A group of people break into an office building, exhorted by the leader of the gang, who promises rich rewards for their actions. They carry guns, zip-ties and tools. They break windows and batter down doors, wielding weapons such as crowbars and furniture. Security guards try to stop them; one guard is killed and many more are injured. Office workers hide as best they can, under desks, behind doors and in the basement. Their leader gets updates in real time.
Sounds a lot like a movie with Bruce Willis, right? But it wasn’t.
If this had occurred in an office building in Chicago or Dallas, people would consider the gang criminals. But it was in Washington, D.C. If their skins were brown, there would be calls for deportation and even execution. But they were white. If the gang had been from another country, this would be considered an invasion. But they were Americans.
Four years afterward, half the country said they forgot the whole thing, by electing the gang leader to be president. The other half remembers. Treason, sedition, traitors. We won’t forget. And neither will history.