The past four years of turbulence under the Trump administration came to a crescendo on Wednesday as two different Americas clashed on Capitol Hill. All the rioters who arrived at the area – whether they were there for legitimate protest or to ransack the place – wanted to make their voice heard, to make sure forgotten America would be listened to (there were also left-wing radicals among them).
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The battle for the soul of America came to a boiling point when Trump supporters could no longer take it: the joint meeting of Congress to count the electoral votes and certify Joe Biden's win.
A cop who tried to restore order felt an urge to share with me what she was feeling. She then asked me what my thoughts were. "We in the world love America. Today we are like children looking at our parents fight," I told her.
The cop then summoned her colleagues and told them that this rings so true. Ths was a sad day for America, because one side thinks the elections were stolen and another one disrespects the good people who had descended on Washington. Despite the violence and chaos – which included fatalities – the situation did not escalate into an armed confrontation. In fact, outside the Capitol, the feeling was that of a celebration. There were even evangelicals near me holding an Israeli flag proudly in their hands.
I met two Texans who had traveled all the way from the Lone-Star State just so they could show solidarity with their president, who made them feel at home in this cold capital for four years. One of them said that he was against the violence, but stressed that it should not taint everyone else. The other one said that there was no real answer to the question of whether this was bad, because only God knows such matters. He insisted that had the Left and the media not ignored half of the population, this would not have happened.
"Black lives matter gets their way in violence," he said, essentially echoing what many on the Right have been wondering since May, when the George Floyd protests got underway and America's cities were set ablaze. The Texans made it clear that on January 20th, their president would still be Donald Trump, regardless of whom gets sworn in.
In the aftermath of the protest it was clear that the city was in shock. While the pandemic had already turned the streets mostly empty, Wednesday night saw the US capital become a ghost town, in part because of the mayor's curfew.
This was the first time the Holy of Holies of American democracy was invaded by a non-foreign entity. But for all of the darkness that we saw on Tuesday, there is also a ray of light: America is still on a solid footing and is in no danger of unraveling. Some of the protesters ever took selfies with cops. So it turned out that even in such dire circumstances, human relationships know how to transcend politics after all. Likewise, the restaurants were open outside and people went about their business as much as they can in this era of corona.
It was a sad day for America, but it also proved how strong it is.
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