Photo courtesy of Bill O’Leary via the Washington Post.

  San Luis Obispo High School students and staff were just leaving fifth period when Congress was being evacuated amidst a dispute over Arizona’s electoral college votes.

  We turned on the TV to an attempted coup.

  Because that’s what it is.

  We aren’t going to mince words. 

  We’re appalled at the fact many people still are not calling this what it is: an attempted coup on our democracy. 

  We saw white supremacist groups, neo-Confederates, neo-Nazis, QAnon conspiracy theorists, and far-right terrorists break into our Capitol, loot and riot, and violently attempt to overthrow the foundation of our democracy.

  “…This will be a stain on our country not so easily washed away. The final, terrible, indelible legacy of the 45th president of the United States – undoubtedly, our worst,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York after Congress reconvened their joint session.

“Make no mistake my friends, today’s events did not happen spontaneously. This President bears a great deal of the blame. This mob was in good part President Trump’s doing… his responsibility, his everlasting shame. Today’s events, certainly, certainly would have not happened without him. …Now, January 6 will go down as one of the darkest days of recent American history, a final warning to our nation about the consequences of a demagogic president.”

  One of the most disturbing images that will go down in history is a noose hung outside the Capitol. Snopes even confirmed the image was actually taken.

  Colorado senator Michael Bennett compared the riots to the collapse of the Kingdom of Italy in 1922, caused by a similar coup composed of fascists, preventing citizens from voting, leading to Benito Moussolini’s rise to power.

  Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois gave a powerful speech, starting off with Abraham Lincoln and the sacred building of the Capitol.

  “…This building was changing [when Lincoln arrived as president]. Big changes. They were building a dome on the Capitol. …In the earliest days of the war, [the council said] ‘Stop building the dome]. It cost too much money and we can’t spend any more time on it.’ And Lincoln said ‘No. We’re going to build that dome and we’re going to finish it. That dome and this building will be a symbol of this country that will survive the Civil War and come back strong,” said Durbin.

“Since [the dome was finished], that dome and this building have been a symbol to this country–A symbol of unity and of hope. …This is a special place, it is a sacred place. But this sacred place was desecrated by a mob today on our watch. This temple to democracy was defiled by thugs who roamed the halls and sat in that chair, Mr. Vice President, the one that you vacated at 2:15 this afternoon, and posed for pictures,” said Durbin.

“This mob was invited to come to Washington on this day by this president for one reason: because he knew the electoral college vote was going to be counted on this day. He wanted this mob to disrupt the constitutional process which we are part of. This mob was inspired by a president who cannot accept defeat.”

  People across the aisles are noticing the police response to this coup is completely different from the response to Black Lives Matter protests across the nation this summer.

  The official Black Lives Matter organization on Twitter responded by looking at how their protesters, mostly peaceful, were treated, versus the rioters on the Capitol were treated today.

  How is it that when the protesters are white that police end up not responding? How come when the protesters are quite literally fighting for the right to live, they may get shot, tear gassed, and face police in riot gear?

  White supremacy. There is no other answer.

  Let’s not forget the hypocrisy of the right as well–They claim they are the party of law and order but sabotage democracy. They claim they support the police but fight them once they defend the “law” they claim to defend as well. 

  The attempted coup in no way helped President Trump’s cause – on the contrary, several Republican senators, including Montana’s Steve Daines, Oklahoma’s James Lankford, and Georgia’s Kelly Loeffler, who expected to lodge objections to the Electoral College totals, decided not to stand by the few senators supporting Trump’s argument. 

  “The events that transpired forced me to reconsider,” said Loeffler in her floor speech.

  Republican senator Mitt Romney of Utah added in his floor speech that “what happened here today was an insurrection, incited by the President.”

  Former presidents came out in separate statements against the coup at the White House and gave the same message: This is against America.

“This is how election results are disputed in a banana republic — not our democratic republic,” said former president George W. Bush. “I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election and by the lack of respect shown today for our institutions, our traditions, and our law enforcement.”

  Twitter suspended Trump’s account for 12 hours, deleting two of his tweets. They cited their civil integrity policy in wake of the event, putting a muffler over the rabid dog that is our current president.

  Republican senators Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and the other five that joined them in the Senate, and the 138 House members all have blood on their hands after the deaths of four people.

  Real, actual, American blood that they are responsible for along with fascist-in-chief Donald J. Trump.

  They fueled the flames of hatred only for people to be injured and four people to be killed.

  After the events on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Colorado congressman Jason Crow spoke about the events that ensued to CNN Thursday morning. 

  “The evacuation stopped when we were being closed off and trapped,” said Crow in an interview with CNN. “There was about a 15 to 20 minute period where we were surrounded with no way out. I haven’t felt that way in over 15 years since I was a ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan where I thought there was a possibility I’d have to fight my way out.

“I reverted to ‘ranger mode’ where I was focusing on what I could do to try to get us out of that. I was going around and making sure the doors were locked and closed, moving some of the other members away from the doors, and directed the other members to remove their pens [to be] identifiable in case the mob did break through.

“I had a pen in my pocket that I could use as a weapon, I was looking for other weapons as well, and I was coordinating with the Capitol Police to try to find a way out for us.”

  Regardless of political affiliation, Americans should be able to come together in solidarity against the heinous crimes committed at the Capitol building.

  We must recognize the perpetrators of this crime as insurrectionists.

  This will go down in history as an attempt to shut down our democracy.

  The 25th Amendment has to be invoked. Trump is incapable of leading the country. Alternatively, he could be impeached and tried for treason–which is what this is. There’s no pussyfooting around it.

  It is undeniable that this is going to be one of the most remembered days in American history. But the fact so many supported it and so many stood idly by will reflect on them.