When the right-wing extremists stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, the “Stop the Steal” mob sported various types of paramilitary dress, hateful symbols of division, and outrageous costumes like that of Jake Angeli who wore a fur hat topped with buffalo horns while wielding a spear. The angry crowd was a gaudy spectacle of malcontents organized under a lost and desperate cause.
These Trump supporters waved a multitude of historical banners, altered stars and stripes, and conspiracy theory flags – each signifying a whitewashed version of American patriotism. Alt-right groups like the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Three Percenters, neo-Nazis, and QAnon used these symbols to declare their baseless protest against the results of a free and fair American election.
The flags – I cannot forget the flags. The insurrectionists used these banners and their poles to brandish their defiance and to provoke fear in anyone opposing their seizure of the government. Their flags did not represent national pride or unity. Instead, the anarchists weaponized the symbolic fabrics and the flagpoles to clear their way to disrupt Congress – to use as battering rams against the windows and barricades of the Capitol, to attack security forces, and to beat anyone in their way into submission.
Once inside the building, one traitor even waved his Confederate flag to proclaim demented success. Such stains on democracy are indelible. January 6 will forever live as one of the blackest days of insurrection in American history. The shameful destruction and death will serve as a reminder of the danger of a deranged political cult.
Of all the subversive flags on January 6, no banner was employed more shamefully by the mob than Old Glory, the flag of the United States of America. The very symbol of our union was desecrated by those choosing to employ it to forward disunion among the races and to promote a pathetic disrespect of democracy.
Each protester seemed to take pride in declaring his or her twisted “patriotism” under the stamp of the red, white, and blue. To the mob, the flag signified their unwavering obedience to Trump as much as their obligatory MAGA hats. The infringing invasion of the day drew absolutely no legitimacy from these props used as deceitful emblems during a violent debasement of our republic.
So many of the rioters carried the flag of our nation to Washington as an instrument to usurp the will of the American people and declare themselves judge and jury of election fraud – totally misrepresenting the meaning of the banner after Trump filed and lost 86 lawsuits contesting election processes, vote counting, and the vote certification process in multiple states.
The faithful in this crowd felt it necessary to unfurl our national flag, wave it in contempt of our electoral system, and use it to incite conspirators and anarchists to kidnap Congress. Never have the colors been so betrayed. The mob observed no loyal sentiments. In the name of false conspiracies, they were bent on enforcing lies.
What makes the actions of the alt-right worse is that they claim to be patriots, part of what they call the “Patriot Front” – American white supremacists, neo-fascists, and nationalist group which utilize imagery of patriotism, liberty, and other widely accepted American values to promote their divisive ideologies.
True patriots honor the American flag to pay respect to our country and to the liberties we enjoy, and they never brandish the flag to inflict senseless damage and to harm innocent others. Patriot Front – how paradoxical is that name because their actions are a “front” used to mask their identity and true evil character. For this alone, the groups should be damned.
Trump, himself, likes to point out that he was born on Flag Day and embrace the colors in public displays to stir aggressive jingoism. During his Presidency, the American flag increasingly surfaced in connection with militias, paramilitary groups, and groups identified as domestic terrorists.
American flags and modifications of these flags are used by Trump associates along with their rhetoric of threat, strength, and defense to serve as legitimacy for their dark objectives. These alt-right groups espouse racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance under the guise of preserving the “ethnic and cultural origins” of their European ancestors. Those who resist their views are considered “enemies of the people” – enemies of a Manifest Destiny of White nationalism.
The alt-right has twisted the symbolic meaning of the flag to accommodate dangerous philosophies. In truth, hate groups made a mockery of American ideals like truth and justice as they waved these banners in their treasonous hands on January 6. They used the flags as both symbolic and physical bludgeons in the insurrection and seizure of the Capitol. Think of it – the angry mob used the standard of truth and freedom as a prop to accomplish their evil intent.
These insurrectionists had no respect for the flag as we know it. Neither did they have the slightest respect for the government enforcing the will of the majority under its colors. This was clear to Huffington Post reporter Igor Bobic as he watched rioters rip an American flag off a flagpole outside the Capitol building during the rampage on January 6.
Bobic witnessed these rioters climbing scaffolding to the second floor of the U.S. Capitol where the flag was hanging. When they reached it, one of the men tore down the flag and threw it to to the ground, inciting cheers and applause from those watching. He then attempted to replace it with a Trump flag. Let that sink in – the traitor tore down our precious flag that stood on the revered Capitol, blatantly defiled the banner, and then replaced our national flag with the rag of a defeated conspirator as if to declare a victory for insurrection.
Then, the murderous crowd swelled to continue their unforgivable crime.
Just minutes later, the criminals breached the Capitol building, breaking windows, storming the Senate chamber and vandalizing offices inside, forcing the evacuation of lawmakers who were gathered inside the Capitol to count the Electoral College votes certifying President-elect Joe Biden's win.
Consider that all of this mayhem took place during a riot supporting a fraudulent claim of a rigged election – and sadly, the violent insurrection came about under a sea of American flags. The irony is frightening. The vandals desecrated their own colors.
It does not bother me that the flag is used as a potent tool in protests; however, when the hallowed banner is carried as a rallying symbol to promote lost causes that soil our democracy, the instigators defile the very standard of our shared human dignity and compassion. I cannot help but seeing a black stain on that flag on January 6, 2021, when it became ammunition for crazed anarchists.
Tyrone Beason, reporter for the Los Angeles Times, puts the American flag in a thoughtful perspective …
“'I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,' goes our nation’s oath.
“To which we might add, 'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' To which we also might add, 'No justice, no peace.'
“America is not so hard to see if you know where to look.
“Every time the Stars and Stripes come into view, its people, proud and disappointed, hopeful and cynical, aggrandized and aggrieved, are illuminated.
“Mere fibers and pigment, the flag means nothing except everything we stand for.”
(Tyson Beason. “Our flag, used as a symbol of pride and protest, tells a lot about who we are.” The Seattle Times. July 07, 2015.)
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