s threatening you to change your work habits or face punishment. You read what the new procedure is and learn it is not only unethical but also against your morals. Plopped in the middle of a dilemma over integrity, you reject the new policy, pondering who would send you such a treacherous email? You return to work using your honest and ethical procedure, but the email continues to weigh on your mind. Word spreads about your professional choice and suddenly, your life is at risk as an angry mob threatens to end your existence because you refused to follow the procedure suggested in the email. You flee for your safety, vowing to quit the job. Days later, you learn your boss is responsible for inciting the mob that attacked you for making an ethical choice. It was a ploy to force you to resign from the company.

If the above scenario had happened, how would you handle it? Would you seek legal assistance and sue the company for compensation for loss wages? Perhaps, discrimination? Or simply threatening your physical safety in the workplace? Either way, who would be responsible for the attack? The mob which force you out of the company? Or your boss, who incited the mob to come to the company and scare you? Perhaps, it’s both. They did work in tandem in a premeditated fashion of some sort, right? Either way, you would feel betrayed by the company, your employer, and perhaps even…other employees (the people you called “friends”).

If you agreed to those suggestions, then how is the above different from what happened on January 6, 2021? When a large group of insurrectionist, waving Trump’s red MAGA flags, stormed Capitol Hill to attack congress members who were there to certify Biden’s presidential win? Those arrested for the alleged act of treason claimed they were following their “leader’s” orders. Trump. Trump had spent over 6 months before the 2020 election claiming if he lost, it would be because of fake voters or a rigged system. Though there still is no evidence of the election being rigged. His fan base was determined to stop the certification process by any means necessary.

The officers who risked their life during the insurrection feel similar to how you would feel if your workplace concocted a ploy to fire you: betrayed. They fought to keep the insurrectionist out Capitol Hill as best as they could, and now to see the same group of red hat wearing rioters of the cusp of being pardoned by the same man who put the officers’ life in jeopardy, is betrayal. Betrayal for their service. Betrayal for their bravery. Betrayal for what they stand for in America. How can a country appoint a dangerous felon the highest office in our country, again?

This past weekend, there were many protest groups calling for Trump’s reelection not be certified, citing the 14th amendment. According to the 14th amendment (in simplest terms): Former government officials who took an oath to support the Constitution but then betrayed it by engaging in an insurrection cannot hold office. The question that remains unanswered is: what is Trump’s role in the insurrection? Many sources claim there is no evidence Trump was involved in the insurrection. Sure, he was not there at Capitol Hill with the rioters, however, one can argue his actions before, during, and after the election were the direct cause of the insurrection. He touted for months about a rigged election and encourage Americans to “fight back” against those who “stole the election.” During one of his speeches, he stated, “We’re going to go down there and fight like hell.” Which…is exactly what transpired.

The officers of January 6th have every right to feel betrayed. Though many Americans are not content with the election results, nor look forward to what America may become under the rule of Trump, there was still a peace transfer of power. No insurrection, violence, or threats to lives. This is how it should always be.

Link to NPR article regarding Officers feeling betrayed.