this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2024
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[–] Makeitstop@lemmy.world 152 points 10 months ago (3 children)

If you had asked me January 5th what would happen if a mob tried to storm the capital and attack congress, I would have said they would be mowed down by machine gun fire.

After January 6th, I remember thinking "well shit, if people had actually showed up we really could have stormed area 51."

[–] ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 134 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Y'all seem to be forgetting that the reason this was a coup attempt is because the national guard was never called in despite officials knowing of the attack.

They literally paved the way for the magats to get inside.

[–] eestileib@sh.itjust.works 66 points 10 months ago (1 children)

A lot of Capitol police fought like fucking lions and are responsible for the survival of most of congress.

But there were also a few collaborators in there, make no mistake.

[–] ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 50 points 10 months ago (2 children)

That one cop, I'm actually upset I forget the name of, that lead a group away from congressmen by baiting them into a trap will forever be a hero to me.

I mean acab but this guy still sets a better example than most.

[–] FellowEnt@sh.itjust.works 52 points 10 months ago (2 children)
[–] lemmy_get_my_coat@lemmy.world 23 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] quicksand@lemm.ee 15 points 10 months ago
[–] Retrograde@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

Absolute legend

[–] winterayars@sh.itjust.works 48 points 10 months ago

Dude was black and he just knew that mob would who aggro onto him instead of the representatives because of that. (I mean, they did, didn't they?)

Maybe it's different for Capitol Police, but for most cops being a decoy isn't a part of their job description. In that moment, he wasn't acting as a cop. He was acting as a hero.

[–] HipHoboHarold@lemmy.world 56 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Not only were they not called in, but we all knew it was coming in advance. I refuse to beleive people on reddit knew about it but the government didn't. They should have been set up in advance with at least a bit more than they had.

But they didn't do that, and when people called for back up they were told "Lol no"

Yet if people try to peacefully protest against cops killing black people they get demonized and assaulted

[–] pandacoder@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

Well the people who were responsible for calling it in were the people who publicly invited the riot. Would be counterintuitive for Trump & Cronies to put down his own rebellion.

[–] feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world -5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Do you not think that was the right decision? What do you think the national response would have been if they had shot those people? They walked through the building, stole a lectern, and the US government wasn't overthrown. But if they'd been mowed down by the National Guard? Fuck me, if you didn't immediately have a literal civil war on your hands I'd be amazed.

[–] ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The govt has used the military to kill US citizens many times before.

Plus the simple presence of military forces pointing live round machine guns at you is a really good deterrent for a pathetically organized and lightly armed insurrection.

Literally would've stopped the whole thing before it even began just by having the soldiers there in the first place.

Like how they show up when it's an actual peaceful protest because it's disrupting the lives of daily people. Riot squads lined up ready to crack skulls because people are marching.

But no you're right the best thing to do in a coup is just pray the few people they had on station were enough.

[–] feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It just seems bizarre that there wasn't riot police there, so I wonder if it was intentional. The protestors, rioters or whatever mostly looked like they were on a day out, like a holiday excursion or something.

[–] ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The lack of military force was completely intentional. Which is why every single govt official who knew about the attack, had the power to, yet did nothing to fortify the capitol should all be tried for treason.

The fact the insurrectionists looked like a bunch of tourists was because of a complete lack of coordination. They looked like bumbling idiots because that's exactly what they were.

Their plan was literally

  1. Storm capitol
  2. ???
  3. Profit
[–] feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world -1 points 10 months ago

Worked out pretty well, all things considered. I wonder if, historically, that's how most plots actually end.

[–] SasquatchBanana@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yes, but also no regarding Area 51. Peoplr made facebook groups and associated on Twitter and the government would have been prepared for it explicitly because people were going to storm the capital

[–] Makeitstop@lemmy.world 18 points 10 months ago

That and because in the case of Area 51, the people who would be making the call to bring in troops and start shooting didn't stand to benefit from the actions of the crowd.

[–] fosforus@sopuli.xyz 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Yeah, and not just attack the congress arbitrarily, but attack the congress on the exact day they're making a transfer of power official. In those circumstances I would've imagined that 90% of those people get caught by FBI week prior to the actual event, and the 10% remaining people killed as you describe.

And they weren't even being a little bit clandestine about it. They were explicitly declaring what they were about to do and then did it.

Perhaps this is yet another example of the magnitude of how the government is incompetent. They cannot even protect themselves.