There are a whole lot of words or phrases you could use to describe what happened at our nation’s Capitol building last week at the hands of rabid Trump supporters — an insurrection, a violent riot, treason, sedition, vile, disgusting, un-American; just to name a few. However, “1st Amendment protests” is not one of them. This was not a protest. This had nothing to do with the Constitution. This was an act of domestic terror and an attack on this nation’s very democracy. Yet, here we are, with the Department of Defense calling it just that – a 1st Amendment protest — and Americans are downright sickened.
Following Wednesday’s Capitol riots perpetrated by pro-Trump insurrectionists, the Pentagon, stacked with Trump-appointed officials, has released a timeline of the events surrounding the attack that was incited by Trump himself. And to say that the document is heavily slanted in the favor of those who ignited/enacted this heinous disaster would be the understatement of the decade.
The office of the Secretary of Defense released the document that gives a play by play of the violent, feces-smearing, deadly event only to classify it resoundingly mildly as a “protest,” even going so far as to give the attack an official, capital name, “First Amendment Protests.”
Frankly, the seditious act didn’t have a thing to do with the First Amendment of the Constitution — unless you want to count the destruction of expensive equipment and threats to reporters’ lives.
They made a noose from the camera cord and hung it from a tree. pic.twitter.com/M9KC7odLAm
— Paul McLeod (@pdmcleod) January 6, 2021
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However, the Pentagon seems to think they can get away with this label because the event was originally labeled “Stop The Steal,” claiming that America was fraught with election fraud. Now that Trump and many of his people have found themselves banned from multiple social media platforms in connection to the parts they played in this violent insurrection, it’s clear that the pro-Trump Pentagon is using this opportunity to tie the Capitol attacks into what they have deemed an attack on Donald Trump’s First Amendment right to free speech.
Fascinatingly, the Defense Department is referring to Wednesday’s pro-Trump riot as “the January 6, 2021 1st Amendment Protests.” https://t.co/RFeeR4OGK6 pic.twitter.com/46FKLBi4zI
— Bradley Peniston (@navybook) January 9, 2021
To say the very least, Americans could not hide their outrage at this disgusting and obvious attempt to twist the narrative:
This is reprehensible. In no way should an official memo for the record from the @DeptofDefense characterize the insurrection of Jan 6th as a “1st Amendment protest.”
It should be rescinded immediately and rewritten to accurately describe the orchestrated attack on democracy.
— David Lapan (@DaveLapanDC) January 9, 2021
I didn’t know the 1st amendment covered pulling a Metro Cop’s head through a broken window. pic.twitter.com/ReI568WrrS
— Mike Mroz (@mikewazu013) January 9, 2021
This is not a 1st amendment protest. Find me one noose at another “protest”. When Biden is in office the wording needs to reflect reality. pic.twitter.com/VwR0sDGXfA
— Charlie Wageman 🇺🇸 🏴☠️ (@CharlieWageman) January 9, 2021
This is an outrage. It was treason, sedition, and murderous.
— Impeach Trump❄️ (@iamLucretiaMott) January 10, 2021
Everyone already trying to avoid words like insurrection and sedition. Because it means they not only didn’t do their jobs, but by not doing so helped the attack on congress.
— StuDuncan (@StuDDuncan1) January 9, 2021
Calling them “1st amendment protests” isn’t just avoiding words like insurrection and sedition — it’s actively reframing them as positive, “American” events
I think it goes beyond avoiding culpability: this is the language of the people who wholeheartedly agree with the rioters
— Jakes (@LlamaFace120) January 9, 2021
They can try with all their might to frame this as some sort of homegrown American right, but the people know the truth. And we will not forget who was complacent.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/Martin Falbisoner licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
