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January 18, 2021 08:07 AM UTC

Forecast Colorado Trump Protests Fizzle, So Far...

  • 19 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Ad for a “50 state march” yesterday denounced as “a trap” by local militia groups.

Colorado Public Radio’s Megan Verlee reports that despite what you may have been told to expect, the revolution did not begin yesterday either:

A smattering of people collected on the steps of Colorado’s Capitol on Sunday, a far cry from the massive, potentially violent protests federal and state authorities had braced for.

A woman held her position steadily before cameras, displaying a small American flag and a sign accusing Congress of negligence. Nearby, a man with a white beard poking out from his ‘Trump 2020’ mask chatted with reporters. Around them, on the yellow grass and stone pathways, clumps of bundled-up people stood around under cloudy skies, waiting to see if anything would happen.

By far the largest group on hand were members of the media, brought out by an FBI bulletin warning of potential armed protests at all 50 state capitols leading up to the presidential inauguration on Wednesday. But in Denver, nothing like that has occurred so far.

FOX 31:

Larry Woodall, a supporter of President Donald Trump, says he was surprised by how few people showed up. “I thought there would be at least 100 people. I feel like the lone wolf,” said Woodall.

Some businesses in the area boarded up their stores to prevent damage if things were to get violent. A gate was put up around the perimeter of the Capitol building.

Pro-Trump protest at the Colorado Capitol, 1/17/2021.

Although warnings to all 50 state capitols went out urgently in the wake of the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol that more violent and potentially armed protests would take place in the days before Joe Biden’s inauguration this coming Wednesday, the weekend passed without any major disturbances–and miniscule turnout to the publicly announced protest events around the country. Part of this we assume can be attributed to the high alert of local police across the nation beginning last Friday and expected to continue through Inauguration Day.

But that doesn’t appear to be the whole story. Last week, the local hard-right organizing group FEC United, affiliated Sinn Fein-style with one of the state’s more public-facing militia groups United American Defense Force (UADF), put out a brief statement last week disavowing the forecast protests to all 50 state capitols Sunday:

The events being planned to March on Capitols across the country are NOT being organized by Patriots. We are urging every one of our members and followers to avoid the Capitols and areas around them if at all possible. Be cautious and be aware.

Speaking to the Colorado Springs Gazette, UADF militia leader John Tiegen appeared to swear off protests ahead of Inauguration Day entirely, saving their metaphorical and literal powder for “the next administration.”

FEC United and UADF said in statement Wednesday morning that events at the U.S. Capitol were “unacceptable and should be condemned by all…”

“We cannot stoop down to the leftist’s level of chaos and anarchy,” Tiegen said in the Wednesday morning statement. “We must hold strong to our morals and stand tall to ensure we don’t lose sight of the bigger picture — which is to hold our officials accountable to their duty to the people who voted for them. UADF is an organization that stands to defend and protect what is ours in the face of concern for the action, or rather, lack of action, the next administration will take to quell violence from left-wing, militia organizations. We have to be ready to protect ourselves and our neighborhoods.”

After such dire warnings issued after the January 6th assault on the U.S. Capitol, the failure of pro-Trump protests to materialize in general across the nation this weekend is a curious anticlimax to say the least. To be sure, there is still plenty of time for something consistent with warnings of a “50 state uprising” to take place. It’s very possible that by Wednesday any false sense of security we might feel today will be a sad memory.

Or, maybe the events of January 6th forced a reckoning, if not moral then at least practical, on the far right? After a shocking success against an unexpectedly soft target that in retrospect most believe could have been prevented, every law enforcement agency in the country is on maximum alert this week. 25,000 National Guard troops in Washington D.C. and security measures that should have been in place on January 6th are now in place to prevent what happened on that day from happening again. The determination with which federal law enforcement is pursuing U.S. Capitol insurrectionists cannot help but give those who might try something like that again pause.

And after Donald Trump disowned the rioters he sent to the Capitol with orders to “fight like hell” and showered with praise initially, it’s a fair question–why would anybody risk their life and freedom for this guy again?

If there is anything we hate it’s writing a post that doesn’t age well, and we acknowledge this one may not. But if we didn’t at least consider the possibility of a less dramatic end to the most chaotic election in American history that didn’t directly result in a war (knock on wood), that too would be a disservice to our readers.

We’re steeling ourselves to be wrong, but we’ll be elated in the event we’re right.

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19 thoughts on “Forecast Colorado Trump Protests Fizzle, So Far…”

  1. If anyone wants to help bring these terrorists to justice, you can help the FBI identify the Capitol rioters here: 

    Violence at the United States  Capitol

    The site contains more than 120 photos of rioters who attacked police, damaged historic property, and threatened to reverse a fair election on January 6, 2021. Number 110 is the pink-hatted megaphone-using woman (mistakenly) identified as Boebert’s mother. You can see that dozens have been arrested; yet most remain at large. Send in your tips to FBI if you recognize any faces. 

  2. A third possibility is that the majority of the far-right in this country is just a pathetic attempt to purchase a masculine identity at a time when traditional masculine identities no longer have purchase–Rambo writ large. Faced with the possibility that they will be stripped of the identities they purchased in the form of tac gear and stockpiles of ammunition, they'd rather sit in their basements and stroke their gun rods than, you know, actually use them to fulfill their fantasies.

    1. These knuckledraggers are just the current contingent in the continuum of domestic terrorists that has been plaguing democracy and justice since (select one: 1) the Civil War 2) the Viet Nam War 3) Iraqi Freedom). Veterans of those conflicts were plunged into a society and/or economy that was not thriving and growing enough to absorb their labors and offer them productive opportunities.

      Recently they have found themselves down a few notches in terms of status in society and slipping. Insurrection is their way of lashing out the system that ‘failed’ them. Stockpiles of tac gear and ammunition had a static value in their plans to retain status by dominance. Catching up with and fitting by way of labors into a world that was quickly forgetting about them and leaving them behind was too difficult …. guns were a much quicker solution to their problems.

      Until the world turns right side up again and the opportunities and gains for the bottom 80% start to grow …. we’re stuck here.

      1. Here’s the cycle (greatly simplified):

        1) Elect an R

        2) Rs start war(s), crash the economy

        3) Rs let a D clean it up

        4) Rs scream about socialism, buy more guns

        5) Go to 1)

         

      2. Kickshot, interesting ideas about gun marketing being fueled by economic anxiety and a poor job market for veterans. You’ve identified a piece of the problem but there’s more. 
        I was married to and lived with a gunhead for 12 years, read plenty of the propaganda, lived in small towns where guns were a popular commodity and social cause. Here’s my take on the psychology and marketing of the gun industry:

        Very few people actually need guns. Those who do include professional soldiers, rural folks who eat wild game, police, and  farmers dealing with predatory varmints. Then there are  those who justifiably fear real threats to their lives, such as victims and refugees from gang and domestic violence, stalking, or other crime. 

        There’s also the sport and recreation industry. Target shooters and hunters”need” guns for fun. 

        So since all the above groups together make up less than 1/4 of the American population (my guess), the gun industry has to make everyone else afraid enough to buy more guns and tactical gear. So fear and paranoia of immigrants, brown people, leftists, BLM, Antifa, zombies, civil war, etc, has to be continually stoked. Right wing corporate and fringe media do this constantly, and the result is what we saw last Wednesday in DC. 
         

        The task we have is to make a society in which people feel safe. Community. Welcoming Diversity. Gender and racial  Equality. Peace. You know the values we hold. Only when we can manifest those values in the real world will the gun-fueled madness end. 

        1. Gun marketing using fear to drive sales is the industry's standard model. Fear of crime has been there forever w/the undercurrents of fear of demographic change. Fear comes in many, many flavors and each one stands to be exploited for a buck and a congressional seat.

          The common thread of all of these fears is the threat to socioeconomic status, as you said. Socioeconomic status is improved through prestige or dominance. Dominance needs guns that are used to squelch the rights of others.

          In your list there are groups who use guns for socioeconomic gain and those who don't. The ones who use them for socioeconomic gain teeter on the edge of violence .. domestic, political, etc. Guns become their problem-solving tools. Add cops to this group, the ones who pull the trigger rather than take the opportunity to defuse.

          People need to feel safe in society. I am leaning towards economic safety coming first. That is difficult in a system that has trickled wealth upward for so long but mob riots at the Capitol are a pretty strong indication that it is time to make it happen.

          People don't need guns to protect what they have if inequality is not a driving force. Likewise people don't need guns to take what they don't have if they feel secure in their place on the economic ladder.

          All the reading I've done lately points in that direction. It's an obvious approach with a ton of unnecessary intellectual justification, i.e. everybody's had the same idea some time in their life. It's just time to focus on it, make it happen.

                  1. Yeah, there are alternative facts around this whole thing. You seem to be trying to get to the heart of the matter. My "scholars" are probably at the constitutional level of TikTok influencers.

                    1. It would be interesting though to see if the slave rebellion story could be cast in terms of status competition or social powers. Most aspects of life can be.

    2. If you are correct, then there seem to be a lot of Trans-Gender radicals among the right wing, because there seem to be a lot of MAGA women seeking that masculine identity.

        1. Lurker, I don’t think you understand much about trans individuals, and should probably not post about who is or is not trans, and why, until you remedy that lack of understanding.

          Pro tip: guns have nothing to do with it. 

  3. “bigger picture — which is to hold our officials accountable to their duty to the people who voted for them.”

    Hold Tiegen accountable to ONLY scream/rant at officials that he voted for. Leave the rest alone.

  4. At first glance, Mr. Tiegan may have been misquoted, or perhaps mis-spoke. He talks about elected officials being responsible to the voters who voted for them. What he really meant to say is that he will hold elected officials responsible for HALF the voters who voted for them.

    After all, the rest of the votes were illegal votes cast by evil, radical leftist, socialists allied with Castro, and that those votes should not be counted just because of the technicality that the Patriots haven’t yet killed them yet.

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