The images tell part of the story about the beliefs of some who chose to show themselves that day, from the passionate and peaceful Tromp adherents to the extremists who showed their hatred through their symbols and actions.
The mixing of groups has long been a concern for experts who detect extremism and hatred.
The clarification of the election results turned out to be the kind of event that could bring different groups together and lead to a radical exchange of ideas, they say. The original event, which was strongly promoted and encouraged by President Trump, provided an opportunity for all these groups to come together.
According to Mark Pitcavage, a historian and expert on extremism in the Anti-Defamation League, the event was intended to oppose the results of a free and fair democratic election and the subsequent transfer of power.
CNN spoke with him to identify the symbols and understand the terrifying messages of tyranny, white domination, anarchy, racism, anti-Semitism and hatred they represent.
Necktie and gallows
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While the noose itself is often used as a form of racist intimidation, Pitcavage argues that the gallows were intended to punish committing adultery. This suggests that representatives and senators who vote to confirm the election result, and perhaps Vice President Pence, commit treason and should be tried and hanged, he said.
This rhetoric of betrayal could be seen on the billboards to the right in the days leading up to this event.
Flag three percent
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Three percent (also known as III%, 3% or clap) are part of a militia in the United States and, according to the ADL, are anti-government extremists.
Like other militia members, the Three Percent see themselves as the defenders of the American people against the tyranny of the government.
As many militia supporters strongly support President Trump, the three percent in recent years have been less vocal against the federal government, which directed their anger toward other perceived enemies, including leftist/antifa, Muslims and immigrants, according to ADL.
The name of the group comes from the inaccurate claim that only three percent of the inhabitants of the colonies took up arms and fought against the British during the War of Independence.
Above you can see their logo on the traditional Betsy Ross flag. According to Pitcavage, right-wing groups (mainstream or extreme) who consider themselves patriots sometimes co-opt the first American flag.
Liberation from the flag of the Kraken
The flag quotes comments from Trump’s former lawyer, Sidney Powell, that she would release the octopus. Powell falsely said she had evidence that would destroy the idea that Joe Biden had won the presidency.
The octopus, a giant sea creature from Scandinavian folklore, has become a meme in circles who believe the election has been stolen. According to them, the Kraken is an accumulation of evidence of widespread fraud. Cannon conspiracy and third party #ReleasDeKraken-pages and fake scam theories are commonplace on social media.
Proud Boys and OK Sign.
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On the far right the OK-sign is used as a trolley gesture and for some as a white power symbol. The ADL has added this symbol to a long-standing database of slogans and symbols used by extremists.
They wear orange hoods to identify each other; at previous demonstrations they’ve worn reconnaissance shirts and other equipment, but they gave that up for this event after the recent arrest of their leader, Pitcavage said.
The Proud Boys supported President Trump and participated in Stop the Stealing rallies in Washington, D.C. Proud Boys leader Henry Tarrio, who calls himself Enrique Tarrio, was released Tuesday for allegedly burning a Black Lives Matter banner taken from a black church during protests in the city after the Stop the Stealing rally last month. A local judge has ordered him to stay away from Washington pending trial, also during this week’s protests.
Important flags
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The green, white and black flag was created by some members of the 4-channel online community to represent a fictional joker named after Keck, a fictional god they also created. He has a long experience with right-wing and extreme right-wing rallies.
The flag of Kekistan is controversial because the design is partly based on the Nazi flag; apparently this was done deliberately as a joke, Pitcavage stated. Right-wing youngsters from the 4 channel subculture (both right-wing and right-wing) often like to carry the flag of Kekistan at rallies and events.
Amended historical flags
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In the crowd on the Capitol, the modified Confederate and Gadsden flags were seen. A version of the Confederate battle flag contained the image of an assault rifle and the slogan Come and Take it to convey a message of gun control. The sentence comes and takes paraphrases and takes their answer, pronounced by the Spartan king Leonidas in the battle of Thermopylae, when the Persian king Xerxes asked him and his men to lay down their spears in exchange for their lives, according to Pitcavage.
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Gadsden’s flag, also known by many as the Don’t Walk on Me flag, is a traditional and historic patriotic flag referring to the American Revolution. The flag and symbol are also popular with librarians. But it has also been co-opted by right-wing groups. Pitcavage explains that some people use stealing as a symbol of patriotism, while others use it as a symbol of resistance to alleged tyranny.
Carrier
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A man was seen wearing an oath hat in the Capitol after it was robbed. The Oath Holders are an extreme right-wing anti-government group that sees itself as part of a militia movement working to protect the country and the constitution. The group tries to recruit members from the active or retired military, first aid or law enforcement.
Their leader has posted numerous conspiracy theories on his blog, accusing Democrats of stealing the election, previously threatened violence if necessary on election day in an interview with far-right conspirator Alex Jones and said his group would be armed to defend the White House if necessary, ADL reported.
Confederated Flag
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None of the Confederate fighting flags stood in the shadow of the American Capitol during the long American Civil War, but on Wednesday one of the rebels carried him in the middle of the halls.
The photographers caught a man sneaking past the portraits of the abolitionist Charles Sumner and the slave trader John Calhoun.
The flag has always been a symbol of support for slavery. After World War II it became an important symbol of Jim Crow and segregation, says Pitcavage, no wonder it is a popular symbol among white supremacists – even outside the United States.
First American flag
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The rebel disguised himself as an America First flag with the logo of right-wing extremist commentator Nick Fuentes’ podcast. Fuentes was present at the event in the Capitol, but was photographed while staying outside the Capitol building.
America First was also a slogan that President Trump used to describe his foreign policy. His departure was criticized by the ADL, who accused him of anti-Semitic bias because he wanted to keep the United States out of the Second World War.
The ADL states that Fuentes is part of the Groper Army, which the ADL describes as a white supremacist group.
While the views and leadership of the group are in line with those of the white supremacist right, the Groopers try to normalize their ideology by aligning themselves with Christianity and the traditional values supposedly supported by the Church, including marriage and the family, the ADL explains. Like the Alt-Right and other white supremacists, the Groopers believe they are working to protect themselves from the demographic and cultural changes that are destroying the real America – a white, Christian nation.
Auschwitz camp
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The rioters on Capitol Hill wore a hooded sweatshirt from Auschwitz camp. The bottom of the shirt says that Werk brings freedom, which is a rough translation of the words Arbeit cummacht frei at the gates of a Nazi concentration camp. Auschwitz was the largest and most famous of the Nazi concentration camps, where approximately 1.1 million people were murdered during the Second World War.
Pitcavage says he thinks the shirt is from the now disappeared Aryanwear website. The design, which according to Pitcavage has been around for ten years, has appeared on various websites in recent weeks, but is often withdrawn when a complaint is filed.
Nationalist Social Club Sticker
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An image on social media shows stickers of the Nationalist Social Club on what looks like the equipment of the American Capitol Police. It is not known exactly when the picture was taken, but it was posted on Wednesday in a Telegram chat room used by the group that contains the Nazi symbol in its name.
The NSC, apparently a reference to the National Socialist Party of Nazi, is a neo-Nazi group with regional divisions both in the United States and in the rest of the world, according to the ADL. It is unclear whether the sticker on the right refers to the New England Chapter, or whether the group was originally called the New England Nationalists Club.
Members of the NSC see themselves as soldiers at war with a hostile, Jew-controlled system that deliberately intends to eradicate the white race, according to the ADL. Their goal is to form a clandestine network of white men ready to fight their suspicious enemies through direct local action.
MAGA Civil War 6. January 2021 Shirts
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Many questions remain about the exact way in which the attack on the Capitol took place and who carried out the attack. But calls for the overthrow of the government and civil or racial war have been heard in right-wing extremist circles for quite some time.
The T-shirts these men wore on Wednesday on the Capitol grounds show that it was at least the intention to mark the day. They had shirts printed with the words Make America Great Again, with the words Civil War and the date of the event that turned into an uprising.
Many commentators on right-wing extremist forums wrote after the attack that it was only the beginning of the civil war that many were eagerly awaiting.
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