David DeBatto
Right-Wing Christian Nationalism in America: The New Face of U.S. Domestic Terrorism

The United States and indeed, the entire world was shocked with the live video images broadcast internationally when thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump breached the barricaded doors of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021, assaulted U.S. Capitol Police Officers and members of the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department, with some rioters then rampaging through the capitol in search of Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress with the intent to kidnap and kill them.

For Americans watching those surreal scenes unfold on their TV, computer, or cell phone, it was like watching news of a coup attempt in some faraway country with an unstable government, scenes of a crazed and angry mob in a banana republic trying to oust a particularly repressive autocrat. Or perhaps it was happening in some eastern European nation from the former Soviet Union. These were scenes Americans were used to seeing from time to time, not pleasant scenes to be sure, but scenes and images they could understand.

But they could not understand these images emanating from within their own country, within their national Capitol Building, the heart of their government, their democracy. For most Americans watching those scenes unfold live before their eyes on that horrific day, the scenes of the insurrection that were broadcast live from Washington, DC were nothing short of an unimaginable nightmare they never thought they would have to endure. That searing national tragedy has left deep scars on the American psyche that are still raw, still unhealed, and if anything, are worse today than on that 6th day in January.

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The United States and indeed, the entire world was shocked with the live video images broadcast internationally when thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump breached the barricaded doors of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021, assaulted U.S. Capitol Police Officers and members of the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department, with some rioters then rampaging through the capitol in search of Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress with the intent to kidnap and kill them.

For Americans watching those surreal scenes unfold on their TV, computer, or cell phone, it was like watching news of a coup attempt in some faraway country with an unstable government, scenes of a crazed and angry mob in a banana republic trying to oust a particularly repressive autocrat. Or perhaps it was happening in some eastern European nation from the former Soviet Union. These were scenes Americans were used to seeing from time to time, not pleasant scenes to be sure, but scenes and images they could understand.

But they could not understand these images emanating from within their own country, within their national Capitol Building, the heart of their government, their democracy. For most Americans watching those scenes unfold live before their eyes on that horrific day, the scenes of the insurrection that were broadcast live from Washington, DC were nothing short of an unimaginable nightmare they never thought they would have to endure. That searing national tragedy has left deep scars on the American psyche that are still raw, still unhealed, and if anything, are worse today than on that 6th day in January.

Full PDF