It’s becoming pretty clear now that the attack on the Capitol on Wednesday was not just some spontaneous demonstration by wild eyed Trumpists that got out of hand.  Evidence is emerging of a coordinated attack on our government with the intent of insurrectionists to not only stop the Electoral College vote certification, but to also kidnap and even kill US officials to take control of the US government and hand it to Trump in a coup.  Fortunately the coup failed and our democracy endured, but that’s not the end of the story, not by a long shot.

Despite the rightwing media blitz of bullshit that the rioters were “infiltrated by Antifa and BLM”, well known Nazis, white supremacists, Qanon nutbags, and radical gun nuts were at the front of the line.  One such radical is retired Air Force Lt. Colonel Larry Rendell Brock, Jr. who’s family and friends have described him as increasingly unhinged and radical.  He was photographed in the well of the Senate chamber on Wednesday wearing body armor, a military issue combat helmet and carrying zip tie handcuffs.  He was also photographed enter Nancy Pelosi’s office and then quietly pushing past the mob and out.  Here he is in the chamber:

Other disturbing videos and photos have been posted online of other radicals carrying zip ties and weapons.  The video of the shocking scene of radicals smashing doors and the ultimate shooting of a Trump radical was the entrance to the Speaker’s lobby just outside of the House chamber.  The person shot and killed was trying to climb through the window of the door.  Her name was Ashli Babbitt, another Air Force vet, Qanon conspiracy nut, and extremist who’d become more and more radicalized.  The target of the violence?  House members who were evacuating through the lobby down a secure elevator.  The intent is clear.

Even worse, it is now pretty apparent that someone, or some persons, at the Pentagon either overtly or tacitly supported this attempted coup by confusing or delaying military and Capitol Police response.  As we talked about yesterday, governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, announced yesterday that he was denied clearance numerous times to deploy National Guard troops to the Capitol.  Dithering/stonewalling from the Pentagon caused loss of control at the Capitol resulting in numerous injuries and 5 deaths including a Capitol Hill Police officer who was beaten to death with a fire extinguisher.

On top of all this evidence, security experts in allied countries are now speaking out about the apparent conspiracy to support the attempted coup by Trump.  These experts, speaking anonymously, said what we all know, that keeping a building like the Capitol secure is not a secret.  The techniques that keep bad actors out of secure buildings all over the world are the same, and well known by security experts who share information and regularly train together.  One NATO official interviewed said to Business Insider, “Today I am briefing my government that we believe with a reasonable level of certainty that Donald Trump attempted a coup that failed when the system did not buckle.  I can’t believe this happened.”  Now THAT, kids, is a scary but also very likely correct conclusion.

In the coming days I believe that there will be, and should be, criminal conspiracy charges against individuals in US government agencies including in the Pentagon, Homeland Security, and even the White House.  Then, we’ll have to grapple with the conclusion that millions of Americans still support the person who tried to steal our government from us.  I’m not hopeful we can pull out of this.

Republican Larry Hogan, governor or Maryland, announced today that the Pentagon refused repeated requests from him to mobilize the Maryland National Guard on Wednesday to give relief to Congress in the Capitol that was being inundated by insurrectionist Trumpists determined to kidnap/kill members of Congress and which sacked the Capitol in the process.  The Pentagon has been totally unresponsive to questions from Congress and the press since the incident.  Remember that after the election, Trump fired Secretary of Defense Mark Esper right after the election, installing sycophant Chris Miller and other Trump loyalists.  There’s little doubt that criminal investigations will begin on January 21.

Every single person who set foot on the Capitol grounds yesterday carrying out Trump’s orders is guilty of the law noted above.  This crime is felony, punishable by incarceration for up to 20 years.  The law reads:

“If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.”

This idiot is Jake Angeli, a well known Qanon conspiracy theorist who regularly shoots off his mouth at demonstrations.  He led the way into the Capitol yesterday with other rioters, and took part in taking over the Senate Chamber and was photographed on the dias. Yes, that’s a spear he’s carrying with an American flag tied to it.  He took a leadership role in this riot and sacking of the Capitol Building, and then, like the vast majority of these rioters simply walked out a free man.  To my knowledge he is still walking free.  He dresses like this to admittedly “attract attention”.  Like many Trumpists and “sovereign citizens” he obviously believes he’s above the law and can act with impunity (up to now, at least, he seems to be correct in his suppositions since he hasn’t been arrested in the past for his conduct.  At minimum, he’s now in violation of the Seditious Conspiracy law, as well as likely a number of other state, local, and federal laws.

This guy’s face is everywhere, so my question is, why in the hell is this criminal still walking the streets?  He, and everyone who participated in this riot and destruction of the Capitol building are criminals.  These criminals must be rounded up, jailed, charged and tried, and I mean swiftly.  The only way you stop this kind of behavior is to begin to swiftly bring these people to justice.  Charge them with crimes; confiscate their weapons, make to do actual serious jail time.  Only when we start enforcing the rule of law can we put a stop to this kind of protest.  This is not a First Amendment issue; this is a criminal sedition issue.  When Trump’s goons set foot on the Capitol Hill grounds, the protest ceased being a demonstration and became a felony.  We need to treat it that way, and I mean now.