Associated Press: Years of white supremacy threats culminated in Capitol riots

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The racial overtones to the Capitol insurrection cannot be missed.  A Trump supporter, with many others, carried a Confederate flag down the halls of the Capitol.

Christine Fernando and  Noreen Nasir for the Associated Press (“Years of white supremacy threats culminated in Capitol riots; Insurrectionists included highly trained ex-military and cops”) report that

“Amid the American flags and Trump 2020 posters at the U.S. Capitol during last week’s insurrection were far more sinister symbols: A man walking the halls of Congress carrying a Confederate flag. Banners proclaiming white supremacy and anti-government extremism. A makeshift noose and gallows ominously erected outside.

In many ways this hate-filled display was the culmination of many others over the past few years, including the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that gathered extremist factions from across the country under a single banner.

***

Extremist groups, including the pro-Trump, far-right, anti-government Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters, a loose anti-government network that’s part of the militia movement, were among those descending on the halls of power on Jan. 6.

The hateful imagery included an anti-Semitic “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt created years ago by white supremacists . . . .”

KJ