You can't say anything bad about Trump that I'm likely to disagree with. I do care about Trump's lies. I just don't think that they rise above the egregious behavior of his opponents.
Trump claimed that there were 250,000 or so people at the rally on Jan 6. Other estimates put the number at about 80,000. According to the U.S. Department o…
You can't say anything bad about Trump that I'm likely to disagree with. I do care about Trump's lies. I just don't think that they rise above the egregious behavior of his opponents.
Trump claimed that there were 250,000 or so people at the rally on Jan 6. Other estimates put the number at about 80,000. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, about 1,100 people have been arrested in connection with the January 6 attack as of late 2023, many, but not all of whom entered the Capitol building. The breach involved individuals engaging in illegal activities, including vandalism, theft, and violence, while some entered the building without causing harm.
That's a very small percentage of people that came to the rally. They committed crimes, and they are being prosecuted at a level out of proportion to people that burned down enough buildings to rate the Floyd protests as the most expensive civil unrest ever with insured losses totaling between 1 and 2 billion dollars. Actual losses were certainly higher as these were only insured losses. I asked chat-GPT because I did not know how else to approach the question and this was part of the answer "...those involved in serious crimes like looting or violence during the George Floyd protests also faced significant penalties, though typically less severe than those imposed on January 6 rioters."
This was the query I submitted if you want to read the whole answer. "have jan 6 protesters received harsher sentences than George Floyd protesters?"
I think you are probably familiar with Handwaving Freakoutery. If you aren't you should be. He is awesome. Here is his measure of Civil Unrest where he compares Jan 6 and other events to the "Mostly Peaceful Summer of 2020". https://hwfo.substack.com/p/a-new-unit-of-measure-for-civil-unrest Jan 6 barely registers.
Yes, the protesters wanted the results of the election changed. Protesters always want some change. But not a single person has even been charged with "insurrection" and they were clearly unprepared to overthrow the government. Hell, Madonna wants to blow up the white house. And protesters often say very bad things, like "Hang Mike Pence" or "Kill all Cops". That's wrong but it's not insurrection.
I love your work as I think you are an objective observer. I just disagree that this is a false equivalence.
“Trump claimed that there were 250,000 or so people at the rally on Jan 6. Other estimates put the number at about 80,000.”
😅Trump in a nutshell.
Nobody cares how many people were at the rally. If the people had stayed outside instead of actually trying to stop the certification, it would have been mostly a “nothing burger” as the kids like to say (although Trump’s lies would still be a huge issue).
So no, setting up a gallows and shouting “Hang Mike Pence” isn’t an insurrection, but storming into the Capitol building as elected officials try to certify a democratic election, physically attacking Capitol police as they try to prevent you, and sending the aforementioned officials into lockdown because they legitimately fear for their life? Yes, I think that’s an attempted insurrection. It did, in fact, delay the certification. And the stated aim, from Trump himself, was to pressure Mike Pence not to accept the results.
So yes, I do think the Jan 6th protestors should have received harsher sentences than the BLM rioters (although I’m not sure I think the people who *didn’t* enter the building should have received much punishment), because this wasn’t just a riot, it was an attack on democracy. Riots are bad, but a riot that attempts to overthrow the will of the people is, at least to me, very obviously worse.
You can't say anything bad about Trump that I'm likely to disagree with. I do care about Trump's lies. I just don't think that they rise above the egregious behavior of his opponents.
Trump claimed that there were 250,000 or so people at the rally on Jan 6. Other estimates put the number at about 80,000. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, about 1,100 people have been arrested in connection with the January 6 attack as of late 2023, many, but not all of whom entered the Capitol building. The breach involved individuals engaging in illegal activities, including vandalism, theft, and violence, while some entered the building without causing harm.
That's a very small percentage of people that came to the rally. They committed crimes, and they are being prosecuted at a level out of proportion to people that burned down enough buildings to rate the Floyd protests as the most expensive civil unrest ever with insured losses totaling between 1 and 2 billion dollars. Actual losses were certainly higher as these were only insured losses. I asked chat-GPT because I did not know how else to approach the question and this was part of the answer "...those involved in serious crimes like looting or violence during the George Floyd protests also faced significant penalties, though typically less severe than those imposed on January 6 rioters."
This was the query I submitted if you want to read the whole answer. "have jan 6 protesters received harsher sentences than George Floyd protesters?"
I think you are probably familiar with Handwaving Freakoutery. If you aren't you should be. He is awesome. Here is his measure of Civil Unrest where he compares Jan 6 and other events to the "Mostly Peaceful Summer of 2020". https://hwfo.substack.com/p/a-new-unit-of-measure-for-civil-unrest Jan 6 barely registers.
Yes, the protesters wanted the results of the election changed. Protesters always want some change. But not a single person has even been charged with "insurrection" and they were clearly unprepared to overthrow the government. Hell, Madonna wants to blow up the white house. And protesters often say very bad things, like "Hang Mike Pence" or "Kill all Cops". That's wrong but it's not insurrection.
I love your work as I think you are an objective observer. I just disagree that this is a false equivalence.
“Trump claimed that there were 250,000 or so people at the rally on Jan 6. Other estimates put the number at about 80,000.”
😅Trump in a nutshell.
Nobody cares how many people were at the rally. If the people had stayed outside instead of actually trying to stop the certification, it would have been mostly a “nothing burger” as the kids like to say (although Trump’s lies would still be a huge issue).
But as you know, they went much, much further than that. And they knew what they were doing. This wasn’t just some spur of the moment rush of blood (https://x.com/january6thcmte/status/1535082372030414861?s=61&t=jJ3uxN_f76fIkbFMc7zXqg) (please do watch this, I think a lot of people have forgotten what went down that day).
So no, setting up a gallows and shouting “Hang Mike Pence” isn’t an insurrection, but storming into the Capitol building as elected officials try to certify a democratic election, physically attacking Capitol police as they try to prevent you, and sending the aforementioned officials into lockdown because they legitimately fear for their life? Yes, I think that’s an attempted insurrection. It did, in fact, delay the certification. And the stated aim, from Trump himself, was to pressure Mike Pence not to accept the results.
So yes, I do think the Jan 6th protestors should have received harsher sentences than the BLM rioters (although I’m not sure I think the people who *didn’t* enter the building should have received much punishment), because this wasn’t just a riot, it was an attack on democracy. Riots are bad, but a riot that attempts to overthrow the will of the people is, at least to me, very obviously worse.