On Wednesday, we witnessed an attempted coup in the United States as a rally of pro-Trump militants breached the Capitol building and temporarily stopped a joint session of Congress from counting the presidential votes.
Donald Trump called for the protest, spoke at it and told his supporters to march to the Capitol. Fueled by weeks of his false claims of election fraud, they broke windows, scaled walls and looted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. Amid the chaos, two pipe bombs and a cooler of molotov cocktails were found, along with other weapons. One protester was shot and killed by Capitol police, and three others died, reportedly of medical conditions. Meanwhile, 14 police officers were injured by the rioters.
Choose Democracy was one of many organizations to quickly write to its followers to put these outrageous events in context. Founded this summer to prepare people to resist a potential coup, the whirlwind startup — where I served as trainings coordinator — had long predicted that if defeated at the polls, Donald Trump was unlikely to concede. However, his denial alone would not constitute an illegal power grab. What mattered would be what other people did, especially institutions like the military, police, the business community, government bureaucrats and the many other politicians involved in the electoral process.
As disturbing and dangerous as the coup attempt was, the pillars of our society largely stood and supported democracy. “We always said a coup needs legitimacy to be successful. If the goal of today’s seizure of the Capitol was to gain legitimacy, the action backfired spectacularly,” we explained in our letter on Wednesday evening. “This coup is not gaining traction or convincing the majority of lawmakers, particularly those required to certify election results.”
After fleeing the Capitol, Republican politicians quickly distanced themselves from the violence, even Sen. Ted Cruz, who had moments earlier fueled the flames of sedition by spreading Trump’s lies and demanding that Congress delay the vote count. Under fire for his role, Cruz issued a statement calling the attack on the Capitol “a despicable act of terrorism and a shocking assault on our democratic system.” Conservative Sen. Tom Cotton tweeted, “Violence and anarchy are unacceptable… This needs to end now.”
The Choose Democracy trainings always emphasized the importance of bi-partisan opposition to any coup attempt, and the reason for that swiftly appeared. As an afternoon Politico headline put it, “Trump world pleads with the president to condemn the storming of the Capitol.” Alyssa Farah, Trump’s former White House communications director, implored Trump, tweeting the truth that many loyalists had been dodging for weeks: “The Election was NOT stolen. We lost.” Meanwhile commentators like Piers Morgan called for Trump’s resignation, the NAACP demanded impeachment and the National Association of Manufacturers called for Vice President Mike Pence to institute the 25th Amendment, which allows the cabinet and vice president to remove the president from office.
After President-elect Joe Biden made a national speech demanding Trump unequivocally tell protesters to go home, Trump relented, though his video message was mixed at best. He called on his supporters to “peacefully go home” while praising their motives and repeating the lie that the election was stolen.
The swift backlash against the coup attempt could be felt within the Capitol, which police successfully cleared of protesters within a few hours. When Congress resumed the divisive vote count at 8 p.m., some of the Republicans who had planned to raise objections relented, moving more quickly to acknowledge Joe Biden’s victory than they originally planned. Even Trump ally Sen. Lindsay Graham declared, “enough is enough.” In the early hours of Thursday, Pence read the final count, affirming Joe Biden’s victory. Trump soon released a statement promising an “orderly transition” on Jan. 20.
This violent coup attempt appears to be backfiring on its perpetrators, and they seem to be losing both in the electoral process and in the sphere of public opinion.
While the backlash to the violent coup attempt may have turned the tide on denial of the election results, there were already many signs that the pillars of democracy were holding, despite the flagrant assault on them. Before the riot began on Wednesday, Pence signalled he would not and could not stop certification with a letter to Congress, as Trump had suggested. In recent days, all 10 living former Secretaries of Defense published a strongly-worded op-ed in the Washington Post warning against military involvement in settling the election. In a famously recorded phone call, Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State rebuffed Trump’s demand to “find” enough votes to change the state’s election result.
For weeks, Choose Democracy had been affirming the many local and bi-partisan election officials who were doing their jobs according to the law, sometimes in the face of death threats by Trump supporters. As the vote counting and certification proceeded, it became clear that the kind of national strikes or protests planned for an actual coup did not make sense in this situation, despite the president’s outrageous fraud claims and the growing number of supporters who believed them. Instead, the group encouraged anti-coup activists to call their local officials and continue to urge them to uphold the will of the voters, a strategy that began weeks before the election.
This logic held Wednesday afternoon and evening, even as the Choose Democracy letter acknowledged “the emotional weight of this moment” of an actual coup attempt. “Strategically we think this is a last gasp and the risks are huge if we simply tell people to rush into the streets,” we wrote. The reasons were simple. It was widely believed that Trump was looking for an excuse to declare martial law, and large anti-Trump protests could provide the pretext, even giving him an excuse to try to delay the inauguration. If any conflict occurred between Trump supporters and opponents, Trump would use that to bolster his own narrative. In fact, the right was already blaming the violence at the Capitol on antifa and other Trump opponents, against all evidence.
Trump overplayed his hand. As scary and sad as it is, this is a great last memory for Americans to have of his presidency.
“This violent coup attempt appears to be backfiring on its perpetrators, and they seem to be losing both in the electoral process and in the sphere of public opinion,” Choose Democracy explained, urging supporters to stay home. “They look out of control. Tonight, the most effective action is to let the coup plotters expose how isolated and unsupported they are. Their actions are doing that.”
In fact, the protest at the Capitol had not been very large or well organized by D.C. standards. Similar protests around the country had revealed a movement bigger on bluster than support or strategy.
In addition to the danger of lies and a media echo-chamber that doesn’t challenge them, the attempted coup highlighted other serious issues, including the attitude of the police, which seemed shockingly unprepared and relatively unconcerned about the predominantly white mob that got through the barricades with relative ease. Some rioters even appeared to take selfies with the police charged with protecting the Capitol they were occupying. Remarkably few of the rioters were arrested when the Capitol was cleared in a largely nonviolent operation — a sharp contrast to the violent treatment of nonviolent Black Lives Matter protesters this summer. As our Thursday morning follow-up-letter noted, “The side-by-side images of previous Black protesters’ treatment versus the overwhelmingly white crowd of Trump supporters is breath-taking. It is an example of how racism plays into policing.”
Meanwhile, the role of social media is also coming under fire, as Twitter and Facebook froze Trump’s account under charges that they contributed to the violence and chaos by spreading Trump’s lies.
By far the most outstanding question is what will happen between now and Inauguration Day. Trump’s promise of a peaceful transition came as calls for his imminent removal grew, with even White House staff reportedly discussing the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment. By Thursday morning, Choose Democracy was encouraging people to sign the NAACP’s petition for impeachment, which could preclude Trump from holding office again, while forcing Congress to take a stand on his treasonous behavior. This could be helpful in convincing at least some of the many Americans who believed his lies while also providing a forum to highlight the complicity of people like Cruz. As our Thursday morning letter noted, “We are glad they decried the violence yesterday. But they planted the seeds. When they talk about a stolen election or non-existent fraud, they are still watering them. We will not forget that.”
George Lakey, Choose Democracy’s lead trainer, noted in an email to his own followers on Wednesday night that the pillars may ultimately be strengthened by the failed coup attempt. “Trump overplayed his hand. As scary and sad as it is, this is a great last memory for Americans to have of his presidency; it helps inoculate against his leadership in the future.”
Excellent summary. Thanks Eileen!!🎶
Hope has been hard to find as I have followed the militia all year. When push came to shove, some stood up that I wasn’t sure would.
Jennifer Elam
But cause and “tactic” are two different things.
This isn’t wrong because it’s “the right” or “the other side”. It’s wrong because they pushed their way inside (and maybe actually hoped to burn the electoral college stuff).
We’ve seen a lot of pushing since the anti-globalization movement “we have to get close, it’s our right”
and last year “they started it”. Even the Berrigans have done property damage(and yes, I accept that because of their willingness to take the blame).
So I’m not sure we can be smug about this, there but for fortune this could have been some other cause, one we liked.
How deliberate was this? A mob is a dangerous thing, nobody us in charge, nobody takes responsibility. Rarely are marshalls needed at a protest, but having them defines the situation, and actually makes someone responsible.
We’ve all had training in nonviolence, but in 1979 it seemed an abstract thing. Only later was I in situations where I understood the mob, and that was because “leadership” didn’t feel it was important to be present. So a headless group formed, it was so easy to follow (nobody wants to be left out), I briefly followed before moving away.How much of yesterday was just a few intending something, and the rest following?
I’ve seen people on the left unable to understand why they were gassed or beaten and it’s very easy to blame the cause. Same thing yesterday.
All my life I’ve made the case for concrete things rather than abstract. My getting stopped by cops too many times trumps some ideological anti-cop theme. The racism my great, great grandmother felt is way more important than worrying about how the racism hit her. Too much of the left is about causes, while being Black or Native is being alive. “This hurts me” is always stronger than “this is wrong” or “what about the homeless?” .
We can get carried away with hyperbole and group think. My understanding of Gandhi’s truth force is that the cause is enough. John Lewis sits down at a lunchcounter because he doesn’t want to be second class. He either gets served, or gets arrested or beaten, showing off segregation. Lots of causes since then are things we want, not absolutes.
Yesterday was about hyper-abstract. A whole bunch of abstract things pushing them forward, and nominally valid. Except for one thing. The election wasn’t rigged.
We are them, except for the cause. To see them as enemy is to limit how much change we can cause.
What can we learn from yesterday?
Thanks, Eileen. As always, you help us to see things calmly and clearly.
Thank you, Eileen. Your calm and rational analysis did a lot to soften my furious visceral response to yesterday’s events. It’s one thing to expect something like this to happen but it was still a horrible shock to see it happening. I shudder to think what could happen on inauguration day. I hope Biden’s security forces take it very seriously, even if Trump is saying “smooth transition” now, his followers may still feel obliged to give him a memorable send-off.
You raised good points, Michael. As I tried to bring my rage down, I tried to be reasonable about their right to express their belief that the election was fraudulent. I’ve certainly long been a supporter of civil disobedience a la Berrigans. But violence is another matter entirely, especially the arrogant, privileged, disrespectful violence they exhibited. It sickened me to the core and made me really fear for my country.
Thanks for the comments, all. Michael, I appreciate your sharing. I’ve been thinking a lot about how to do what King suggested, attack forces of evil not persons doing evil. For me, that means saving my harshest criticisms for those with the most power, like Trump and Cruz. I suspect you’re right that many in the crowd followed the energy of the group, which I’ve seen in person can be pretty scary. One of the things that was striking was that people didn’t seem to know what to do once they got inside the Capital, which to me is a sign that this was different than the kind of disciplined nonviolent direct action that I practice and teach. One more thought–I’ve also been thinking about the distinction you make between “this hurts me” as a motive and “this is wrong.” For me as a white person it feels important to claim my own stake in the changes that are needed, even while recognizing that the impact of a racist, unsustainable, greed-driven system does not fall as heavily on me.
This is my first time on this site, and I have great appreciation and respect for Eileen’s analysis, especially her mentioning and honoring all those individuals at polling places all over the country who simply did their job well, often in the face of disgraceful behavior directed at them. It is they, more than anyone, who enabled the pillars of democracy to hold. My greatest concern at this point is continuation of the historic pattern of this country to fail in holding the perpetrators of oppression and anti-democratic violence accountable and instead to move on in the name of “unity.” I believe we are again at a critical moment that echoes the forces at play during reconstruction, and that we could again turn away from justice (which encompasses action to end both hurt and wrong) and take the path toward “moving on.” It is too easy to see Trump as the main cause of where we are as a nation. The seeds were planted long ago, and the current poison fruits combining the toxins of racism and greed for power were foreshadowed in the “welfare queen” and “Willie Horton” ad campaigns. The longing for the vision of America behind MAGA is the same nostalgia for a country comfortable with white supremacist beliefs and policies that brought millions to change political parties in those times. The storming of the Capitol, as Trump so clearly stated, was “only the beginning.” Failure to hold him accountable will not save us from the next stage of attempts to destroy democracy in this country.
First, thank you Eileen for such a thoughtful analysis! You successfully avoided the Good/Bad, winner/loser, hope/fear binaries that so much of the media are caught up in, and for that I am grateful (and relieved). To those who commented above, I am honored to be in the company of such open, honest and articulate activists! I was George Lakey’s student in the early 1980’s and I never lost the message of his class, non-violent direct action or MNS. To this day I believe that change is possible if we open our hearts, use our minds and work together for a common good. I was taught then, what has been affirmed now: mob rule is not the answer, nor is pointless murder and mayhem. As an activist and protestor from an earlier era, I might be able to see my own outrage reflected in today’s insurrectionists, but the commonalities end there. I see no evidence of open hearts. I see no evidence of a belief in the common good. I see no evidence of deliberation or planning. Instead, I see entitled, narcissistic children petrified that they are going to lose the white privilege that they did nothing to earn. I see pseudo, crypto-fascists, spending their parents’ money on Chinese manufactured goods at the Home Depot to make themselves feel powerful and important, but for no other, greater reason. Ultimately, what I see is the cultural culmination of post-modern consumer capitalism–individuals who are so lost in the aisles of Walmart (and the bigger House of Mirrors brought to us by a world controlled by Big Corporations) that they have started shooting at everything and anything, thereby turning themselves into the very enemy they fear the most–the enemy who will take away that which they never had. (I would love to meet some of you. Look for me on facebook. I am in Baltimore and work at Morgan State University)
Dear Friends,
I do agree that for the moment, the coup has failed. However, I’ve been looking at the FB feed for Senator Hawley, for example, and I’m finding that the overwhelming number of comments show that there are many, many people out there who do not believe that Joe Biden is a legitimate president. Even with a majority in both House and Senate, it will be difficult to govern responsibly and decisively if there is such a large group of people who believe this steady stream of lies (like the one that the Democrats were actually the ones responsible for the violence at the Capitol.)
I’d like to know how Choose Democracy has ongoing plans to change this situation
Friends, we are in trouble if we depend on the “pillars of society” to safeguard us from the forces of reaction. They are the ones whose policies over the years have created the fertile soil for the growth of Trumpian politics. Today they (and by no means all) are frightened of the mob. Tomorrow they will be more frightened of us (assuming we grow to larger significance) and then…the pillars will shake. Certainly we cannot depend on the Generals to hold up the pillars when the next crisis comes, nor can we depend on the Bidens of our world not to compromise with the mob for the sake of social peace. We must learn the lessons of history lest we doom ourselves to repeat its disasters.
With the Capitol riot organizers calling their thuggery a success, and the Money Is Speech judicial doctrine still firmly in control of our political process, I’m afraid I cannot agree that our Democracy’s pillars are holding. Not as long as police put far more effort into choking nonviolent black suspects to death than stopping racist white mobs storming the halls of that democracy.
I appreciate all the comments here. To clarify one point, my analysis that the pillars of democracy held on January 6 specifically referred to the upholding of the election results. When push came to shove, Trump and those storming the Capital did not have the institutional support they would have needed to really change the outcome. This in no way implies that all is well and fair with our system. It’s not. There’s much work to do. But understanding what did and didn’t work last week can help us figure out the best way forward.
Good luck to Democracy’s efforts to build their healing and improving agenda for the next 4 years and after from a old Limey.
That’s certainly true. We should take stock of the fact that this putsch attempt did not stop, and probably even firmed up the legitimacy of the count of Electoral Votes. To that extent, it was a victory for democracy. Now we absolutely must prompt the Democrats to unequivocally repudiate and delegitimize the right wing, instead of pull their sickeningly familiar, “Well, let’s see if we can work something out here” routine that let birtherism and Kenneth Starr’s witch-hunt stand.