First, a correction. What I thought was tear gas canisters were actually flash bang grenades. My apologies. Never been around one so I didn't know. I read some accounts of the day on break and did the V-8 forehead smack. LOL
Nevertheless, that was the turning point, IMO.
I want to first say that the VAST majority of the people I saw and spoke with were just common people. The guys in camo were a very small number in comparison to the rest of the crowd. They and their attire seemed out of place to me. I just wanted to comment on it as it was the...weirdest???...thing I saw. But hey, I'm weird in some ways so who knows.
The thing that amazed me most were the waves of people fighting their way up the steps under the left scaffolding. A group of people would surge up the stairs while others who had been sprayed with pepper spray would come down. There was constant pressure to "take the hill" as it were.
There was one particular man on the banister (?) of the steps. The banister is only about 16" wide and this guy (and a group behind him) kept working their way up the banister. The sheer determination of this guy was amazing to see. I know he took about a dozen shots from the air gun the police were shooting at him with and that man held his ground and kept advancing.
Another observation. The largest flag I saw there was a huge one with a black background and white lettering with "F**K ANTIFA" on it. Very comical to me.
Historical comparison. I passed the Manassas exit on the highway on the drive in. When I saw people sitting in their lawn chairs calmly watching everything transpire it brought me back to the battle there and accounts of people following the army to watch the battle. They had a front row seat and didn't even have to pay to watch the show. Luckily they also didn't have to beat a fast retreat like the onlookers did that historical day.
An irony in all of this was some of the police were literally just standing around after the building had been breached. I saw at least three dozen of them simply standing around at different areas. Nobody was fighting them, nobody was throwing things at them and they just stood there!
In summation, I witnessed Citizens who were already pissed off about the state of affairs in the nation become completely enraged when they were attacked with flash bang grenades. Very poor judgement by the police in analyzing the crowd and the situation.
And if anybody wants to complain about the miniscule damage done to the building I want you to stop and think if you know of someone who has ever punched the wall of their own house and put a hole in the drywall in a fit of anger? Get the gist? It's the People's House, isn't it?
Gran Torino - girl gets raped, returns home to family. Walt goes home and punches out the glass face of the cabinet in the kitchen. HIS house, HIS anger at his lack of ability at the moment to change things and then his release of that anger and frustration...a broken pane of glass.
I pray to God we don't have to resort to what Walt did next, but he had a purpose and followed through on it.
Thanks for your patience.
Thank you, you’re really very good at painting a picture.
thank you for your report.
I was there on the road between his speech and Washington’s Monument. I did not go to the capitol but later that night had a dream that I was in the building beating up an Antifa guy. Strange dream. It woke me out of a sound sleep. Weird.
On the way out of Foggy Bottom heading home, I passed Ft Marcy Park. I said a prayer for Vince.
I really appreciate your first hand reportage and thoughts on the events.
From anything you witnessed, did the camo-wearers seem to be participating in the mob action? I live in the sticks, literally in a forested rural area. Camo pants are often worn here (including by me) for hiking, hunting, chores, and casual knocking about. The wearers aren’t making any sort of statement (other than that we don’t follow fashion).
The “madness of crowds” is nothing new. A few agitators and a spark (hmm...like throwing flash-bang grenades) to make the herd lose their inhibitions and become a frenzies mob. Any law enforcement group whose job is crowd control knows this. To control a crowd, you id and remove agitators quietly, and keep things from starting through overwhelming force and obstacles that spread people out. Throwing grenades, opening barricades, understaffing (the DC police sent officers home before the riot), etc., are what you would do to create a riot deliberately. But incompetence and self-interest are “can’t miss” explanations for most events in DC. Stay safe.