‘Be There. Will Be Wild!’: Trump All but Circled the Date

For weeks, President Trump and his supporters had been proclaiming Jan. 6, 2021, as a day of reckoning. A day to collect in Washington to “save America” and “cease the steal” of the election he had decisively misplaced, however which he nonetheless maintained — typically by means of a poisonous brew of conspiracy theories — that he had gained by a landslide.

And when that day got here, the president rallied hundreds of his supporters with an incendiary speech. Then a big mob of these supporters, many waving Trump flags and sporting Trump regalia, violently stormed the Capitol to take over the halls of presidency and ship elected officers into hiding, fearing for his or her security.

But when the chaos within the Capitol shocked the nation, probably the most disturbing facets of this most annoying day was that it might be seen coming. The president himself had all however circled it on the nation’s calendar.

“Massive protest in D.C. on January sixth,” Mr. Trump tweeted on Dec. 19, simply one in every of a number of of his tweets selling the day. “Be there, can be wild!”

And his supporters took the president at his phrase.

“If you’re not ready to make use of drive to defend civilization, then be ready to just accept barbarism,” a member of the Crimson-State Secession group on Fb posted on Tuesday, the eve of the appointed day, Jan. 6.

Beneath it, dozens of individuals posted feedback that included images of the weaponry — together with assault rifles — that they mentioned they deliberate to deliver to the rally. There have been additionally feedback referring to “occupying” the Capitol and forcing Congress to overturn the November election that Joseph R. Biden Jr. had gained — and Mr. Trump had misplaced.

Renée DiResta, a researcher who research on-line actions on the Stanford Web Observatory, mentioned that the violent disruption on the Capitol on Wednesday was the results of on-line actions working in closed social media networks the place claims of voter fraud and a stolen election discovered oxygen.

“This can be a demonstration of the very real-world impression of echo chambers,” Ms. DiResta mentioned.

The roots of one of many darkest moments in American democracy reached at the very least way back to Nov. four, the day after the presidential election that Mr. Trump would decisively lose to Mr. Biden. On that day, the primary Stop the Steal group was shaped on Fb — and it rapidly took off, realizing at one level 100 new members each 10 seconds. The group swelled to 320,000 followers earlier than Fb shut it down.

As a whole lot of latest Cease the Steal teams continued to pop up, Fb turned extra aggressive in shutting them down, prompting some far-right supporters of Mr. Trump — together with some concerned in militias and conspiracy teams — to maneuver to new, less-restrictive social media websites, together with Parler and Gab. And it was on these websites motion to arrange a pro-Trump protest rally in Washington gathered momentum.

A number of right-wing activists, together with Ali Alexander, a Republican operative who was beforehand referred to as Ali Akbar, started to emerge as leaders of Cease the Steal. Their conspiracy theories and fact-free claims of electoral fraud carefully mirrored the identical baseless expenses being leveled by Mr. Trump.

By mid-December, dozens of lawsuits filed by Trump supporters had failed, typically miserably. Then, on Dec. 14, Mr. Biden secured sufficient votes within the Electoral School to affirm his victory. The final formality earlier than his inauguration on Jan. 20 was the official depend by Congress of electoral votes, a professional forma ceremony of paperwork, to be overseen by Vice President Mike Pence.

On Jan. 6.

Mr. Alexander and others seized on the date, urging Trump supporters all over the place to converge onto the Capitol as Congress tended to what traditionally has been a glorified shuffling of papers — if typically infused with grace, as when Vice President Al Gore introduced the names of the winner, George W. Bush, and the loser: Al Gore.

The second has historically been seen as one other reassurance of the switch of energy within the Republic. However Mr. Trump and his supporters have been publicly framing this yr’s formality as prison, fraudulent — even treasonous.

As his aides and supporters did what they may to forestall the inevitable — a lawsuit by the Texas congressman Louie Gohmert, a 36-page report alleging election fraud by the Trump adviser Peter Navarro — Mr. Trump continued tweeting.

Dec. 27: “See you in Washington, DC, on January sixth. Don’t miss it. Info to observe.”

Dec. 30: “JANUARY SIXTH, SEE YOU IN DC!”

Jan. 1: “The BIG Protest Rally in Washington, D.C. will happen at 11:00 A.M. on January sixth. Locational particulars to observe. StopTheSteal!”

That very same day, a supporter misspelled the phrase “cavalry” in tweeting that “The calvary is coming, Mr. President!”

Mr. Trump responded: “An excellent honor!”

The following day, Jan. 2, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and 11 different Republican senators joined one other Republican, Josh Hawley of Missouri — in addition to greater than 100 Republican members of the Home of Representatives — in vowing to object to the certification of Mr. Biden’s election.

By now, the intense fringes of Trump supporters — together with the Proud Boys and different teams recognized to incite violence, in addition to conspiracy teams like QAnon — have been exploring what they could do on Jan. 6 in Washington. On devoted chats in Gab they mentioned logistics of the place to collect and what streets they’d take to the Capitol. The Crimson-State Secession Fb web page even inspired its eight,000 followers to share the addresses of “enemies,” together with these for federal judges, members of Congress and well-known progressives.

A way of the percolating hassle got here with a broadly circulated video of a Trump supporter confronting Senator Mitt Romney, the Utah Republican and a frequent Trump critic, at Salt Lake Worldwide Airport as he awaited a flight Tuesday to Washington. When the supporter requested why he hadn’t supported the president’s claims of electoral fraud, Mr. Romney mentioned that he would observe the Structure.

“I wouldn’t be stunned when you weren’t even voted in legally,” the particular person mentioned as she adopted the senator to the gate. “You’re a joke, absolute joke, it’s a disgusting disgrace.”

In the meantime, members of the Crimson-State Secession Fb web page have been conversing within the language of revolt.

Then dawned Jan. 6, the day of reckoning. 1000’s gathered in downtown Washington, forming rivers of Trump purple that commingled the Trump and American flags. The gang included between 2,000 and a pair of,500 members of the Proud Boys, in response to Enrique Tarrio, the group’s chairman.

Any hope that Mr. Pence would block the congressional affirmation of Mr. Biden’s election — thereby acquiescing to immense stress being utilized by Mr. Trump — was dashed earlier than midday. Mr. Pence mentioned in a letter that the vice chairman didn’t have such energy.

“The presidency belongs to the American individuals, and to them alone,” he wrote.

Then, at midday, Mr. Trump started to ship a speech to his excited followers.

Within the afternoon hours to come back, Mr. Trump would excoriate his vice chairman for not having “the braveness to do what ought to have been carried out to guard our Nation and our Structure.” Within the hours to come back, his supporters, carrying flags and sporting garments that bore his identify, would rush the Capitol in a terrifying swirl of chaos that may drive a lockdown and go away one girl shot useless.

Amongst those that swarmed into the Capitol can be well-known QAnon characters and white supremacists. Jake Angeli, a QAnon supporter recognized for his painted face and horned hat, roamed the Senate flooring. Tim Gionet, a neo-Nazi conspiracy theorist referred to as “Baked Alaska,” would take over a Senate workplace.

However first got here the remarks of the President, delivered on the Ellipse, simply south of the White Home.

“We’ll by no means surrender,” he mentioned. “We’ll by no means concede. It is going to by no means occur. You don’t concede when there’s dying concerned. Our nation has had sufficient. We won’t take it anymore.”

Mr. Trump concluded his 70-minute exhortation by encouraging everybody to stroll down Pennsylvania Avenue to provide Republicans on the Capitol “the sort of delight and boldness that they should take again our nation.” Then the president of the US returned to the White Home, at protected distance from the mayhem to unfold.

Alan Feuer contributed reporting. Kitty Bennett and Jack Begg contributed analysis.