There has been lots of talk in the mainstream legacy “news” media and from politicians of all stripes of insurrections (well, specifically one incident that some have called an insurrection from within the past few years). All this talk may have you wondering what an insurrection is, and it’s a good question.
I tend to think of an insurrection as a violent (as in not peaceful) gathering of people for the purpose of causing political change using violence. So, yes, I tend to think of Portland, Oregon and other “mostly peaceful” protests over the last several years when I think of an insurrection.
To be clear, the definition of an insurrection has nothing to do with the political leanings of those involved in the insurrection. It’s about the use of violence to try to force political change instead of being peaceful about it.
Most of the mainstream legacy media (and all of the anti-2A politicians) have referred to the January 6, 2020 protests at the U.S. Capitol as an insurrection.
Another incident, though, happened during a Congressional hearing that had at least one member of Congress ask whether it was an insurrection. Joseph Mackinnon writes,
Gun control activists swarmed the Capitol on Thursday, disrupting a congressional hearing concerning possible efforts made by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to curb Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
The Capitol Police indicated that they had given protesters who had been illegally blocking traffic outside the Capitol multiple warnings to clear the street. Seven individuals who failed to do so were charged with crowding, obstructing, or incommoding.
Gun control activists also threw a fit inside the Capitol, shouting through a hearing entitled “ATF’s Assault on the Second Amendment,” held by a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, reported Reuters.
One of the activists yelled, “All of you are full of s***,” reported the Washington Examiner.
I can think of many politicians in Washington that I’d like to say that last part to (and about), but I digress…
Mackinnon continues:
Activists evidently chose to ignore the chairman’s warning [to follow order and decorum] and continued to interfere with the hearing, prompting [Representative Pat] Fallon [R-Texas] to wonder aloud, “Is this an insurrection? … I don’t want another January 6, do we?”
Maybe this disruption in a meeting about the ATF was an insurrection, maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it was as bad or worse than the alleged January 6 “insurrection.” I’ll let you decide on that.
One thing that is clear, though, is that what Capitol Hill law enforcement defines as an insurrection and what isn’t is based on a person’s political beliefs: Many (truly) peaceful January 6th protesters are still in jail, while no one who disrupted this meeting while pushing for gun control was put into jail.
The message is clear: If you hate American freedom, you can walk free, but if you peacefully walk through the Capitol building under the impression that you’re allowed to be there and that the people working there work for you, the American citizen and tax payer, then, you are a terrorist and insurrectionist.
Seems to me that opposing the Constitution, including the Second Amendment, in a potentially violent and disruptive way during a Congressional meeting is as much (if not more) of an insurrection as people walking peacefully through a government building.
Whatever your position on January 6th, 2020, the difference in how people have been treated is appalling, and, yet, they wonder why Americans don’t trust their government to keep them or their rights safe.