On January 6, 2021, lawmakers gathered in the halls of the United States Congress in Washington D.C.  They had a job to do.  They were going to certify that Joe Biden had won the election.  They would do this by looking again at the votes from each state.   This process was just a formality; the votes had already been counted and confirmed, but now Congress was given a chance to stand up and formally certify the results.

Normally, this event comes and goes without much notice.  But not this time.  While lawmakers were certifying the results, Donald Trump held a rally nearby.  Hundreds of his supporters, who all believed what he had been saying since November 3rd – that the election had been stolen – were in attendance, cheering him on.  Trump told them that what was happening inside the Capitol building was wrong.  Instead of certifying that Joe Biden had won, he said, Senators and Representatives, as well as Vice President Pence himself, should reject the results of the election, and hand Trump the presidency for another four years.

His supporters went wild.

Trump then said that he would join them in a march up to the Capitol building.  He said that action must be taken.  Another speaker, Trump’s personal lawyer, said that the people should use “combat” to get their way.

The hundreds of people cheered, brimming over with love for Trump, hatred for anyone who was against Trump, and a determination to turn democracy on its head.  Their fury was at a fever pitch, stoked by the American president himself.

With that, they all began to march to the Capitol building.  (All, except Trump, who stayed behind to watch the march on TV.)  They were carrying American flags and Trump flags, as well as white supremacy banners.  They wore red hats that said, “Make America Great Again” or “Keep America Great” – the emblem of Trump’s campaign.  As they got closer to the Capitol building, they began to surge forward as a mob.  They pushed police, whose numbers were small, spraying some officers with pepper spray.  They crashed through barriers and charged up the steps of the Capitol.  They propelled up the walls of the building and broke windows.

Facing little resistance, the mob made it inside the Capitol.  Members of Congress hurried to safety, many hiding in their offices or in other secure areas.  Meanwhile, the pro-Trump intruders took over the building.  They destroyed furniture and looted pieces of art that hung in the historic halls.  They burst into offices and vandalized them and even stole papers off desks. They entered the Senate chamber and took selfies.  They committed acts of violence as they clashed with police.  They shouted threats to kill the vice president.  They wandered the halls brandishing Confederate flags – symbols of racism and hate.  At one point, they replaced an American flag with a Trump flag.  Ironically, some were seen carrying flags that said, “Law and Order.”

For three hours, the siege of the Capitol building continued, as the nation and the world watched in disbelief. 

When it was all over and police had secured the building, many of the Capitol’s halls and offices were left in shambles.  Tragically, a woman had been shot and killed.  Four more people would die later, including a police officer who had been badly beaten by the attackers.  Trump eventually appeared on social media and in a video from the White House, condemning the violence.   Most people felt his words were disingenuous, though, since he had been the one feeding lies to his supporters for months and spurring on their wish to take matters into their own hands by force.

And now?

As the dust settles, outrage is taking flight.  People have been resigning in protest from positions in Trump’s administration.  Lawmakers are calling for the president’s removal.  Outcries from around the country, indeed from around the globe, condemn what is viewed as an attempt to overturn an election and to trample on democracy.

Trump’s presidency will be over on January 20th, when Joe Biden is inaugurated.  But many are saying, that he should be removed now.  They fear that he may abuse his power further.  They also claim that he is unfit to hold office for even a moment longer and that he is a danger to the country.

By the time you read this, things might have changed.  That’s how unstable the political situation in the United States is at the moment.  Each day seems to bring a new crisis.  What happened on January 6th, however, will be a day that will live on in history.

Now the question is:  how do we move on and repair what’s broken?   Since Trump became president, he has been the ultimate spreader of disinformation.  Many people have believed his lies, while growing to hate journalists and scientists, even though they are the ones reporting facts.  This is because Trump calls observable facts “fake news.”  On January 6th, we saw what could happen when misinformation is relentlessly fed and consumed.  Along with the lies, were sentiments of hatred and violence.  Trump didn’t want to lose power.  He didn’t want to be a loser.  And because of his bruised ego, a nation finds itself coming apart at the seams.