Introduction
The United States Capitol was stormed by a mob supporting the republican president Donald J. Trump. As a result, the joint session of Congress was disrupted, which was convened to certify the presidential elections of 2020 result. Trump had lost to his Democratic opponent Joe Biden, and the mob sought to keep Trump in power by preventing Congress from certifying the win by Joe Biden. The attack was the culmination of a seven-part plan by Trump to overturn the elections. The purpose of this paper is to show that Donald Trump is not solely responsible for the January 6 Capitol attack event. Although many people may think that Donald Trump was responsible for the capital attack on January 6, other persons were involved
How People Were Involved in January 6 Riot
Donald Trump’s lies were perpetuated by many groups and individuals who purported to support him. As a result of the attack, five people died during, before, and after the event. Many people were injured during the riot, including 138 police officers, and four others who responded to the attack died by suicide within seven months. The right-wing media was greatly responsible for spreading in propagating the faith means.
The media greatly influences how people think and behave as it happened after the elections. The news was passed through the media to several groups, increasing tension concerning the results of the elections. Donald Trump had made a speech saying that they needed to save America, causing uncertainty in groups such as the proud boys and other right-wing groups. However, the information was highly shared among citizens driving a sharp transformation of information capable of leading to chaos.
Counter Arguments
Why People Think Trump Is Solely Responsible for the Attack
Some people feel that Trump is solely responsible for the January 6 Capitol attack. The argument is based on the fact that Trump was the primary reason the riot happened. He was directly responsible for the event and encouraged those who were involved. President Trump and his enablers incited the violent attack (Jacobson 283). Trump persisted in asserting erroneously that Democrats were planning to rig the election by unlawful methods, faking, manipulating, or tossing absentee ballots on a large scale. His accusations were consistent with his numerous claims during the 2016 presidential campaign that Democrats might manipulate the election, which he won (Ward 137). His seditious rhetoric prompted a mob of more than a thousand people to storm the US Capitol building. Others broke into houses and senate floors where elected representatives had gathered to perform their constitutional duty of counting and to confirm the elections.
The events are directly linked to Trump, who sparked the assaults on the mob. Some people carried the confederate flag as they attacked the American government seat and forced the suspension of congressional debate. The people broke doors, shattered windows, and clashed with security forces shouting their support for Trump and defying the lawful results of the elections. Trump has railed for months against the rendered verdict by voters back in November (Ward 141). He summoned his supporters to Washington on the same day and encouraged them to march on the Capitol. He told the supporters that the elections were being stolen and asked them to fight for their win. Trump said to the supporters that he might join them as they stormed the building.
Trump is continually criticized for his actions and responsibilities in the day of the event. He declined to condemn the mob’s actions in defense of the constitution he had sworn to protect and preserve. Later in the day, when Trump finally spoke, he affirmed the protesters’ anger and informed them that the elections had been stolen but asked them to go home anyway (Jacobson 280). The people who claim Trump is solely responsible view it as a situation of the performance of a man not willing to perform his duties. One man from Ohio claimed he was following the orders from President Donald Trump during the trial (“US Capitol”). The man said he believed Trump’s claims and felt obligated to carry on orders as they came from the president. This showed that Trump directly influenced the participant, hence the riot’s occurrences.
Reaffirmation that Donald Trump Was not solely Responsible for the Riot
As much as some people feel Donald Trump was solely responsible for the attack on the united state capitol on January 6, he did not coordinate the attack alone. The attack was consequently aided by the right-wing media that propagated his lies. Furthermore, a study has considered that the individuals who participated in the attack had the most responsibility (Jasper 845). So the rioters were the most terrific deal in responsibility for the insurrection.
Fringe news networks such that given by ‘Fox News’ are involved in distributing fake news about President Donald Trump’s lies, and social media extensively share it with people. News networks provided different commentaries and content, causing a sharp transformation of the relationship between news consumers and fringe media channels. The social media data provided the dynamics of the news network and their viewers, which included different translations for opinions across different social sub-communities and groups. Following an unexpectedly strong showing of a possible win by Biden, Fox News made news on their refusal to accept and present the election outcomes. Former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle followed with more lofty rhetoric reminding the people that President Trump will continue to fight for their dreams and will continue to save America (KhudaBukhsh et al. 4). He said that they would not allow liberals and Democrats to steal their dream by stealing the elections.
Notably, threats from rally speakers to inflict harm on others were targeted mainly at fellow Republican lawmakers and not toward Democrats. The advanced right-wing media provided group members with strong justifications to take action regarding the rig of the elections. The ‘Stop the Steal’ rally mantra telegraphed the potential danger to law enforcement and the police authorities before the event on January 6 at the signal was missed.
Newsmax consequently peddled lies that made people believe that Trump won the election and that there was widespread voter fraud. People functioned under a new emergent norm created with false information from political leaders and spread widely over social media (KhudaBukhsh et al. 10). The events of January 6 highlight the dangers of a democratic society when politicians in high office repeatedly utter lies and persuade supporters to believe in made-up events in the media. Due to affective polarization, current partisan politics were less motivated by the actual problems than by a strong dislike for the rival party (Smith and Scott 265). Individuals could communicate and exchange information with others who share their opinions and identities through social media and ideologically aligned news sources. These interactions reinforce and magnify in-group beliefs, hostility toward members of the opposite group, and the importance of intergroup conflict.
Donald Trump made his infamous speech saying ‘save America’, which was propagated on these media sources. He encouraged his followers to march to the Capitol, arguing that they would no longer have a country if they did not fight like ‘hells’ (Smith and Scott 264). After the announcement, diverse groups stormed into the Capitol to prevent certification of the results. Among the crowd, the majority was unaffiliated with specific extremist group members of Proud boys, Three Percenters, Oath keepers, and others.
In the first public hearing of the investigations on the January 6 Capitol attack, these far-right extremist group members had been accused of plotting for weeks to stop the peaceful transfer of power. The top members and leaders of the groups were charged with a ruthless conspiracy that authorities described as an organized effort to sabotage the election results and keep Donald Trump in office (“US Capitol”). They are known chiefly for participation in anti-fascist activists or at protests and rallies. Three months before the 2020 elections, the group members made a celebration when Donald Trump refused to outright condemn the group in his first debate with Joe Biden (Ward 140). Instead, he supposed them by saying that they should stand back as stand by.
The right-wing media possessed social dynamics related to rising tyranny, such as the disposition character of persons in an authoritarian group, how members are transformed by membership, and the ease of influence from authoritarian leaders. People in the right-wing authoritarianism process have high conventional violence and aggressive behaviors toward those who deviate from expected norms sanctioned by authority figures. Some studies have confirmed a significant association between right-wing authoritarians and the Republicans who preferred Trump’s support (Smith and Scott 268). In addition, the right-wing media possessed characteristics of social dominance orientation which showed a strong interest in maintaining group-based hierarchies, showing little concern for establishing equality among groups within the community.
Evidence of bias can be seen in the words spoken by conservative television political commentator Tucker Carlson in the immediate aftermath of the violence at the Capitol building. He stated, “We got to this sad, chaotic day for a reason. It is not your fault; it is their fault” (Smith and Scott 267). Carlson acknowledges the in-group status of the individuals involved in the insurrection and describes their behavior as horrifying. The in-group favoritism led him to render the people responsible for the violence. He stated that the extremist is victims of the failed democracy (Smith and Scott 267). He acknowledges that the members involved in the mob were patriots who had been unfairly and poorly treated. Hence Trump’s bib for the presidency was designed to quell the uncertainty that was experienced by the groups and the consequences of progressive social changes.
Tarrio, then-chairman of the Proud Boys, posted online messages telling the group to fight the results. He also claimed that the proud boys would become political prisoners if Biden “steals the elections” (Richer 4). Just before the elections, an unnamed person sent Tarrio a written plan for occupying important buildings in Washington on January 6, including the senate houses and offices around the Capitol. Tarrio was arrested two days before the riot for vandalizing a Black Lives Matters banner. However, other group members met at the Washington Monument on the morning of the riot even before Trump finished speaking near the White House.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the January 6 attack on United States Capitol was a source of pain to many. The riot unfolded after announcing the 2020 elections results where Biden defeated Donald Trump. However, Trump claimed that the elections had been rigged, advocating for the riot. Therefore, Trump can be viewed as the primary cause of the riot and the attack. However, further investigation may prove that Trump was not to blame sorely for the riot. Rather, the right-wing media may also be blamed for the attack on the Capitol.
Works Cited
“US Capitol Rioter Who Blames Trump for His Actions Is Found Guilty.” The Guardian, 2022, Web.
Jacobson, Gary. “Donald Trump’s Big Lie and the Future of the Republican Party.” Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 51, No. 2, 2021, pp. 273-289.
Jasper, James M. “The Cultural Roots of January 6.” Sociological Forum, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2021, pp. 845-847.
KhudaBukhsh, Ashiqur R., et al. “Fringe News Networks: Dynamics of US News Viewership Following the 2020 Presidential Election.” 14th ACM Web Science Conference 2022. pp. 269-278.
Richer, Alanna Durkin. “Explainer: A Look at Far-Right Extremists in January 6 Riot.” AP NEWS, Web.
Smith, Christine M., and R. Scott Tindale. “A Social Sharedness Interpretation of the January 6th US Capitol Insurrection.” Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, Vol. 26, No. 3, 2022, pp. 263–273.
Ward, Ken. “Social Networks, the 2016 US Presidential Election, and Kantian Ethics: Applying the Categorical Imperative to Cambridge Analytica’s Behavioral Microtargeting.” Journal of Media Ethics, Vol. 33, No. 3, 2018, pp. 133-148.