We should all be watching DC on Jan 6, not just because of the political theatre in Congress, but because it feels a lot like the days before the Unite The Right Rally in Charlottesville.

I have spoken with numerous colleagues and researchers who were also analyzing white supremacist networks in 2016-2017. There is a consensus that several networked factions are planning to show up on the 6th just to see what happens next.

More than Trump supporters pushing StopTheSte*l, many are seeking to promote their causes, including anti-vaxxers trying to make a name for themselves on social media, armed anti-gov groups, and religious fundamentalists who see the incoming administration as the apocalypse.

With such a divergent goals and a lack of organization, this day is going to be chaotic. If protesters are able to delay or disrupt the vote in Congress, they will consider it a win.

If the police had laid charges against the PB who burned BLM banners stolen from Black churches, maybe there wouldn’t be such heightened excitement about what kind of racist acts they will try this time.

In many ways, Jan 6th is designed to be an escalation. Ratcheting up the anger and outrage of people disenfranchised by a president and his allies that will do anything to stay in control. And, the use of technology by powerful men will ensure we are all captivated by it.

When Deleuze wrote about societies of control, he believed that dominant technologies reflected the social values of their makers. “Societies of control operate with... computers, whose passive danger is jamming and whose active one is piracy or the introduction of viruses.”

What kind of virus has networked computing introduced into the social body? What has it stolen as it rapt us with violence? Whose liberation is glitching? Even if we are not in DC on Jan 6th, technology ensures we witness every fated blow. We get the body count in real time.