Assault on the Capitol

“Le Figaro Magazine will devote a ten-page dossier to Fractured America next weekend.

Who sows the wind reaps the whirlwind.

By blowing once too much on the embers of the anger of those who brought him to power, Donald Trump ended up unleashing a force greater than himself.

A hurricane.

An avalanche.

A tidal wave that shook the parliamentary sanctuary of one of the greatest democracies in the world.

Nothing, however, at the beginning of this day of January 6, suggests the scale of the events that will follow.

Admittedly, Trump and his supporters have not ceased, in recent years, to stoke the blaze regularly with belligerent speeches and calls for revolution, but did they only imagine that their voters would take action?

The day before, they had arrived from all over the country: by airports, by road or by bus.

The hotels in the city were full.

On the sidewalks, the pro-Trump, flanked by their finest adornments bearing the image of the president, were enjoying a take-out meal (confinement required), glass in hand.

The next day, gathered on the lawn that lies between the White House and the Washington Monument obelisk, the compact crowd was calm - and this despite the first election results in Georgia, proclaiming the victory of the Democrats.

Under a gray sky, swept by an icy wind, supporters had flocked in the early morning to await Donald Trump's speech before heading, shortly after noon, to the Capitol, cordoned off by a security cordon which proved cruelly too thin.

Trapped by the human tide

The siege of the American Parliament will last several hours, and it is little by little that the demonstrators advance.

It is little by little, too, that some turn into vandals, thugs,

attempting a

, in the words used on social networks.

They, in the crowd, prefer to call themselves

.

This crowd, it is made up of old, young, men, women and even children.

An exogenous population which improvises in insurgents for a night.

Ignoring the tear gas and pepper sprays that scatter the first lines, the mass progresses.

some chant;

The others yell.

Despite warnings and attempts to disencircle, the police force failed to repel the continuous flow of demonstrators.

, some cry out for the police who are trying as best they can to contain the pack.

But it is already too late: the procession has divided and quickly surrounded the imposing building.

All exits are surrounded and the people inside are trapped by this human tide carrying red flags and caps.

The grand staircases leading to the upper terraces on the west side fall into the hands of pro-Trump;

and on the other side, the gigantic platform of the Capitol Ground is invaded.

In the crowd, we see Alex Jones, host of InfoWars (a pro-Trump Internet channel), who puts on a show with his escort - eight gorillas preventing people from getting too close.

A true herald of Trumpism from the very beginning, he is one of those who have helped to create this climate of vehemence which, this afternoon, is bearing its sinister fruits.

But we won't see him run into the barricade.

"They took Nancy Pelosi's office!"

Behind him, the demonstrators, they are in front of the walls of the wing which houses the Senate and that which houses the House of Representatives.

Windows are first broken, then the doors give way.

The police, entrenched in the Capitol, try to prevent intrusions.

Driven by the same die-hardness that drives them to believe at all costs the most shameless lies of their hero, the most bellicose manage to invade the Capitol.

(the president of the lower house of Congress and bête noire of pro-Trump Republicans)

, exclaims, galvanized, a protester.

They don't want to back down;

they can't go back.

Stunned by so much violence, or paralyzed by orders that are slow to arrive, the police who initially tried to keep the thugs out of the Capitol are content to circumscribe them out of offices and sensitive places.

Some even go so far as to discuss, a little stunned, with the vandals.

Cell phones vibrate: an alert message announces the establishment of a curfew at 6 p.m.

Whatever: time for relaxation.

Taking a selfie in front of the paintings and statues of the Capitol, smoking session in the few offices whose doors have been forced, howling the usual pro-Trump slogans ... the spectacle sets in, and lasts, while the parliamentarians, them , tweet terrorized messages from inside, protected by armed guards.

Finally, it is the arrival of the National Guard which will put an end to the occupation inside the building.

Outside, Donald Trump's video message asking people to go home is spreading like wildfire.

A man broadcasts it through a megaphone.

Nothing to do.

Unleashed by the adrenaline, many freed themselves from the instructions of their leader and decided to stay to try to force another entry still uncovered.

Suddenly, Trump is no longer the reason for their presence here, and their actions, but a simple pretext.

If even he lets them go, then they have nothing more to lose.

, chants, hysterical, a protester.

The calm after the storm

Night falls, the last resistance fighters disperse in the streets of a deserted town.

While during the day the teams of journalists and photographers covering the event had been reasonably spared, incidents and clashes with "Proud Boys" and other small groups occur.

An inscription

was engraved on a door of the Capitol.

Further on, police cars crisscross gigantic empty arteries plunged into silence.

The calm after the storm ... The pro-Trump, they are back to their hotels, beers in hand and proud of their

.

All tell each other their great deeds while the Senators, them, reinvested their House to continue the certification of the votes of the voters of the election of last November.

In the end, the pro-Trump failed and Joe Biden's victory is well and truly confirmed and the president's demands for impeachment follow amazement.

But what, it seems, for these demonstrators.

said one.

, answers the other.

Then move on.

Before adding, in the elevator: