Thread by @DrGJackBrown

1/ THREAD: Body Language Analysis No. 4620: Josh Hawley's Fist Pump at the Capitol just prior to the Attack on January 6th

#BodyLanguage #BodyLanguageExpert #EmotionalIntelligence #Jan6th #JoshHawley

2/ The above, now infamous photo, is Senator Josh Hawley at the US Capitol. It was captured by photographer Francis Chung (E & E News) who reported that Hawley was entering the building at 12:25 pm EST.

3/ Trump was still speaking at the Ellipse (he began speaking there at 11:58 and would finish at 1:12 pm). The first barriers at the Capitol were breached at 12:53 pm.

4/ Francis Chung described Hawley's interaction with the crowd: "He's acknowledging the crowd and giving various gestures, such as, you know, fist pumps, waves, thumbs up, shows of solidarity and support, I guess you could call it...."

5/ (Francis Chung, continuing): "...And the crowd was also reacting back to him in a favorable fashion. And, you know, had probably got as animated as I'd seen at that point."

6/ From a nonverbal perspective, it would be optimal if we had equal resolution video of this exchange, however, based on this image, we can glean crucial information as to Senator Hawley's thought-emotions in this moment.

7/ As Mr. Chung noted, Hawley was fist pumping and showing solidarity gestures to the crowd. This image captures at the height of one of those fist pumps.

8/ A fascinating Body Language Axiom are the correlations between the face and the hands. When the hands show tension, the face is also tense — and when the face manifests surges of adrenaline, the hands do likewise.

9/ And that's exactly what we see here, however, it's not the kind of facial tension you might expect.

10/ Look carefully at Hawley's face? What do you see? His lips are configured in what is called, an Inward Lip Roll.

11/ Inward Lip Rolls are the psyches's attempt at suppressing strong emotions from crescendoing — either inwardly (in one's own mind) as well as outwardly (on one's face and body).

12/ It's helpful to think of an Inward Lip Roll as one of the tools our subconscious uses to deescalate our own emotions.

13/ So what emotion, exactly, is Hawley trying to suppress?

First, let's look at other portions of Hawley's face.

14/ Hawley's central forehead is contracted. There are components of his forehead that are vectored downward whilst others are directed upward. This opposing dynamic indicates cognitive dissonance and/or deception.

15/ Hawley's Jaw is clenched (adrenaline surge). Note his chin furrow and chin dimpling.

16/ Hawley's nostrils are flared — and his mustache region is extremely taut.

17/ Try this body language exercise — enlarge all of Hawley's face to fit the entire screen on your device. Close your eyes gently for ~ 10 seconds, then open your eyes for just one second (then them) while asking yourself — "What is my first impression of Hawley's emotion(s)?"

18/ Hawley is trying to suppress a smile. If this does not jump out at you, try the exercise again.

19/ Now look at Hawley's eyes — his eyelids are each partially closed (an absolute requirement for a sincere smile) and, crucially, his lower eyelids both have temporary concave-up furrows (also a mandatory component of a true smile).

20/ Hawley is smiling with his eyes and he's trying hard to suppress his smile by over-contracting (over-acting with) the rest of his face. The eyes are *the most crucial component* of a sincere smile, and without 'smiling eyes', it's absolutely not a smile.

21/ Of course, it's of the utmost importance to make the distinction, those emotions which bring you joy-happiness (ergo, a smile) is often NOT the same thought, action, thing, etc. that brings joy-happiness to another person.

22/ You may have heard the quip, "D.C. is Hollywood for Ugly People" — well, D.C. is also Hollywood for wannabe (unskilled) actors.

23/ Think back to 6th grade drama class. Question: If a person is a poor actor — Do they under-act, over-act, or hit the mark?

Answer: They over-act.

24/ Professional actors, whilst acting, deliberately pretend to be someone they're not — but it's not as a lie, it's part of our social contract. It's for entertainment. We want to believe they're experiencing joy, duress, they're villainous, or a superhero, etc.

25/ However, if we knew a professional actor and interacted with them offset (in our personal lives') — and if they said/felt/did/etc. something which led us to believe that it wasn't true, we would not call this acting — we would call it lying.

26/ But when one lies, it is, in fact, a form of acting — it's just acting without a social contract.

27/ So, shitty actors never hit the mark — and they rarely under-act — 99.8% of the time, they over act. And that's exactly what Hawley is doing here.

28/ He's fist-pumping and trying to look enthusiastic, but he's trying mightily to suppress a sincere smile (even laughter).

29/ And so we come to a crucial part of this Body Language-Emotional Intelligence Lesson: When a person smiles/laughs (or suppresses a smile/laughter) out of context, always question their underlying emotions/situation/motive — particularly for deception.

30/ And sure, if we laughed upon witnessing someone farting whilst saying their wedding vows, the fart would be out of context and laughter would ensue. However, the Capitol on January 6th was not a wedding and a violent mob is flatulence.

31/ So why was Senator Hawley feeling joy-happiness (and yet the need to suppress his feelings publicly) as a large mob was growing outside of the Capitol at 12:35 pm on January 6th?

Answer: Because Hawley had foreknowledge of what was about to happen.

32/ SUMMARY: Josh Hawley's body language outside the Capitol on January 6th, 2021 shows that he was suppressing sincere smiling and/or laughing just minutes prior to the mob attacking the US Capitol.

continued...

33/ (SUMMARY, continued): Hawley's profoundly out of place behavior indicates, with extremely high probability, that he had foreknowledge of the plans/violent events which were about to transpire.
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34/ (SUMMARY, continued): When a person smiles/laughs (or is suppressing a smile/laughter) out of context, always question their underlying emotions/situation/motive — including, and particularly for deception.

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