Was January 6th an Insurrection?

With the public media making controversy over the handling of the events that took place on January 6th, 2021, I seek to question what definition is appropriate to give. Let's give this a look. After the 45th President, Donald Trump losses the majority of the popular vote, a recount is issued. To affirm the winner of the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden, the congress holds a process to declare the vote total. During this time what seems to be a peaceful assembly is gathered outside of the White House on that day. Donald Trump's rally includes making a speech about having had lost his election, and gains no need for additional police protection.

Unknowingly, this rally held by Donald Trump was not done so in an assertive First Amendment style. Such as to have participants sign waivers to prepare for peaceful arrest and to instruct policies of cooperation with the presence of the police. Instead, the words and action of him are still be debated. What occurred next is one of the most appalling moments of our modern history. A destructive use of violence which sent thousands into the U.S. Capitol Building against the direction of Capital Police. Many of the Republican Trump supporters covering their faces and waving flags with his name on it, some carrying Confederate Flags.

Days later the news coverage continues to tell Americans a death count reaches 5 individuals. One of those a local Capital Police officer, another a female Trump supporter. Among those injured in the process to protect the grounds of the Capital Building are over 100 police officers. Some of those men who served as veteran police officers resign the force. The media continues to direct the biasness of arguing that Donald Trump should be allowed to continue his campaign efforts after a year has passed.

Dictionary.com defines the term "Insurrection', as this:

"act or instance of rising in revolt, rebellion, or resistance against civil authority or an established government."

Within a week of the one year anniversary, The Wall Street Journal's Jeffery Scott Shapiro is one of several media outlets claiming to stop calling it an insurrection. He argues that the Federal Laws which define an insurrection are not being used to charge those who were present, and that history gives a varying context to do so.

'A real insurrection would have required the armed forces to quell an armed resistance. Actual insurrections—apart from the Civil War—include Shays’ Rebellion in 1787, in which thousands of insurrectionists tried to seize weapons from a Massachusetts armory after months of planning to overthrow the new revolutionary government, and the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, in which 500 armed men attacked the home of a U.S. tax inspector in Western Pennsylvania. Both events required President Washington to quell the insurrections with thousands of armed troops, who killed several resistors.'(Shapiro,2022)

Yet, before this is a sufficiently a respected fact in serving justice to those persons who were present. What is being implied by stating there was no intent to take over a an existing government with a new one? Many recently prosecuted cases are being tied to known and formed militias. Militia's like the Oath Keepers. The Department of Justice released a news brief on January 13th, 2022 showing the leading of this group: Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, of Granbury, Texas along with 10 others are just now facing charges.

Here is what Justice.gov provides as information about the foundation of the group The Oath Keepers:

"As alleged in the indictments, the Oath Keepers are a large but loosely organized collection of individuals, some of whom are associated with militias. Though the Oath Keepers will accept anyone as members, they explicitly focus on recruiting current and former military, law enforcement and first-responder personnel. Members and affiliates of the Oath Keepers were among the individuals and groups who forcibly entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021."(justice.gov,2022)

Additionally, on the Justice.gov site the definitions of the criminal charges given does show qualifying details related to the term of insurgency.

'According to the seditious conspiracy indictment, the defendants conspired through a variety of manners and means, including: organizing into teams that were prepared and willing to use force and to transport firearms and ammunition into Washington, D.C.; recruiting members and affiliates to participate in the conspiracy; organizing trainings to teach and learn paramilitary combat tactics; bringing and contributing paramilitary gear, weapons and supplies – including knives, batons, camouflaged combat uniforms, tactical vests with plates, helmets, eye protection and radio equipment – to the Capitol grounds; breaching and attempting to take control of the Capitol grounds and building on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to prevent, hinder and delay the certification of the electoral college vote; using force against law enforcement officers while inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021; continuing to plot, after Jan. 6, 2021, to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power, and using websites, social media, text messaging and encrypted messaging applications to communicate with co-conspirators and others.'(justice.gov,2022)

All of this sounds so unreal to be watching and reading in the press. At times, watching the broadcast over live news coverages that play into the falsity that this is business as usual is disturbing. On January 6th, 2022 vigils to honor the memory of those lost and those hurt spread across the country. Obviously, the investigations and fault of the incidents are not over.

One year after the anniversary of the Capitol Attack, our current President Joe Biden made this statement:

'You can’t love your country only when you win.

You can’t obey the law only when it’s convenient.

You can’t be patriotic when you embrace and enable lies."(whitehouse.gov,2022)

National Public Radio's article, "The Capitol Siege: The biggest Criminal Investigation in U.S. History" story was aired on All Things Considered. This consideration gives up to date statics about the authority of law enforcement, and is available on their website.

"So far, more than 700 people have been charged with crimes, and that number continues to steadily grow. The FBI has estimated that 2,000 people may have been involved in the attack that day. Law enforcement has arrested alleged rioters in nearly all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia.... More than 1 million dollars of damage was done to the Capitol building." (NPR.org,2022)

Following the attack on the Capitol January 6th, 2021 members of the military were put into place to secure the grounds and the building. Which argues the fact that an insurrection is a proper definition. This effort was both initiated to protect the new presidential inauguration of 2021 scheduled weeks after the insurrection and to remain vigilant. In January of 2021, no less than a week after Joe Biden took office, CNN's Ellie Kaufman reported two facts upon the numbers of troops in the Federal City, in her article: Army confirms thousands of National Guard troops will Remain in Washington into March:

"There are currently 15,000 troops in the city with the numbers due to be reduced to 7,000 by the end of the week and 5,600 by mid-March, according to National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Daniel Hokanson."

"As CNN previously reported, 25,000 National Guard troops were brought to Washington to help secure the city through President Joe Biden's inauguration following the deadly riot at the US Capitol earlier in the month."(Cnn.com,2021)

In closing, I would like to present the need for honesty in the media. The use of understanding to citizens. An effort to report the criminals who acted in Capital Violence. In this article, as in others like the one quoted from on NPR's site, that reporting can be done on the FBI's page:

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/capitol-violence

Lastly, to share a short a poem and say thanks to all of the members of the U.S. military who kept the grounds safe for months after January 6th, 2021. We will Never Forget January 6th, 2021.

In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson's second collections of essays title Essays: Second Series, a simple poem:

Experience, published in 1844:

"The lords of life,-

I saw them pass

In their own guise,

Like and unlike

Portly and grim

Use and Surprise,

Surface and Dream,

Succession swift, and spectral Wrong,

Temperament without a tongue,

And the inventor of the game

Omnipresent without a name;-

Some to see, some to be guessed,

They marched from east to west:

Little men, least of all,

Among the legs of his guardians tall,

Walked about with puzzled look:-

Him by the hand dear nature took;

Dearest nature, strong and kind,

Whispered, ‘Darling, never mind!

Tomorrow they will wear another face,

The founder thou! These are thy race!”(Emerson)

Citations for this article

"Insurrection".web.Dictionary.com.2022.retrieved at:https://www.dictionary.com/browse/insurrection.14 Jan 2022

Emerson, R. Emerson's Prose and Poetry. Norton, and Co.print.2001.Essays: Second Series. Experience(poem)

Kaufman, E. 'Army confirms thousands of National Guard troops will Remain in Washington into March'.Jan.25, 2021.web.CNN.com.2022 cable News Network. retrieved at: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/25/politics/national-guard-troops-dc-through-march/index.html. 14 Jan 2022

Justice News. Press Release 23-32.Department of Justice. January 13, 2022.web.justice.gov.Retrieved at:https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leader-oath-keepers-and-10-other-individuals-indicted-federal-court-seditious-conspiracy-and.14 Jan 2022

'The Capitol Siege the Biggest Criminal Investigation in U.S. History "All Things Considered.7 Jan 2022.web.radio.Retrieved at:https://www.npr.org/2021/02/09/965472049/the-capitol-siege-the-arrested-and-their-stories.14 Jan 2022

"Stop Calling January 6th an "Insurrection'. Shapiro, J. web. 5 Jan 2022. retrieved at;https://www.wsj.com/articles/stop-calling-jan-6-an-insurrection-capitol-riot-civil-disorder-insurgency-protest-first-amendment-11641417543. 14 Jan 2022

Remarks by President Biden to Mark the One Year Since The January 6th Deadly Assault On The U.S. Capitol. Biden, J. The White House. web. 6 Jan 2022. Retrieved at:https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/01/06/remarks-by-president-biden-to-mark-one-year-since-the-january-6th-deadly-assault-on-the-u-s-capitol/ 14 Jan 2022