Tin Foil And Q's Not Coming, Four Dead At Capitol

That's it; all our effort went into the headline.

  Yesterday's violent coup attempt at the US Capitol wasn't just a frightening assault on democracy, it also resulted in four deaths around the Capitol grounds. One woman who was climbing through a broken window in the Capitol itself died after being shot by Capitol Police, and three male protesters died of medical emergencies.

DC Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert J. Contee said there had also been about 70 arrests by Metro police — and for those of you who noticed that the cops seemed especially kind to the mob yesterday, we'll point out he specified that the vast majority of those arrests were for violations of the 6 p.m. curfew ordered by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. NPR notes that as of this morning, DC police arrest records only show one felony arrest for "violation of the Riot Act," which we didn't even know was a real thing. I hope somebody read the guy it.

In addition to the arrests, Contee said two pipe bombs had been defused and removed from the headquarters of the Republican and the Democratic national committees, an attempted act of terrorism that was so rich in both-sidesism that it must surely have warmed David Brooks's heart. A cooler taken from a vehicle was full of Molotov cocktails, and also contained a long gun. Five people were arrested on weapons charges as well.

Police used tear gas and flash-bang grenades to clear the Capitol grounds last night, but for some reason, the cops were remarkably restrained, compared to the blitzkrieg tactics used against peaceful protesters and journalists in front of the White House last summer, so Donald Trump could hold an unread Bible in front of a church. Gosh, if only we could figure out why.

The woman shot by Capitol Police has been identified as Ashli Babbitt, 35, from San Diego. She was shot after rioters barged into the Capitol; a San Diego TV station notes that a "woman believed to be Babbitt was seen in a viral video attempting to climb through a shattered window of the Capitol building when shots were fired."

Ms. Babbit was apparently a True Believer in the QAnon conspiracy theory; her Twitter feed is a sewer of pro-Trump and conspiracy-related crap, including retweets of and praise for rightwing figures like Sidney Powell, Michael Flynn, Lin Wood, Jack Posobiec, and the like. WaPo notes she had an extensive wingnut social media profile:

Babbitt recorded combative videos about immigration policy, while expressing her support for a border wall. In early September, she tweeted a picture from a Trump boat parade in San Diego wearing a shirt that said, "We are Q," referring to QAnon, the far-right conspiracy theory. The tweet also included the hashtag "#WWG1WGA," [...]

Babbitt also retweeted messages calling for Vice President Pence to resign and be charged with treason, videos of Trump rallies and photos of the president's supporters flying to D.C. for the protests.

Her last tweet that wasn't retweeting other stuff about the coming insurrection was a reply to a conspiracy post claiming "the entire world is corrupt" because supposedly airlines were shutting down incoming flights to DC, even though the weather was just perfect:

Babbitt was clearly thrilled that Trump was just on the verge of victory, with help from her and other insurrectionists:

Nothing will stop us … they can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours … dark to light!

The "storm" (every event was "the storm" or the "Day of the Rope," from the masturbatoryneo-nazi snuff fantasy   The Turner Diaries ) and its subsequent "10 days of darkness" that Babbitt called for and giddily expected to take part in as she flew to DC is Q language for the arrest and execution by firing squad of "traitorous" "enemies of the state" (and enemies of Donald Trump, like ... Mike Pence). They were so certain yesterday was going to be their moment in history. It was, just not how they imagined.

The “Day of the Rope” is a white supremacist concept taken from The Turner Diaries. It refers to the day when white… https: //t.co/G3Ogvq2xD3

— Seth Cotlar (@Seth Cotlar) 1609974723.0 

Babbitt's ex-husband, Timothy McEntee, told the Washington Post by text message that they had been married for 14 years before breaking up in August 2019; Babbitt remarried. The Post does say he had no idea she was headed to DC, and that he

was shocked by the news of her death and described her as smart and strong-willed.

"I feel absolutely terrible and sick to my stomach about it," he wrote in a text message. "She was never afraid to speak her mind and in a way this was her way of speaking her mind (going to the rally)."

One more chore for the Biden administration — hell, the next decade, maybe longer — will have to involve getting mental health care to a lot of people who drank the Q-aid themselves, not to mention support for their families. The damage from this madness isn't just to the Capitol building.

[ Reuters / NYT / NPR / NBC San Diego / WaPo ]

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