Pittsburgh-area historians, political scientists weigh in on Capitol chaos

The chaos and destruction Wednesday on Capitol Hill will go down as one of the most significant events in American history, and academics are still coming to terms with it. As calls for President Trump’s removal intensified Thursday, scholars are trying to establish how the events will be remembered in the context of history.

“This is simply not supposed to happen,” said Kristin Kanthak, a University of Pittsburgh political science professor who used to work on Capitol Hill as a legislative assistant. “The U.S. Capitol building is a place where Americans go to work out their differences. … Angry rhetoric has a place there. Rudeness has a place there. But this is just something completely different.”

A violent mob of Trump’s supporters charged the U.S. Capitol building Wednesday afternoon, smashing windows, breaking into congressional offices and entering the Senate chambers. Senators — in session to certify the electoral votes for Joe Biden’s election as president — evacuated. In the chaos, one rioter was shot and killed by Capitol Police, and two explosive devices were found in the area. It took hours for the rioters to be pushed out of the building and for the joint session to resume. Pennsylvania was one of two states — the other being Arizona — whose results some GOP lawmakers tried to contest.

None of the attempts was successful, and Biden’s victory was certified early Thursday.

In the aftermath of the clash, history and political science scholars are taken aback by the brazen attack on democracy, noting the Capitol has not been breached in such a way since 1814.

“Disputed elections have happened in the past,” said Andrew Simpson, a history professor at Duquesne University. “And disputed elections are going to happen in the future, not just on the federal level, but on the state level and on the local level. I think it’s important that what happened (Wednesday) doesn’t become normalized.”

Ed Meena, a history professor at Point Park University, noted that while the Capitol Police were quickly overwhelmed by the mob, the attack on the building should not have been surprising.

“A lot of people see the intrusion into the actual buildings in some capacities as a little bit unnerving, but when you look at the atmosphere and what has been bandied about in all of the media people are exposed to over the last four years, it’s not surprising,” Meena said. “It started well before Nov. 3, the buildup. The only thing that really surprises me is the many people who continue to insist there was some fraud in the electoral process.”

Meena teaches courses on various decades in American and world history. He said the rhetoric and distrust sown in the election process can be seen in nations throughout history, often leading to civil wars and confrontation. In that context, after years of misinformation and two months of baseless claims of a fraudulent election, it is no wonder this week’s chaos would occur, he said.

“If you can weaken people’s confidence in your institutions, it opens up for more acceptance to authoritarian rule,” Meena said.

Simpson said it is important to note that one of the “bedrock” principles of the United States is the peaceful transition of power. That is what made the events so egregious, and why it was so critical that Congress’ joint session resumed and completed the electoral vote tally. Democracy ultimately prevailed.

Experts noted the role Trump took in inciting the violence. He encouraged the mob only moments before the events: “Let’s walk down Pennsylvania Avenue …” Trump said at a rally. “We’re going to walk down. I’ll be there with you. … We’re going to walk down to the Capitol.”

Trump told his supporters to “show strength” while repeating false claims that he won the election by a landslide.

“The words of the United States president have consequences,” Kanthak said, noting the rioters who charged the Capitol ultimately are responsible for their own actions. “We have virtually always had presidents who took care with what they had to say, and that’s not a partisan issue. … We haven’t had a president who was just kind of careless with his words. That’s how we got here.”

It’s difficult, scholars say, to predict where the discourse will go from here. On Thursday morning, following Biden’s official certification, Trump acknowledged his loss for the first time in the two months since it occurred, committing to a peaceful transition of power come Jan. 20. But historians wonder what kind of lasting effects Wednesday will have on American democracy and politics.

“I think there is a potentially overly optimistic story where what comes out of this is a realization that the system we have is actually kind of fragile, and we need to be careful with it. We can’t just do whatever we want with it,” Kanthak said.

Meena predicted a splintering of the country’s two-party system, a possibility many have thought necessary as recent years have been defined by growing partisanship and factions within the Republican and Democratic parties. He also noted the Democrats’ two wins in Georgia and their new majority in the Senate is a major development, though there will still be strong opposition. There will be no “100 days of honeymoon” in Biden’s presidency, he said.

“This America bent a little bit. It was like a rubber band you stretch and stretch and stretch,” Meena said. “It didn’t break, but it will never be the same.”