In hindsight, that rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol should be no surprise.
In early December, President Donald Trump began rallying his supporters to mark their calendars. “Big protest in D.C. on Jan. 6th. Be there, will be wild!,” he tweeted.
Across social media platforms, the messages portending a “day of reckoning” grew in number and urgency up until the very moment the crowds surged into the building, breaking windows, assaulting security forces, and pillaging democracy in its most concrete form.
Initially, a lot of us characterized the vandalism as a mob gone amok.
News reports now tell us the violence was not spontaneous. Many of the perpetrators were well-equipped to cause great harm. Many wore bullet-proof vests, carried firearms and explosives, and were prepared to take hostages.