Don’t Call It a Protest, Don’t Call It a Riot – A Coup By Any Other Name

por Dominique DiPrima

During the debate that took place right before the historic second impeachment of President Donald Trump you could hear Republican lawmakers teeing up their newest talking point. They are pushing the false equivalency that Black Lives Matter and anti-racist protests are the same as last week’s deadly attack on the capitol. They do it for two reasons: 1) to try to make Democrats look like hypocrites for supporting the movement for Black lives, 2) to try to get white supremacist insurrectionists and the lawmakers who helped them, out of the major legal trouble that they are rightfully facing. One after another these right wing members of congress made the same argument and repeated the charge on social media. But just because you say a thing over and over again does not make it true.

When you take up arms, rally and march with the intention of overthrowing a government or changing the results of a free and fair election that is an attempted coup – not a protest. When you plot to take down a government and kill it’s elected representatives that is sedition, treason. It is not you exercising your 2nd amendment rights.

We cannot allow the alt right, facist, white supremacist, neo nazis to rebrand their insurrection, blame it on antifa or use it as an excuse to pass laws targeting activists as terrorists. They are the terrorists.

We must not permit elected officials who collaborated with or enabled violent extremists to get off without consequences. And that includes those who repeatedly and willfully parroted President Trump’s lies.

As Congresswoman Karen Bass pointed out to me on my radio show, The Front Page with Dominique DiPrima, right wing operatives are looking to use the siege on the capitol to create new laws that will be passed under the fear of white supremacist terrorists. But make n mistake, they will end up being used to target and prosecute African American activists under the banner of the make believe threat of “Black identity extremists” a concept made up by the Trump administration Department f Justice.

We must not call what happened on January 6th a protest or even a riot. We need too call it out for the crime that is was – an attempted coup. Insurrection, sedition, treason are all unlawful. And a coup by any other name is still undemocratic.