Roundtable: How do you characterize the events of Jan. 6, 2021?

A protest that got out of hand or a planned coup orchestrated by former President Donald Trump to stop the peaceful transition of power? In light of the Jan. 6 Select Committee hearings, how do you characterize what occurred at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and the days leading up to it?

Trump knew he lost election, but to prevent Pence from certifying vote

Throughout our history we have been proudly respected by the world, for our peaceful transfers of power.  That model, repeating though the centuries, undergirded our collective trust in a stable government. Some at the Ellipse that day were probably protesters for whom things got out of hand, but many others, some of whom had participated in coordinated advance planning, were something more. Some of the  11 members of the Oath Keepers and five of the Proud Boys charged by the Justice Department with seditious conspiracy have already pleaded guilty.

We know from the Republican staffers who have testified to their observations and conversations within the White House in the period before January 6, that Trump knew he had lost the election and that his plan to bring in fake electors, so called by the plotters themselves, was argued against by some around him, but abetted by others and when he failed to bully Mr. Pence into blocking the certification of the votes, he tried to prevent him from being physically able to. Trump’s order to let in people with guns and his indifference to the safety of those within the Capitol convict him. — Laurie Muelder

Those in the mob are responsible for their actions

Hmmm. Let me think.  I can’t imagine what the members of the panel will say about this! The original entry into the Capitol was by a mob of enflamed, misguided Trump partisans who thought they could change the election results. Certainly, Trump did nothing to discourage them, but ultimately the people who went in are responsible for their actions.

The Donald’s dereliction of duty was his failure for three hours to tell them to get out of the building and for calling Mike Pence a coward.

The Jan. 6 committee is conducting a show trial. With no defense, no cross-examination and replete with hearsay, its only purpose is to distract voters from our country’s real problems to bolster Democrats’ sagging poll numbers. That does not exonerate the rioters who stormed the Capitol but it does exaggerate what was really an overzealous protest.

We’ll see what the voters think in November. — Harry Bulkeley

Trump willing to do anything to remain president

Donald Trump had decided that he won the presidential election on Election Night 2020. Before Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Trump had clearly declared that Mike Pence should not certify the election results. On the day of the insurrection, Mr. Trump did nothing to try to stop the protestors from becoming violent and storming the Capitol building. Instead he sat and watched what was happening on TV. As the Commander in Chief of the United States, he could have immediately intervened by calling in the armed forces to respond to the attack. He only wanted to delay (or stop) the election certification.

Trump could have addressed the protesters and immediately done damage control. He did not want any type of transition of power, peaceful or otherwise. He wanted to be the president again, and he was willing to do anything to get his job back. — Jeannette Chernin

Previous Roundtable:Roundtable: How important are hearings about the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol?

At least publicly, Trump did not call for violence

Short answer: I honestly don’t know.  If it was, whoever orchestrated it, Democrat or Republican, it should be prosecuted, fully. I do know:• Live TV showed situations during the election that were questionable.• We’re from Illinois; Cemetery voters are always reliable.•  Democrats have tried to get Trump ever since he beat their darling Hillary.• Both impeachment hearings have been loaded with anti-Trumpers; the current “investigation” is no exception. There is little chance of fairness.• I listened to Trump’s speech and heard him admonish his hearers to PEACEFULLY march to the capital in protest. At least, publicly, he did not call for violence.• Videos of the front of the Capitol building show there were a lot of protesters who weren’t allowed into the building. Other videos show Capitol Police holding the back doors open and directing protesters inside. Was the “out of hand” orchestrated by someone or some group other than Trump or his organization? — Charlie Gruner

Galesburg opinion:Roundtable: What are the strengths and weaknesses of Galesburg?

Capitol attack an exercise in white supremacy

Donald Trump and his enablers concocted a coup attempt so he could remain in power. To justify nonsensical excuses that he would lose his re-election campaign, he absurdly claimed the presidential election was rigged. The rally on Jan. 6 near the White House was part of a scheme to disrupt the certification process. He knew members of The Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in attendance were armed and prepared to commit violence. What transpired at the Capitol Building that day far exceeded an unruly mob of protestors.The attack on the Capitol was an exercise of white supremacy. It's the implicit meaning of the bigoted slogan "we need to take back our country."  He manipulated congressional loyalists and his supporters to echo his baseless fraud claims. The Jan. 6 Select Committee has presented compelling evidence Trump attempted a coup. The DOJ has listened and will investigate the evidence that has been uncovered. Everyone who participated in this seditious scheme must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. — John Hunigan 

The attack was extremists pandering to an egomaniac

I will remind everyone that the Jan. 6 hearings are not over.  I would also add that if you choose not to watch, review, read or investigate the information that has come out in those hearings, then your attitude on the hearings is suspect. The DOJ is in full swing in investigating the potential for criminal proceedings about January 6, which may include Trump himself. With all this in mind, there definitely were some “orchestrations” to prevent Congress from finalizing the 2020 election.

Some may still find some dubious refuge in the pandering Tucker Carlson (it’s about the 1^st Amendment!).  Overall, Fox and Rupert Murdoch’s empire have moved on from Trump.  The NY Post, the strongest supporter of Trump for years, opined that “It’s up to the Justice Department to decide if this is a crime. But as a matter of principle, as a matter of character, Trump has proven himself unworthy to be this country’s chief executive again.” In the future, there will be more witnesses that are called to the Jan. 6 committee and the DOJ’s grand jury.  The “Truth is Out There”. So, to all of this, I will characterize Jan. 6 as the messy culmination of extremists pandering to an egomaniac who consistently keeps trying to advance “The Big Lie” to willing, culpable sycophants.  — Stephen Podwojski

Trump was careful not to do anything to justify charges

It wasn’t an insurrection as we have traditionally identified them — no army, no paramilitary, no plans. Did they really believe that everyone would just accept overturning the election?

It was a total mess. Trump was at his most infantile and irrational, yelling at his enemies and rejecting good advice. But he was careful not to do anything that would (so far) justify charges. Security plans for the Capitol were poorly drawn up, and the only person to die violently during the riot was shot by a Capitol policeman.

The FBI organized the plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan. Surely it was following this event closely, too. We have videos of Ray Epps urging people to storm the capitol and guards beckoning people in. No charges there—quite a contrast to the 882 people who were arrested, many still being held.

Nobody looks good here — neither Trump nor the Committee. — William Urban

Desperate attempt to stop transfer of power

Rather than a coup — a military intervention to take control of the state — Jan. 6 was closer to a putsch — “a secretly planned and suddenly executed attempt to overthrow a government.” The most famous example is the abortive attempt by Hitler and WWI General Ludendorf to overthrow the new German republic in 1923.  Both attempts were badly organized and quickly put down, but both also tapped into widespread economic distress and political unhappiness among the middle classes and in both, the key organizers stayed on the political scene. Hitler went to jail, but his party grew in popularity and a decade later he was Germany’s chancellor. Whether or not Trump goes to jail, in state after state Trumpism continues to make inroads that threaten to shoulder aside the will of the voters. As to Jan. 6, for millions of Trump supporters it was a protest against the “stolen election” he warned them about for years. For a small, dedicated coterie of extremist hard men it was the opening salvo in a deepening insurrection. And for Trump and his minions, pulling the strings and egging on the crowd, it was a desperate attempt to keep the grift going at any cost, to stop the transfer of power, by violence if necessary.  — David Amor

The Community Roundtable runs each Sunday and is made up of local writers. Community writers answer one question each week in 150 words or fewer. 

This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: How do you characterize the mob, insurrection, riot of Jan. 6, 2021?