How to get away with treason
It's been two weeks since thousands of Trumpers stormed Capitol Hill but few people have been charged.
Happy Tuesday, folks!
It’s unbelievable how much has happened in two weeks, like how the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump for a second time, making him the only president in U.S. history to earn the lowly distinction.
Oh, and how a bunch of his rabid supporters tried to take over Capitol Hill.
Four days after the Capitol attack, NBC News reported that law enforcement agencies had known things were going to reach a climax. But, according to the article, the most that the FBI did was pay a visit to individuals who were planning to stage the attack and tell them not to do it. Yes, you read that right.
Can you imagine being identified as a national security threat and having the federal bureau just let you go about your day? Like, not even getting brought in for questioning?? Ma’am, we are aware of your plans to overthrow the government and we’re here to remind you that you can’t do that. Anyway, thanks for the cup of coffee.
If somebody like me — an Asian with a foreign passport from a country with a large Muslim population — was suspected by the FBI of possibly committing violence, do you think I wouldn’t get tossed into a black SUV right away?
One could argue that maybe the would-be insurrectionists didn’t seem to pose any real threat at the time but authorities found evidence to the contrary. Seeing how you can’t even board a plane in this country without getting stripped near-naked, what could justify those federal authorities knowing specific individuals posed a threat to the nation’s Capitol and doing nothing about it?
There’s really no justification for it. But there’s definitely an explanation.
If you’re active on social media, you would have seen the Capitol riot as it unfolded in real-time from your laptop or mobile phone. The rioters were caught on camera as they caused all kinds of anarchy: smashing open the building’s locked doors, scaling the Capitol’s walls, beating police officers, and looting restricted chambers.
These insurrectionists committed criminal acts — federal crimes, actually, since they took place in the special District of Columbia, where the Capitol building is located. Yet the majority of them didn’t bother to hide their identities. Some even dressed for attention. In this digital age where anonymity is non-existent, who could be that stupid? If you’re going to commit treason, at least cover your face, brah.
But it’s not a matter of intelligence (though there’s definitely an argument to be made on that front). It’s that these people believed they wouldn’t face any consequences for their actions. It’s the same reason why they only got housewarming visits from the feds, even though they had been blabbering online about taking over the Capitol for weeks (some had “civil war” hoodies made with the attack date on it).
The reason is that the mob that stormed the Capitol was overwhelmingly white.
Observers noted how police got shoved, punched, and kicked (at least one officer was killed) by mobbers and weakly pushed back. The lackluster force defending the Capitol that day paled in comparison to the excessive police response against Black Lives Matter protesters last summer, who were tear-gassed and beaten by police in military-grade gear when they were just standing in the public streets.
As U.S. history shows, you get certain privileges in this country when you’re a white person. One of these privileges is acting with impunity because you’re given the benefit of the doubt from the get-go. Innocent until proven guilty, you get an FBI courtesy call until you’re caught red-handed trying to make away with the House Speaker’s podium.
But if you have a little more melanin in your skin, the rule is the opposite: you are suspected until proven innocent. And if you’re Black, it’s even worse — you are a full-blown walking threat. A Black person can’t even go to brunch without getting harassed, let alone be allowed to storm the Capitol while shouting death threats and wielding firearms, no matter how many U.S. flags they waved.
Meanwhile, violence acted out by white people is never viewed as actual violence, a double standard that normalizes extremist tendencies among white Americans. As the great James Baldwin put it: “In the United States, violence and heroism have been made synonymous except when it comes to blacks.”
Ashli Babbitt was an Air Force veteran who was the first known casualty from the Capitol attack. New York Magazine described her as a Trump extremist with a Blue Lives Matter flag on her car and a QAnon flag on her California bungalow porch. Her pool-servicing company advertised their office as a “mask free autonomous zone” and stated they would refuse service to anyone who walked in wearing one.
Still, her family claimed they were shocked that she was part of the insurrection. “She wasn’t a terrorist. She wouldn’t have put herself in harm’s way for any bad reason,” Babbitt’s live-in girlfriend insists, as if the only way to be a terrorist is to die by suicide bomb.
News profiles about the insurrectionists featured friends and family who swear that their beloved just isn’t like that. But, evidently, they are. While I sympathize with families who have lost people in the riots — both literally and figuratively — I cannot accept the whitewashing of their violent behavior. It’s an example of white impunity and how white violence is never accepted as dangerous, no matter how much destruction it wreaks.
Fortunately, lawmakers managed to be evacuated, but not without having to shelter in place first because the mob had breached the building. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) recalled how terrifying it was inside the chambers:
"I think we all understand, but particularly as a woman of color and an immigrant woman of color, what happens when you have white nationalist, armed, violent individuals. The threat is extremely real."
So far, fewer than 100 arrests have been made since the Capitol attack, compared to the thousands of BLM supporters who were arrested last year, and most of the charges are related to trespassing (not, say, treason).
It’s clear also that the insurrection wasn’t carried out by a fringe movement of lone creeps living in the basement of their mother’s house. Among the Capitol insurgents were an Olympic medalist, school teachers, CEOs, state legislators, military veterans, and at least 30 off-duty police officers, to name a few.
While these extremists seemed like “regular” people, I suspect that they, like Babbitt, had shown very obvious signs of right-wing radicalism before they joined their comrades in the insurrection. But their violent tendencies were ignored because of the color of their skin. The next threat posed by those like them who are still out there will probably be ignored, too.
Tomorrow is the day we’ve all been anticipating for what feels like a hundred years: Inauguration Day!! As many as 25,000 National Guard soldiers have been stationed ahead of the Big Day, making it ~allegedly~ the most tightly-secured presidential inauguration to date. On a more somber note, an astonishing 20,000 flags have been planted on the National Mall to symbolize the lives that were lost during the pandemic in the U.S. See a video of the scene below.
As we inch closer to the finish line, I will say that I am mostly looking forward to four years of fewer heart palpitations and stunning performances by goddesses Lady Gaga and Jlo.
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WHAT YOU MIGHT’VE MISSED
🔥 To avoid accommodating sketchy people who may be up to no good in Washington, D.C., Airbnb has temporarily shut down their service in the area ahead of the inauguration. The company’s shelling out $15 million in lost revenue and compensating homeowners for lost income due to the imposed cancellations. | Vox
🔥 A woman is being investigated by the FBI for stealing a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and planning to sell it to Russian agents (patriotism!!!). The tip came from her ex and it looks like her father is throwing her under the bus, too. | Buzzfeed News
🔥 The Secret Service spent $144,000 to rent a studio apartment because Ivanka/Jared banned agents from using the bathroom facilities at their giant home in D.C. Of course, taxpayers like you and I had to pay for it. | The Washington Post
🔥 Many believe Chinese billionaire Jack Ma is laying low after a public showdown with Chinese regulators who have since suspended his company’s historic planned $37 billion public offering. | Financial Times
🔥 After 16 years as Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel — who, by the way, holds a doctorate in quantum chemistry — will retire this year. Go inside her steely tenure which has weathered everything from global crises to misogynistic heads of state. | CNN
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Thanks for reading this week’s issue of The P Word!
Wishing everyone a restful few weeks after the inauguration,
Natasha