There were lots of protests, and I am sure some people were arrested.
Regarding Jan 6 - I think the initial reaction that a lot of people had has faded…like McCarthy and others that actually spoke out against it a few days. Were they attempting to overthrow the government? They certainly seemed motivated to not only disrupt but possibly also convince Congress to change their votes to keep Trump around. How realistic that was from happening doesn’t really change the reason they were there.
Local people shouting - thanks for the other perspective, it probably has more to do with the side losing the argument which varies by area. I have heard both at my local school board as well, but mostly those against masks. There was not a state or county mandate to force anything and they ran out most of the pro-mask crowds because of their level of anger.
I guess I do agree that the reason they were there was because they thought that somehow Trump would become president over Biden if they protest/rush congress. I don’t think there was any plan to actually do a coup, they were just hoping some people would change their minds because? they were scared? not sure what those people were thinking. But intent does not always mean actionability (is that even a word?) If I wanted to murder someone but threw a calculator or iPhone charger at them I would not be charged with attempted murder even though that was my attempt. Some people are just stupid and don’t understand how things work
Trump had made a lot of liberals, namely white college graduates, feel vulnerable in a way they haven’t in the past. This tends to make things feel more personal.
Conservatives, on the other hand, have a whole media infrastructure designed to make them feel vulnerable. And a lot of trump supporters really are vulnerable, although it is a matter of debate whether democratic policies would make them more or less so.
Those are protests, but they don’t involve breaking into buildings. Certainly not breaking into government buildings and looking for elected representatives to harm. That was the key feature of Jan 6th. If it had just been a protest with a little random rioting around the edges it would have been completely unremarkable.
Charges are weird. I was on a grand jury where someone threw a 3-bar scale at someone else, didn’t hit them, (probably wasn’t trying to hit them) and was charged with “assault with a deadly weapon”
Not to distract too much from this excellent post, but one issue is that Trump himself was a stupid person who didn’t understand how things work. He was (and is still) pushing every avenue available to get fraudulently elected. And on Jan 6th, while he probably didn’t want the crowd to invade, he was still hoping maybe his VP could magically throw out electoral votes.
I believe that is breaking into buildings. There was a similar statement in the NY Times article but I can’t get back in to take a screenshot due to the one free viewing policy.
I also said that the difference was a government building vs Joe Smo business. Again, did you not read anything besides the headlines? Looking for representatives to harm is an assumption. Were they actually doing that? Or just trying to get inside to stop some voting process that would just happen a little later once they arrested?
I did. Smashing windows is “light rioting”, It may or may not be “breaking into buildings” but it certainly isn’t chasing elected members of congress with intent of bodily harm. It’s an entirely different sea.
I actually did not watch any videos. I watched it live while it happened and did not see or hear any of that. If there are videos that came out later then I did not see them because I did not look for them later.
Are you seriously equating acts that occurred incidental to the purpose of the protest to the primary purpose of a different protest?
Yes, the Oregon protests were protesting the election of Trump, but the looting and rioting were an aside, not the goal. The goal of the January 6th “protest” was to break into the Capitol to stop the counting of the electoral votes with an expressed intent of violence if necessary.
“Windows of several businesses were smashed” and “vandalized buildings”. Do I seriously need to highlight it for you? I didn’t say “breaking and entering” and I just said “breaking”
I will agree to disagree. I don’t think the looting and rioting was an aside. Especially when it is “3 nights in a row” as the article says. And I wasn’t even specifically talking about Oregon I was talking about one in my hometown but Lucy wanted sources so I got some from some highly respected organizations instead
Just watched your example. Had a good laugh. Are you serious with these comparisons?
You need to watch what happened inside the Capitol building. The events taking place outside were bad enough, but what was going on inside should be terrifying to all American citizens.
I’m sorry, but this is obnoxious both-sides-ism. Very few people are excusing the vandalism, the looting, or the “breaking in” to buildings during the anti-trump, BLM or any other “leftist” protests. This isn’t “us” refusing to see both sides, this is recognizing the actions were of very different magnitudes, intents and actions.
The attempt to equate them is like saying a hurricane that wiped out an entire island of hundreds of thousands of people is the same as a tornado that knocked over my house and killed my dog. Yes, both are natural disasters that damaged property and lives but that is about as far as the comparison goes.
It was terrifying. So was the ones after Trumps election. I put a gate up to my house so protestors could not get through to light it on fire. I was also told only one was looking for elected representatives to harm and I just did a quick YouTube search and found that not to be true
Yes, yes I did.