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Seeing my old stories get new life as people grapple with how, it seemed, the police may not have known the attack on the Capitol was coming.
Here’s the thing: the plans were happening out in the open for weeks. Anyone paying attention knew. But not everyone took it seriously.
Here’s the thing: the plans were happening out in the open for weeks. Anyone paying attention knew. But not everyone took it seriously.
From a story I wrote that published Dec. 22, our first warning of the Jan. 6 demonstrations, spurred on by Trump’s tweets: “January’s rallies could bring with them more violence as Trump’s bid to hold onto power takes its last gasps.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-trump-rally-january-6-protests/2020/12/22/1c94ab7a-447a-11eb-a277-49a6d1f9dff1_story.html
From my Dec. 30 piece: “Threats of violence, ploys to smuggle guns into the District and calls to set up an ‘armed encampment’ on the Mall have proliferated in online chats about the Jan. 6 day of protest.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trump-january6-dc-protest/2020/12/30/1773b19c-4acc-11eb-839a-cf4ba7b7c48c_story.html
My front-page story on Jan. 2 discussed the trajectory of extremist violence and how DC could very well become the next right-wing battleground. I wrote: “In online chat groups and forums, political rage and disbelief metastasizes into calls for violence.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/washington-dc-protests/2021/01/01/da743c20-4a68-11eb-839a-cf4ba7b7c48c_story.html
When I came across this scene yesterday, I wasn’t surprised. I’d been reading chats of far-right plans to storm the Capitol for weeks. I had been writing about potential for violence for just as long.
What shocked me was that it worked: They breached the building and ran inside. https://twitter.com/marissa_jae/status/1346919205774516230
What shocked me was that it worked: They breached the building and ran inside. https://twitter.com/marissa_jae/status/1346919205774516230
