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It was a lynch coup.
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Since Trump’s attack on the Capitol last week, people have not quite been sure what to call it. Terminology has been amorphous, from “protest” to “riot” to “insurrection” to “coup”.
But “lynch coup” is accurate, precise, and informative.
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But “lynch coup” is accurate, precise, and informative.
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A “coup” is an attempt to seize state power with violence short of war. Coups are categorized by the means used to carry them out. A “military coup” uses the force of the military; a “palace coup” uses intrigue from those within the executive administration, and so on.
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Trump’s Capitol attack was a coup attempted by means of lynch mob. Therefore, “lynch coup” is the right term.
Here are eight points that establish the parallel between the mob that attacked the capitol and the lynch mob as it has recurred throughout American history:
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Here are eight points that establish the parallel between the mob that attacked the capitol and the lynch mob as it has recurred throughout American history:
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1. The mob used direct lynching iconography.
The mob erected a noose, chanted about hanging target, stood up large crosses, etc. This was a self-aware performance of the lynch mob archetype.
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The mob erected a noose, chanted about hanging target, stood up large crosses, etc. This was a self-aware performance of the lynch mob archetype.
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2. The attack was planned but used the pretext of spontaneity.
Historical lynch mobs were scheduled in advance (sometimes running anticipatory items in local newspapers!), but defended themselves by pretending that they represented a spontaneous upswell of feeling.
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Historical lynch mobs were scheduled in advance (sometimes running anticipatory items in local newspapers!), but defended themselves by pretending that they represented a spontaneous upswell of feeling.
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Trump’s mob, with its scheduling and recon, and then pretense that things had “got out of hand” used the same strategy.
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3. The event was both deadly serious and recreational.
One of the most gruesome elements of American lynch mobs is that many participants attended to have a good time.
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One of the most gruesome elements of American lynch mobs is that many participants attended to have a good time.
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The “fairground” atmosphere is attested in both eyewitness reports, documentary photographs, and souvenir-keeping behavior.
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Trump’s mob, with its mix of paramilitary gangs and flag-waving tourist grannies; its Zip Tie Guy and its Smile While Looting a Podium guy, displayed the same hybrid character.
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4. Perpetrators expected to resume their ordinary lives.
Unlike typical revolutionaries, terrorists, or coup plotters, lynch mob participants expect to resume life as ordinary members of civil society right after their attack.
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Unlike typical revolutionaries, terrorists, or coup plotters, lynch mob participants expect to resume life as ordinary members of civil society right after their attack.
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Trump’s mob acted with the same expectation, scheduling return flights home rather than moves into hiding or open revolt.
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5. State power collaborated through negligence rather than action.
Many coups or revolutions rely on the direct, active collaboration of the military and police power; or they fight directly to overcome this power.
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Many coups or revolutions rely on the direct, active collaboration of the military and police power; or they fight directly to overcome this power.
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Trump’s mob did neither. Instead, like lynch mobs, they relied upon the state offering merely token resistance to violence, the supposedly-innocent collaboration of negligence.
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6. The attack was propagandized on the basis of a supposed injustice which the law had failed to address.
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Revolutions and coups justify themselves with a wide range of pretexts. Lynch mobs overwhelmingly employ the pretext of some common-law crime, which the “corrupt” justice system has (supposedly) failed to address. Trump’s “Stop the Steal” fell into just this tradition.
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7. The attack targeted people of color specifically, and their political power more generally.
We all know that lynch mobs typically targeted Black Americans, or other racially marginalized Americans such as Latines, Jews, Catholics, and others.
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We all know that lynch mobs typically targeted Black Americans, or other racially marginalized Americans such as Latines, Jews, Catholics, and others.
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Trump’s mob notably targeted Pelosi (Catholic), Schumer (Jewish), the Squad (Black and Brown).
Their pretext—the supposed “theft” of an election they lost—was a crime attributed to America’s great Black metropolises: Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and so on.
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Their pretext—the supposed “theft” of an election they lost—was a crime attributed to America’s great Black metropolises: Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and so on.
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And the objective of the mob was to prevent the installation of an administration supported by people of color, in line with the bloody history of the violent overthrow of Reconstruction.
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8. The attack was in service of the slave power.
The Slave Power is that force in American history that wishes to impose the law of slavery. It is not restricted to the white South in space or the Antebellum era in time, though those are among its strongholds.
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The Slave Power is that force in American history that wishes to impose the law of slavery. It is not restricted to the white South in space or the Antebellum era in time, though those are among its strongholds.
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It is present in every American age and place so far; it demands hierarchy, white supremacy, and subjugation. It has been defeated but never eliminated; it always has friends in business and in Congress. With a careful eye you can always find who supports the Slave Power.
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Trump supports the Slave Power. He is its greatest modern champion. Lynch mobs are invariably convened in its service and for its aims. So too with Trump’s mob.
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For all of these reasons, Trump’s mob was a lynch mob, and Trump’s coup was a lynch coup. We should understand it as such, fight it as such, overcome it and smash it.
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The sight of U.S. soldiers, many Black and Brown, bivouacking in the U.S. Capitol are shocking to the sentimentalist, but its meaning should hearten every true patriot.
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As they sang in days of old in the greatest battle against the Slave Power, so too must we sing today: “John Brown's body lies a-moldering in the grave. But his soul goes marching on!”
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