Thread by @AntiFashGordon

Good morning!

I'll be following @blackhousenew and @itsa_talia on Twitter for coverage of DC today.

If you'd like to support their independent journalism, follow these Patreon links.

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2/ Chants of "Fuck Reuters" and "Uhuru"-- the Proud Boys ironic appropriation of a pan-African socialist movement-- happening on @Reuters' livestream.

"Patriots, storm the capital!" shouted through bullhorn. reuters.com/livevideo

3/ Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes is in the crowd, wearing a plate carrier and black baseball hat and generally looking stupid.

4/ Trump is now speaking, an hour late.

He claims that the "fake news media" has stolen the election.

5/ "We will stop the steal," Trump tells the crowd. "This was not a close election.... I've been in two elections, and the second one I won much bigger than the first."

6/ "Take third-world countries. Even their elections are more honest than what we have in this country," Trump tells the crowd.

"Fight for Trump!" the crowd chants.

This is what the start of an attempted coup looks like.

7/ "Just remember-- you're stronger, you're smarter... and you're the real people, the people who built this nation," Trump tells the crowd vis a vis Democrats.

This is straight out of the ultranationalist playbook, creating a myth of "real" citizens versus traitors.

8/ Fantastic ongoing thread from @HamptonStall sighting members of the far-right present at today's Stop the Steal rally in DC.

9/ "The American people do not believe the corrupt fake news anymore.... It's called suppression, and that's what happens in a Communist country. Hunter Biden, they don't talk about him," Trump says.

Notable theme is the constant assault on both the media and democracy itself.

10/ "We love the Proud Boys," a Trump attendee says to Proud Boy livestreamer Eddie Block. "God bless the Proud Boys."

Pay attention to the close relationship between Trump's base and hate groups like the Proud Boys. The mask is off.

11/ For more on that, @IwriteOK documented the growing coalition between far-right hate groups like the Proud Boys and Trump's base for @bellingcat yesterday. bellingcat.com/news/americas/…

12/ Proud Boys are on the march chanting "Where's antifa? Fuck antifa!"

Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes is there-- despite claiming that he quit the group in 2018-- as is Proud Boys Elder Ethan Nordean, who was fired by his own father from Wally's Chowderhouse for being a PB.

13/ That's Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes in the black baseball hat, classes, and plate carrier.

Beside him is Proud Boys Elder Ethan "Rufio Panman" Nordean.

14/ "We're storming the Capitol!" attendees shout.

Police lines have been reportedly breached, and mace has been deployed, but MAGA ralliers are not inside the building.

At 1:00 p.m., Congress is set to confirm the election results.

15/ A Stop the Steal attendee has been pepper-sprayed and is being ministered to by several members of the crowd, as others livestream.

16/ Meanwhile, an attendee in a skull mask worn by Neo-Nazi accelerationists confers with a police officer.

Completely normal.

17/ Fights are breaking out as attendees try to push past the cops.

There's a not insignificant amount of blood on the ground.

18/ "Move back," shout the police, as riot cops try to push the crowd back from the Capitol Building.

19/ Police are deploying pepper spray and the crowd is pepper-spraying them back.

20/ The air's a little foggy with pepper spray and pepper balls being launched at the crowd.

"You work for us!" the crowd screams at the police.

21/ Police continue to mace the crowd as a chant of "Whose House? Our House!" breaks out, and Stop the Steal ralliers attempt to push forward.

This is what an attempted coup looks like.

22/ Ralliers wrestle with police, who are attempting to hold their barriers in place.

"You're a fucking traitor to your country!" one man shouts at the police.

23/ Police continue to pepper-spray the crowd.

My screenshot wasn't fast enough, but I'm pretty sure I just saw Proud Boy Kenny Lizardo, who accompanied PB leader Enrique Tarrio in court yesterday, near the front of the line.

24/ Capitol grounds are basically covered in tear gas as Stop the Steal ralliers continue to try to push past police.

25/ Right now, the cops continue to push the crowd back, setting off what sounds like flashbangs to disorient the crowd, then hitting them with pepper-spray and periodically moving the barricades forward, making occasional arrests.

26/ Ironically, one Stop the Steal rallier wearing weighted-knuckle fighting gloves is putting his hands up, like he's not specifically dressed to fucking hurt someone.

27/ "What do you think it's gonna do for race relations when they make me pay you reparations?" one Stop the Steal rallier asks a Black cop.

I mean, probably couldn't get any worse than the attempted white nationalist coup currently happening, amirite?

28/ Compared to leftist protests I've been at, the cops are comparatively chill.

They're not smashing people in the head, and no one's kettling the Stop the Steal ralliers. They can just turn around and leave at any point.

Except.... they're not doing that.

29/ Ralliers have broken through the police lines and are occupying the scaffolding outside the Capitol building.

30/ Police appear to be holding the Capitol steps.

31/ "You're a dick, you fucking pussies," this man in the red MAGA hat screams at the cops, which is..... interesting.

32/ Yellow Gadsden flags representative of the militia movement are flying alongside at least one Confederate flag (not pictured).

33/ Reports say that Capitol staff are being evacuated by police.

34/ While GOP members of Congress claim that the election was stolen inside the Capitol building, a crowd of Trump supporters and hate group members are *actually* attempting to steal the election, and have broken past four layers of police security to occupy the Capitol steps.

35/ Stop the Steal ralliers are now at the doors of the Capitol building.

36/ The Senate has been recessed and Pence has been removed from the grounds, as per reports.

37/ Protesters are inside the Capitol building, outside the Senate chambers now.

38/ Protesters are waving at least one Confederate flag inside the Capitol building.

39/ Something I'd point out is that leftist protesters in Portland faced months of heavy tear gas and being hit with rubber bullets nightly.

The police here are trying to de-escalate with the Stop the Steal ralliers literally inside the Capitol building.

40/ Capitol police are requesting additional assistance.

Kind of strange they didn’t have that on-hand already?

41/ Protesters outside the Capitol building have breached a second door, allowing more of them to enter the building. They now effectively control the Capitol building.

"Take our country back!" some are screaming. "Forward!"

42/ The city of DC has instituted a 6:00 p.m. curfew for tonight.

Meanwhile, @RepMoBrooks is spreading disinformation about antifascists in backwards MAGA hats, when this is clearly a far-right coup, top-to-bottom.

43/ Livestreamers are now inside the Capitol Building, documenting the attempted coup.

44/ Reports of live rounds being shot inside the Capitol Building. Masses of Stop the Steal ralliers are just leaving. A cop is even holding the door for them.

45/ Neo-Nazi livestreamer Baked Alaska is inside the Capitol Building.

46/ I'd be remiss if I didn't mention all the liberals who told people to stay away from DC.

This is what happens when antifascists don't confront the far-right-- they're allowed to literally storm the Capitol Building.

The police are not handling it.

47/ The success of this rally is going to be an animating force for the far-right for quite some time, and only antifascists are prepared to handle that.

We know what the fuck we're talking about.

Listen to us next time.

48/ Police are nowhere in sight. People are entering the Capitol again.

"This is our country. We're not going to let the globalists take it," one rallier says.

"Globalists" is a dogwhistle used by Neo-Nazis to refer to Jews, a replacement for "rootless cosmopolitan."

49/ Neo-Nazi livestreamer Baked Alaska has occupied a Senate office. He is now shouting "Fuck globalists!"

50/ "America first!" shouts Neo-Nazi livestreamer Baked Alaska from inside a Senate office.

"I told you to trust the plan," he says, referencing the QAnon conspiracy theory recently mainstreamed by the GOP.

51/ If you're not familiar with Mussolini's March on Rome, now's a good time to get acquainted.

In 1922, thousands of Blackshirts stormed Italy's capital, and Mussolini was appointed Prime Minister in the hopes of appeasing them.

The police are still trying to de-escalate.

52/ In other parts of the country, far-right protesters have stormed the Statehouse in Kansas. ksnt.com/news/local-new…

53/ Meanwhile, the Department of Defense has reportedly denied a DC request for assistance from the National Guard.

54/ Remember at the beginning of Trump's speech when I said "This is what the start of an attempted coup looks like"?

I wasn't fucking kidding.

I'm an antifascist. We know what we're talking about.

55/ Defense officials are claiming that the National Guard has been activated, and will move in to DC tonight, which seems like a very long time away.

56/ Whatever the outcome of today, this has been hugely galvanizing for the far-right.

Indiana Proud Boys President and former KKK member Brien James claims that "We are loading up and headed out" after being inspired by the Capitol Building takeover.

57/ Inevitably, there's going to be calls for peace and bipartisanship in the wake of the attempted coup.

Now is not the time for that.

The far-right must be ground into dust, and the state has shown it will allow a coup before it will actually fight them.

It's up to us.

58/ If you're anywhere near the left, now is the time to get organized and fight the far-right, before they can find a leader to replace Trump, who just called the National Guard on the same people he incited this morning.

59/ The New York Times reports that a pipe bomb was destroyed by DC police outside the RNC building.

Trump supporters are upset with Mike Pence because they believe he has the power to repudiate the election results.

Pence does not have that power. nytimes.com/live/2021/01/0…

60/ National Guard is reportedly on scene.

The Three Percenter flag, the banner of a far-right anti-government movement, is flying over the Capitol building steps.

61/ @Crash_Barry has confirmed that Neo-Nazi group the NSC-131, led by Massachusetts resident Chris Hood, is part of the attempted coup today.

62/ The NSC's membership includes former members of Aryan Strikeforce, Patriot Front, and international terrorist cell The Base.

63/ @realDonaldTrump released a video still claiming that the election is stolen, but that "You have to go home now."

This is just like the Tea Party, but magnified. The Right is realizing that it can't control the Frankenstein's monster it created.

64/ "Go home, we love you, you're very special."

This is how @realDonaldTrump wants to deal with an attempted coup that he and the rest of the @GOP spent the last five years inciting.

65/ Remember when I said that Trump's speech was the beginning of an attempted coup?

I was right about that.

So listen to me now-- this won't be over today.

This is going to galvanize the far-right, and we'll have to fight harder than ever.

66/ With Trump calling in the National Guard, there's going to be a power vacuum, and any far-right grifter that may have demobilized suddenly has a new incentive to fight for the crown.

We're going to see similar actions to what happened today all over the US.

67/ It's time to stand up, fight back, and get organized.

If you ever wondered what you'd be doing while the Nazis rose to power, you're doing it right now.

Which side of history do you want to be on?

It's time to fight back.
❤️🖤✊