When the news about the Trumpist assault on the U.S. Capitol reached me, I had already figured I’d received my quota of bad news for the day. Our province, which only yesterday had to be pushed back into Orange level restrictions to contain a surge in COVID cases, had had its worst day yet, with 31 reported infections (we had 27 the day before, and 17 the day before that). I knew in passing there was a mob of Trumpists in Washington, but I figured they wouldn’t amount to much.
Then, on the bus ride home from work, I watched my twitter feed explode with the news. Trumpists fighting police. Trumpists in the Capitol building. Trumpists on the House Floor. An American flag removed and a Trump flag hung in its place. People evacuated, one person killed. The word “insurrection” came up more than a few times to describe it, even as official media continued to call it a “protest”.
Insurrection. All too accurate a label for what happened.
As I write this, the insurrection has been put down. American FBI went in and cleared out the Capitol building. The U.S. Congress is reconvening to finish the business the insurrection interrupted. The National Guard is on its way to help secure the city, if it isn’t there already. But there’s a general sense in official news and on Twitter that America crossed a line today.
It all feels surreal to me, in a way. I suppose most Big Moments in History feel that way, when you’re viewing it at a remove. Adding to the surreal feeling is the sick certainty that, regardless of the procedure the Americans will be following, for the next two weeks, nobody truly knows what will happen. Insurrectionists occupied the U.S. Capitol building. In the two weeks before Trump is officially removed as President (assuming this day’s events don’t hasten his departure), who knows what else they might try? Who knows what Trump might do in an attempt to hold on to his fading power – he certainly encouraged this insurrection before and during the event in question.
I mentioned elsewhere my belief – founded in the events of the past four years – that Trump is America’s most evil and most incompetent president in living memory. He needs to leave power, and he’s made it clear – repeatedly – that he won’t leave quietly. And, to be clear, he will leave power – not willingly, not quietly, but he will; the law leaves him no other option. But he’s moved himself and his followers outside the law; and for the first time, I fear the damage he can still do in the two weeks he has left. I can only pray we are not witnessing the beginning of a civil war.