Ray Mariano: Don't believe Trump - Capitol rioters are insurrectionists, not 'hostages'

As we were driving south on Jan. 6, 2021, my wife and I started getting alerts on our phones about a mob of Trump supporters storming the Capitol, calls to hang Mike Pence and the evacuation of the House and Senate chambers.

Driving through Washington D.C., we saw a small caravan of black Suburbans flying up an on-ramp in the opposite direction moving away from the Capitol. We wondered if it was carrying leaders of Congress or the vice president away from the violence.

Over the next several days, like most Americans, we watched in horror at news video of people scaling walls, smashing windows, attacking police and using the American flag as a weapon. We heard the blood-curdling screams of a police officer being crushed in a doorway and watched some weird, shirtless creature with horns who referred to himself as “QAnon Shaman.”

All of it made me sick.

But even in the darkness of this terrible moment there was hope. Congress had completed counting the electoral votes. The vice president had performed his duty. Republicans and Democrats in Congress joined together to denounce the mob as criminals and terrorists. Even some loyal Trump supporters were angry and vowed that this insurrection would not stand.

Over the next two years, I followed the activity of the House Select Committee, which was investigating what happened on that day. I followed the trials of some of the more prominent insurrectionists who were being convicted of seditious conspiracy. More recently, I read former Congresswoman Liz Cheney’s book “Oath and Honor,” which laid out many of the sordid details.

Given the mountain of evidence that we all saw, there could be no doubt as to what happened on Jan. 6. It was an insurrection. And those in the mob literally carried the Trump flag into battle.

It started with a song

But Donald Trump wasn’t finished. The master of manipulation and disinformation was working to change all of the ugliness that we had all seen with our own eyes into something else.

It started with the J6 Prison Choir, a group of 20 inmates convicted of federal crimes for their participation in the insurrection, recording "The Star-Spangled Banner" using a prison phone and then having it edited to include former President Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. The song was designed to portray the criminals as political prisoners and patriots.

In Waco, Texas, Trump opened his rally with a recording of the song while images of rioters storming the Capitol flashed behind him on a huge screen. Trump and his allies were using the nation’s most patriotic song to whitewash the insurrection.

Before long the Trump choir was all singing from the same song sheet. Members of Congress who had condemned Trump and the rioters were now saying that we should move past that day and that it really wasn’t all that bad.

At some point, Trump upped the ante saying that he might “consider” pardoning some of the rioters. Then he said that he would pardon them.

'J6 hostages'

More recently, Trump has begun referring to those convicted and imprisoned as hostages. According to Trump, these were loyal Americans. “Release the J6 hostages Joe,” Trump crowed at recent rallies. Right on cue, the Republican choir started repeating his message. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., chair of the House Republican conference, someone who had initially condemned the rioters, was now parroting directly from the Trump song sheet calling them hostages.

Following Trump’s lead, Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said that he would consider pardoning rioters. And both he and Nikki Haley have said that if Trump is convicted for his role in the insurrection, he should be pardoned.

While all of this was going on, the Department of Justice has been busy prosecuting those who participated in the insurrection. To date, more than 1,265 people have been charged bringing sentences as long as 22 years. Only two defendants have been acquitted of all charges. It is clear that, when confronted with irrefutable evidence, judges and juries are holding these criminals accountable.

Despite everything, Donald Trump is singing a different song, using the events of Jan. 6 as a rallying cry. He’s not running away from the riot or his role in it — he’s using it as a weapon to energize his supporters and to bludgeon his opponents.

First Trump used the song, then he normalized images of the insurrection at his rally, then he talked about pardons, and now calls those who have been convicted or pleaded guilty hostages. Step by step, Trump has been manipulating his followers to change the insurrection into a patriotic cause. And millions of brainwashed Americans and scores of spineless politicians are letting him.

If he gets away with it, he’s ready to do it again. In the ultimate act of defiance, Trump has refused to sign a pledge, signed by presidential candidates in Illinois, not to overthrow the government — a pledge that he willingly signed in 2016 and 2020.

Let’s be clear:The people who stormed the Capitol are not hostages. They’re insurrectionists. They brought guns, knives, bear spray, bats and a noose to hang those in our government whom they disagreed with.

They are not patriots. Their fidelity is to a would-be dictator and not to our Constitution.

Let’s call Jan. 6 what it was: an insurrection. And Donald Trump was its leader. He has no remorse for the beatings, the deaths and all of those who have been sent to prison for following him.

If there is any justice, Donald Trump will end up joining the J6 Prison Choir in person.

Email Raymond V. Mariano at rmariano.telegram@gmail.com. He served four terms as mayor of Worcester and previously served on the City Council and School Committee. He grew up in Great Brook Valley and holds degrees from Worcester State College and Clark University. He was most recently executive director of the Worcester Housing Authority. His column appears weekly in the Sunday Telegram. His endorsements do not necessarily reflect the position of the Telegram & Gazette.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Ray Mariano on Donald trump and Capitol rioters labeled as hostages