We were barely one week into 2021 when the dreadful images of delirious madmen in hideous red hats took the world by storm. As far as breaking news goes, it wasn’t nearly as spectacular as commercial jetliners crashing into a couple of skyscrapers, but it sure as hell was as impactful for the future of American democracy.
Indeed, a couple of hours before, the Capitol Building was still an embodiment of that. A symbol of the what the US are supposed to stand for, a physical representation of the unbreakable bond between the American people and their government. But that was before last Wednesday, when a pack of delusional inbreds sporting neckbeards, confederate flags and secondhand militia gear stormed the historic building. But you already know that, don’t you? It was all over the news. “Trump mob storms Capitol” could be seen on the front page of the Washington Post. USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Guardian, the Philadelphia Inquirer… all their headlines were talking about the same “mob”.
« Not a “pro-ISIS stabber” or “Baghdadi supporter”. A terrorist. »
I am not usually one to dwell on semantics, however words do have a meaning. For several years, we have been bearing witness to a worrying global rejection of science and modernity, which has led to a new age of obscurantism. This phenomenon has prompted fanatics of all stripes to feel confident enough to disparage, graze or murder anyone who has disagreed with their backward political or religious views. All leading to a terrifying resurgence of “the unlawful use or threat of violence especially against the state or the public as a politically motivated means of attack or coercion”. This is the legal definition of the word “terrorism” straight from the Merriam-Webster dictionary, in case you wondered.
Terrorist. A simple three syllable noun, pronounced /ˈterərɪst/. It is easy to spell as well; you only need 9 characters to do so. Which is why I sometimes wonder why some terrorists seem to automatically earn this appellation whereas others are either called “shooters” or “rioters”.
Is it determined by the number of victims? Even four years after the Ohio State University attack, some newspapers are still adamant to call its perpetrator a terrorist even though there are still no evidences of a real connection between the attacker and the Islamic state. ISIS did claim responsibility, but let’s be honest, these bastards would have probably tried to claim my uncle’s bad case of hemorrhoids if it had made the news last month. The following year, James Alex Field Jr. perpetrated a similar attack in Charlottesville, but this one actually resulted in one murder and 15 more people being injured. And yet, many newspapers defined the rampage as a “hit-and-run” and the terrorist as “the driver of the car attack”.
So definitely not a question of figures then. Maybe it depends on the age of the terrorist? I mean, sure, Kyle Rittenhouse appears to be called a “shooter” everywhere but in his defense, that little shit is fairly young. However, I do recall the beheading of a French teacher at the hands of a young Islamist taking place in France a couple of months later, and no newspaper shied away from describing the perpetrator of this savage crime as what he was: a terrorist. Not a “pro-ISIS stabber” or “Baghdadi supporter”. A terrorist. Considering how he was only one year older than the barbarian of the Kenosha terrorist attack, that must not be it. And after years of extensive research, one does not need razor-sharp detective skills to notice the only thing that appear to separate terrorists from shooters in the eyes of the media: their skin color.
« Jake did compensate his cumbersome fake-ass buffalo pelt by going topless to this year’s edition of the Aryan Brotherhood Fashion Week »
However, I do believe that we should simply call a spade a spade and what happened at the Capitol a terrorist attack. A group of people decided to literally take up arms and to violently storm the meeting place of the United States Congress in order to illegally assert their political belief, leading to the deaths and injuries of several people. These terrorists may attempt to hide what they are behind words like “patriots” (as Ivanka Trump called them in a since- deleted tweet) but they are the opposite of that. This horde of braindead rednecks has made perfectly clear that they were no Republicans or misguided conspiracy theorists, but good old white supremacists.
And yes, of course, they traded their pointy white hoods for MAGA hats. Can you blame them? Picture being at a drunken COVID-laden barbecue with your cousins -who also happen to be your parents and siblings at the same time- when you decide to go out on a violent protest, wouldn’t you pick the more portable fashion alternative as well? Sadly, self-proclaimed shaman Jake Angeli apparently didn’t get the memo. That’s the simpleton in the bad Red Dead Online NPC cosplay from the picture, if you wondered. Here, you have it Jaky boy, the 15 minutes of attention you have been so desperately craving for. Poor Andy Wahrol must be rolling in his grave because of morons like you. But Jake did compensate his cumbersome fake-ass buffalo pelt by going topless to this year’s edition of the Aryan Brotherhood Fashion Week, revealing gorgeous Valknut, Mjolnir and Wotanist tattoos. Three symbols from the Viking imagery that have been infamously stolen by Nazi groups. It’s alright though, Angeli doesn’t seem like the kind of guy for whom cultural appropriation is a concern.
By refraining from calling these people terrorists, the media is making another dangerous mistake, which is to present the storming of the Capitol as an “unprecedented” event. Which is far from the truth, as it has been demonstrated by a study from the CSIS (Center of Strategic & International Studies). After analyzing the history of the terrorist attacks and plots that took place in the US between 1994 and 2020, it became evident that the vast majority of them have not been perpetrated by ISIS or Al Qaeda but by right-wing extremists. To no one’s surprise, the study also shows that they have grown significantly since, you’ve guessed it, the election of the orange monstrosity. Again, make no mistake here, he may have finally thrown the Capitol attackers under the proverbial bus -like a backstabbing snitch from a bad mob film- but this is not over. Domestic terrorism will be the bloody legacy of Donald J. Trump’s presidency. And nothing attracts sharks like blood in the water. What happened this week already has geopolitical consequences as the Russian, Iranian and Chinese governments are using the Capitol storming as an excuse to denigrate the very concept of democracy.
Terrorism has become such a prevalent menace in the US that a Republican senator was terrified of having her house bombed if she defied her leader’s schemes to overturn the election. The beacon of democracy has been flickering for far too long. The media must do better than to cling onto outdated racist stereotypes and finally have the courage to step up, and call a white terrorist a terrorist. Or we will all be plunged into the dark.