On Wednesday, January 6, 2021, a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, pausing the Congressional counting of the Electoral College votes in order to ratify Joe Biden’s election as President of the United States of America.

     As these terrorists stormed Capitol Hill, I sat in my bedroom in suburban New Jersey, singing the words “Shalom Aleichem” while on Zoom with the third grade Hebrew School class I assist every week.

     I couldn’t help but think of the irony of the situation. “Shalom Aleichem” in English means “peace to you.” Even though I am singing about peace, I feel as though there is none of it in our country right now. And there will be none until Donald Trump is removed from office. How can there be peace when insurrectionists are able to take to the highest building of the most powerful branch of government in the country while holding Confederate and Nazi flags?

     The blatant racism and double standard Trump stands for and enforces is exactly why these terrorists were able to break into the Capitol. Back in May during the Black Lives Matter protests, Trump said, “When the looting starts the shooting starts.” Peaceful protestors were met with violence, and the stairs of the Capitol were lined with armed members of the National Guard, preventing anyone from getting remotely close to the building. 

     Yet when Trump supporters charge to Congress, armed with guns and white nationalism, the police let them in, and the response they receive from their President is to “Go home. We love you, you’re very special. I know your pain.” Where is his understanding for the centuries of pain black people across America have felt for the systematic racism in the country? It surely isn’t with the pain white supremacists felt after a fair election of democracy. 

     The insurrectionists attempted a coup. They replaced an American flag with a Trump flag inside the Capitol, and for that Trump sends them his love.

     Earlier in the morning, Trump held a rally in front of the White House. In addition to his claims that the election was fraud and his refusal to accept the results, he encouraged the attendees to march on the Capitol. Now why there was a rally in the first place due to the global pandemic that is getting worse everyday is beyond me, but nevertheless, Trump helped to incite the violence that took place at the Capitol. 

     Another tweet from Trump on the Black Lives Matter protests reads, “Anarchists, Agitators, or Protestors who vandalize or damage our Federal Courthouse in Portland, or any Federal Buildings in any of our Cities or States, will be prosecuted under our recently re-enacted States & Monuments Act. Minimum ten years in prison. Don’t do it!” Where is the 10 year prison sentence for all of those who vandalized the Capitol today? Or do they not deserve one, because they are “patriots?”

     Just yesterday morning, an African American and Jewish American were elected to the Senate. Hours later, terrorists walked the very halls where they will work holding Confederate and Nazi flags. America is as fragile as it has ever been. Trump may have lost the election, but his refusal to concede makes more room for white supremacists to be heard and for hate to rise to power. 

     So, as I sing about peace 149 miles away from violence, I am reminded of how far we are from it. There is no room for peace in the gallows that were strung outside of the Capitol yesterday. 

     This is the opposite of peace. This is the President of the United States sending love to white supremacists and domestic terrorists. This is anarchy.