Capitol Hill was no doubt one of the biggest events of recent times, and will no doubt be put in the history books of our children, and their children, and their children beyond that. But what caused this shocking event, in the country that prides itself on being the heart and role model of democracy?
Before we can explore this question, we first need to understand a few things, or at least my interpretation and understanding of the events.
Firstly, what actually happened at Capitol Hill? Well after a Trump rally earlier in the day, supporters and rioters began to protest outside the US Capitol. Between 1:00 and 1:10, rioters began to attack the police presence on the stairs outside the building and broke through. They began ransacking and rioting through the building and destroying various things in the Capitol. By 4:05, police had managed to start to evacuate members of Congress after reports of a pipe bomb, and finally, by 8 pm, control of the Capitol had been reclaimed, after 5 were dead, with at least 68 arrested.
Secondly, who actually raided the US Capitol, and why? Groups and various ideologies had been spotted at the infamous event, but some main groups that appeared were Qanon and The Proud Boys, along with individuals who claimed to be part of other various groups. Some believe this was a plain riot, but others believe it was in fact a coup, in order to overthrow the US government.
Thirdly, what does Donald Trump have to do with the event? Well, it depends on who you ask. Qanon believes that the world is run by a group of pedophile Satanists, and Trump is one of the few people opposing them. So to these people, Trump is the savior. The Proud Boys simply believe that Trump represents them since most people in this group feel that their rights as white men are under assault from the left. And most of the rest just believe in Trump's ideologies and accept him as the leader.
Now, this national disgrace was undoubtedly a tragic event, which was a result of extremism and radicalization on this occasion by the alt-right, but what I feel is so often overlooked is that an organization is a group of individuals. Once upon a time, and while to some it may feel like a pantomime, these people who stormed the building were like you and me.
People don't go on the Qanon website overnight and instantly become part of the alt-right, but it has been compared to a rabbit hole, going further and further, till someone's ideologies become "extreme". However, the problem is that the US has a distinct lack of anti-radicalization programs.
The USA spent roughly 664 billion in counterterrorism, as of NATO 2016, but only spends roughly 100 billion on homeland security. However, in 2019, right-wing extremism made up roughly 2/3 of terrorist attacks, and roughly 90% of them between January and May in 2019. (Confirmed by CSIS - Center For Strategic & International Studies) Domestic Terrorism is on the rise in the US and the US is not funding attempts to stop this.
Of course, there are genuine reasons why the US does not want to fund this, mostly relating to freedom of expression (land of the free) but the US needs to address this fundamental fact that foreign terrorism is not the biggest threat to the US, but rather domestic terrorism is. Unless the US can look introspectively at this issue, its own people will suffer. Without change, how much longer until the next one?
