April 12, 2021 last updated 14:32 ET Violent protesters loyal to President Donald Trump storm the Capitol, in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021 (AP photo by John Minchillo).
American Carnage: The Familiar Fantasies Fueling Trump’s Mob Insurrection
In the week since a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory, our picture of the day’s events has come into sharper focus. With every video and eye-witness account that appears, it becomes clearer that the attempt to subvert American democracy was far more violent than it initially seemed.
But huge gaps remain in our understanding of how that violent mob managed to penetrate what should have been a heavily guarded and secure site, especially given the threats that had been circulating online about plans to do exactly that. What we learn about the security lapses from last week, and whether or not they