Who Are They?

When you study the scores of images from the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol Building, you can easily spot Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, Neo-Militia, unabashed-Nazi wannabes, the MAGA-garbed, the Fascist-cos-play actors, and the QAnon cultists. They were all there, along with even more factions, resplendent in their uniforms. The one consistency is the faces – the angry, scowling, raging, snarling, faces. Let’s be honest, this was a monumental event. A terrifying moment in the history of the United States. If we ask the question, “Why?” then, we have to ask, “Who?” Citizens from across this extraordinary country came together en masse to not just protest the outcome of the presidential election but to prevent the confirmation of a new administration. Despite the cartoonishness of a man with a painted face, bare-chest, buffalo horns, and holding a spear, this assortment of truth-deniers were serious – deadly serious of their intentions. David Neiwert, author, and journalist predicted the storming of the Capitol and has been writing about the rise of the radical right for many years. His most recent book, Red Pill, Blue Pill: How to Counteract the Conspiracy Theories That Are Killing Us goes further and looks ahead. David joins Life Elsewhere to share his thoughts on who are the people that stormed the Capitol Building? What will they do next? And, is there another charismatic leader waiting in the wings to consolidate all the different factions into a falsely-named Patriots Party?

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