(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
Arguably the most iconic image of the premeditated criminal is the burglar: An anonymous figure, dressed in all black, operating in the dead of night, wearing a mask and carrying an unmarked bag.
Usually, criminals want to avoid detection when committing a crime. But the violent mob that descended on the Capitol on Wednesday, leaving destruction, terror, and four of their own dead in its wake, didn’t bother with Criminality 101. They waved Trump 2020 flags and wore sweatshirts emblazoned with phrases like “Civil War,” “Camp Auschwitz” and “Fuck Your Feelings.” They gave out their names and didn’t bother with masks — not even during a raging pandemic. One Maryland man even wore his work ID badge to the insurrection. (He has since been terminated by his employer.)
Why bother hiding when you believe you’re only doing what you are entitled to do?
Head over to HuffPost to read the rest of Emma’s essay.
Things To Make Yourself Feel A Little Less Dead Inside
Donate to Therapy For Black Girls, an online community centering the mental health of Black girls and women. https://donorbox.org/therapyforblackgirls
Write a letter to your elected federal officials in support of DC and Puerto Rican statehood. https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
Find your local food bank and donate -- ideally money or desirable, infrequently donated items like tampons, olive oil, and birthday cake mix. https://www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-local-foodbank
Order a grab bag from Capitol Hill Books. The local bookseller was one of the small local businesses impacted by yesterday’s coup. Consider ordering a book (or three) from them.
Things To Read
This stunning NYTimes report on who the rioters were who stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Jamil Smith’s op-ed on why the pro-Trump mob is inextricably linked to white supremacy and white entitlement.
This explainer on what the 25th Amendment actually is and why it is difficult to invoke.
A dive into the origins of the conspiracy theory that Antifa was behind the violent mob at the Capitol.
This history lesson on Leo Frank, a Jewish man lynched in Georgia in 1915, and this joyful roundup of reactions to Jon Ossoff’s historic Senate win.
Wednesday’s catastrophic police failure, explained.
Aymann Ismail’s utterly depressing account of what he saw inside the Capitol.
Our HuffPost colleague Jesselyn Cook’s report on the role pro-Trump media played in planning the siege on the U.S. Capitol.
Amy Kaufman on how Matt James’ comments on the riot fit into “The Bachelor’s” uneasy, evolving relationship with race.