Read on Twitter
Just summarizing some of the various racist medievalisms that seem to have driven the mob that stormed the US capital.
So it starts with the Trump rally, at which Rudy Giuliani called for a "trial by combat" to determine the winner of the election.
#MedievalTwitter
So it starts with the Trump rally, at which Rudy Giuliani called for a "trial by combat" to determine the winner of the election.
#MedievalTwitter
The people at the rally then stormed the Capital building. As others have noted, several of them seem to have had "medieval" symbols, including the Valknot, all of which are popular among far-right extremists. https://twitter.com/heyouonline/status/1347073644367814659
More on those symbols here: https://twitter.com/DDDrewDaniel/status/1346973197049192448
A good thread on the far-right appropriation of medieval symbols is here: https://twitter.com/ISASaxonists/status/1186306775328460800
The so-called "Q Shaman," whose name is Jake Angeli, seems to be steeped in medievalisms. This is a picture from him at a climate rally recently, with a sign claiming that the climate crisis is "Ragnarok."
https://www.lmtonline.com/nation/article/q-shaman-us-capitol-antifa-matt-gaetz-15852663.php
https://www.lmtonline.com/nation/article/q-shaman-us-capitol-antifa-matt-gaetz-15852663.php
(the connections between environmental activism and the far-right are too complicated to go into here, but, suffice to say, there's a long history of the far-right showing supporting for environmental movements through racist rhetoric)
It is important to note that Angeli is not wearing a Viking helmet. He is appropriating Indigenous American culture and symbols. https://twitter.com/NeolithicSheep/status/1346995945167323136
Angeli was not the only person doing racist cosplay. This politically connected dude was dressed in furs, carrying a wooden staff, though I don't know whether this is specifically meant to evoke Indigenous peoples. https://gothamist.com/news/trump-fur-ever-costumed-capitol-rioter-son-brooklyn-supreme-court-judge
There is a LOT of crossover between these medieval and Indigenous appropriation, btw. A good place to look for information on the connections between racist medievalisms and settler colonialism is Prof. Adam Miyashiro's work, such as this piece: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lic3.12550
Prof. Miyashiro also has a short piece in this excellent anthology on the connections:
https://punctumbooks.com/titles/disturbing-times-medieval-pasts-reimagined-futures/
https://punctumbooks.com/titles/disturbing-times-medieval-pasts-reimagined-futures/
Back to the mob. Members of the Proud Boys were there. One of their leaders, Enrique Tarrio, launched a recent failed attempt to get antifa labelled a terrorist org by the US gov, a petition taken up by Ted Cruz (pictured here with Tarrio) & Trump. https://itsgoingdown.org/proud-boy-leader-behind-petition/
Tarrio was arrested and banned from DC due to his participation in a violent event the day before the rally/mob. https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/01/08/far-right-insurrectionists-organized-capitol-siege-parler
Tarrio is a former member of the "paramilitary wing" of the Proud Boys, known as the Alt-Knights, another medievalism. They are currently being investigated for their role in the violence at Charlottesville. https://twitter.com/Hatewatch/status/1070415562193416197
Charlottesville's evocation of medievalisms in the service of white supremacy is well-documented. This article by Prof. Sierra Lomuto is a good place to start: https://www.inthemedievalmiddle.com/2019/04/public-medievalism-and-rigor-of-anti.html
These invocations of the Middle Ages are connected & are used to justify white supremacist views and violence. Politicians like Kelly Loeffler, who lost her senate race the same day, repeat & amplify this rhetoric: https://twitter.com/erik_kaars/status/1310862963465744384
Medieval studies has long ignored its complicity in elevating these narratives and associating medieval Europe with whiteness (so much so that the study of early medieval England has long been referred to using "Anglo-Saxon," a synonym for whiteness. https://mrambaranolm.medium.com/history-bites-resources-on-the-problematic-term-anglo-saxon-part-1-9320b6a09eb7
It's worth noting, in this context, that Trump just recently appointed a right-wing medievalist with connections to these groups to a government committee on "cultural heritage" claims. https://twitter.com/Lollardfish/status/1341894109972344835?s=20
Tl;dr: these far-right appropriation of medieval symbols was on full display this week. It is incumbent on medievalists to recognize & call out this stuff. It's also important to see how these discourses connect to other forms of appropriation, especially of Indigenous ppls.
As @DragonsNThings points out, this article mentions there was a man in chain mail at the riot as well, but no pictures seem to exist: https://twitter.com/DragonsNThings/status/1347927852566654978?s=20
