Why the Capitol Hill Riot Was An Attack on America

Alyssa Murrieta

Staff Reporter

2021 is a new year and a fresh start. Some people did not see that way, however.

On January 6th, 2021 hundreds of people in support of President Trump went out to “rally” at the United States Capitol. According to my perspective, though, it was more of an attack on the country. According to ABC News + 4 People died, with many still inside of the capitol. They were fearful for their lives, the senators were forced to put on gas masks while rioters made their way into the United States Capitol as ABC also reported on. These rioters were simply upset about things not going the way they wanted and retaliated in a completely destructive way. It is fine for these people to have differing opinions, but the results were what they were and so there should not have even been gathering. People were hurt in this act and that is simply unacceptable. Not to mention that having opposing opinions in America is simply a fact, so those who rioted there because their opinion was opposed is retaliating on a core value of America.

During all this madness the President did not make an effort to stop the rioters, but rather waited until hours later when it was no longer needed.. He also said that he “loved” the support he was getting from them on his Twitter account. The “rally” was called “Save America”, this may have been what the rioters believed they were doing but in reality they were hurting America. This was the first override of the capitol in 207 Years. Last time it was the British that tried to overthrow our democracy, and it is even sadder that this time it was our own people. Some could say President Trump is inadvertently responsible for this riot because of the poor reaction to the election results and public outrage for it. The president has made it clear that he thinks that the election was “stolen” from him, therefore, making his followers think the same. It would have been better if he had spoken his opinion in a dignified way.

We fight against each other when we need to be fighting alongside each other, what will it take for us to stop fighting?

Image Credit: Kevin Morris on Unsplash