大象传媒

A newly released surveillance of the Capitol tunnel in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, shows a sea of angry rioters pushing against dozens of helmeted police officers jammed inside the tunnel. The footage, which several media outlets, including CNN, sued to obtain from the federal government, shows a microcosm of the violent effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election. In the video, several men who appear to be White鈥攁nd entirely unafraid of the well-armed militarized police line鈥攃an be seen climbing on top of one another, grabbing batons from the officers鈥� hands, and beating the clear shields the officers were using to protect themselves.

We Feel Fear

For me鈥攁nd for many of us, I suspect鈥攖he video is as viscerally triggering as much of the footage that emerged a year ago. It is also a clear illustration of the impunity White America feels when facing cops, and it showcases White rage and state power鈥攖wo forces I instinctively fear鈥攆acing off against one another. It is a fear I have inadvertently cultivated in 30 years of living in this country as a brown-skinned immigrant with a foreign-sounding name.

It was the same fear I felt in the days after the 2016 presidential election, when I walked into a grocery store and wondered who among the White Americans around me chose a fascist hate-monger as their leader.

It is the same fear I feel every time a police car pulls up behind me while I鈥檓 driving.

It is the same fear that haunted me when I was a reporter traveling to D.C. to cover George W. Bush鈥檚 inauguration in 2004 and found myself a lone Brown face in a sea of wealthy, White, and politically powerful Americans clad in mink and expensive leather.

I can trace this fear all the way back to the moment I stepped foot in the U.S. at the Houston airport in 1991. As a teenage university student traveling with my father, I experienced a sense of pervasive hostility that sent a clear message: You don鈥檛 belong here.

But scanning the faces of the insurrectionists in this video and others, I see no fear. I see only anger, entitlement, and a thirst for violence and vengeance. I see faces distorted in rage at the symbols of law and order they often purport to uphold, now standing in the way of something they wanted. Police forces are expected to work in service of White America, protecting their persons and property from the 鈥渦nruly鈥� Black and Brown mobs鈥攏ot to stand in the way of their desires.

The Gaslighting of America

The rage seen in the video was a stark reminder of what 大象传媒 Executive Editor Zenobia Jeffries Warfield expressed a year ago in response to the insurrection: 鈥淭he people of this country have reinforced the idea time and again that these United States of America are for White people.鈥�

And that鈥檚 precisely what former President Donald Trump and his ilk have been trying to reinforce in the national psyche via the public rage that they are convinced is justified.

Today, Trump remains active, reinforcing his lies by to his supporters nearly a year after the riot, 鈥淩emember, the insurrection took place on November 3rd, it was the completely unarmed protest of the rigged election that took place on January 6th.鈥�

Of course, the rioters were .

And they were angry, which made for a deadly combination.

And they had no fear, about their participation on social media with details of how much 鈥渇un鈥� they had.

They felt validated by their president, who said on :

These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long.

His words were fairly typical of how he conducted himself as president鈥攁 gaslighting of the nation.

鈥淩emember this day forever,鈥� he added.

I don鈥檛 think we could ever forget.

No Justice Served

As we come upon the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, more than 700 rioters have been arrested and charged with violating various laws, according to the . While the claim that this is the 鈥溾�� may give the appearance that justice is being served, the DOJ reports that so far 鈥渁pproximately 70 people鈥� have been convicted or had their federal cases adjudicated. Of those, 31 people were sentenced to jail time, while 18 were sentenced to home detention. As of December 2021, the was a mere five years, for a Florida man named Robert Palmer who assaulted Capitol police.

A year ago, 大象传媒 Senior Editor Chris Winters wrote that the insurrection demanded a strong response. He rightly predicted that Biden鈥檚 pick to lead the Department of Justice, Merrick Garland, was 鈥渉ardly the crusader for justice this moment demands.鈥�

A day before the anniversary, that his Department of Justice would 鈥渉old all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law,鈥� implying there may be prosecutions of higher-level figures, though Garland did not name any individuals.

Meanwhile, a investigating the insurrection continues with few tangible outcomes. Although Trump鈥檚 former adviser has been charged with contempt of Congress, and his former chief of staff is in the crosshairs of the investigation, so far no top leaders have been held accountable, least of all Trump himself.

The Way Forward

It is tempting to give in to despair about collective White violence, impunity, and criminal activity yet again going unpunished. On the other hand, it may also feel tempting to . But the found that a whopping 21 million Americans share the values of the insurrectionists, and a majority among them believe the use of force is justified to return to Trump鈥檚 America. Today, many of those who feel a connection with the rioters are infiltrating .

But, as Stephen Zunes pointed out in 大象传媒 last year, tens of thousands of progressive Americans participated in nonviolent trainings and efforts to protect the election results in 2020. This expansion of a powerful movement to protect democracy has gotten lost entirely in the sensationalist coverage of the riots.

Additionally, as Republicans continue their to undermine voting rights in state after state, perhaps the most productive response to last year鈥檚 attempt to overturn the election is to expand people鈥檚 ability to cast votes. Senate Majority Leader recognizes this and has threatened to change the Senate鈥檚 rules if Republicans don鈥檛 join the efforts to pass an omnibus voting rights bill.

Ultimately, there are no easy solutions for ensuring the violence of Jan. 6 never happens again. Can we really expect the machinery of a nation-state built on White supremacy to adequately respond to White supremacist violence? Until such a time as the nation as a whole acknowledges that White rage has no place in society, we should expect more violence.

But we should also not give up on our fellow Americans. The late bell hooks once , 鈥淗ow do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed?鈥�

Perhaps that is the question we must strive to answer as we face the horror of last year鈥檚 insurrection.