Watch this footage taken by New Yorker reporter Luke Mogelson and ask yourself if, given the circumstances, there’s anything at all to be ashamed about in the overall behavior of this crowd of anywhere from half a million to over a million.
I couldn’t have felt prouder watching this honest, courageous, self-restrained ground-swell of patriotic feeling and righteous indignation.
If this be insurrection, make the most of it. And count me right in as an insurrectionist.
The protestors for the most part are dressed in ordinary street wear, some wearing masks of the US flag, others carrying US or Trump flags. Inside the halls of Congress they chant, Protect your liberty, Protect the constitution and tell the guards they are there because Trump, the guards’ boss, wants them there. They thank the guards for letting them in. They chant “Whose house? Our house,” “It’s the people’s house, let the people in,” and similar stuff.
“Defend the constitution against enemies, foreign and domestic,” shouts another. They talk about it being a war.
They march through the halls, look around and ask where everyone is because there’s no one but police. The brave Congress critters are skulking under desks in safe spaces, instead of meeting their constituents.
When someone sits in the vice president’s chair, one of the leaders tells him he cannot and it is disrespectful. The fellow in the chair then asks, with splendid logic, why THEY can steal an election, but HE cannot sit in a chair. But he does get up.
The officers who let them in are thanked repeatedly and told that they are only doing their job and it’s appreciated. A leader calls out that this is hallowed ground, sacred, and deserves respect. Another protestor says, Now that we’re here, we might as well form a government.
One guy’s looking for anything in the papers left behind that can be used against these “scumbags,” a sentiment probably shared by around 100 million people, including this blogger.
Someone tells the rest to watch what they do, because it’s a PR war…there’s talk of an information operation.
The guy with the horns on his head, Qanon Shaman, bellows in the background high above the paper hunters at the desks. Someone says they’ve found papers showing that Cruz was going to object to Arizona’s objection…he was going to sell us out anyway..Then he seems to retract. Another person says, Cruz and Hawley would have wanted us to do this. Someone says, There are 4 million people coming, some have just not got there. Another refers to a million people.
Several men get up and invoke Jesus Christ’s name, asking for light and protection from heaven, thanking Him for giving them the opportunity to be heard in this place and for being able to take back the country from communists, globalists, and traitors.
Before leaving, one of the leaders wants a picture taken and asks permission from the guards to do it.
Then they leave through one entrance while Mogelson leaves through another, where he takes more footage, this showing a more boisterous side of things. People are scaling the walls, tearing off fabric high up, but are largely nonviolent, with lots of chanting: USA, USA, and I think, We want Trump.
The police start tasering and throwing smoke bombs and people shout, Is that all you’ve got? We’re coming for you…
Someone builds a gallows and starts shouting, We’re going to hunt each and everyone of you down. There are calls to fight at home, to protest in the state capitols and to organize. Better to die a free man, shouts one man, than on your knees. Someone uses a flagpole to smash what looks like suitcases or boxes and shouts about how the media wouldn’t be able to record that. Another man says CNN is hiding behind Union Station.
People shout Treason, treason, treason.