“Our Training and January 6” by Dan Buttry

Trumps rioters at U.S. Capitol January 6, 2021

On January 6th in the U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to a crowd of supporters to stop the theft of an election he claimed to have overwhelmingly won.  He urged them to march down the street to the U.S. Capitol building where Congress was meeting to certify the Electoral College to show that his opponent, Joe Biden, actually won the election.  The crowd then stormed the Capitol, but the insurrection fizzled out.

In our 10-day Trainings of Conflict Transformation Trainers we have often used documentary films about various nonviolent movements, including “Bringing Down a Dictator” about Otpor, the student-led revolt that brought down the government of Slobodan Milosovic in Serbia.  The film chronicles the Otpor movement against Milosovic leading up to an election with all the opposition parties united behind one candidate.  But Milosovic refused to admit that the opposition won.  The people travelled from all across Serbia to the national parliament building and stormed into it.  Milosovic’s regime collapsed.

Serbian democracy protesters at Paliament

So, have we been teaching people to do what we saw on display in the U.S. on January 6th?  No, however, there were preparations going on for possible nonviolent campaigns if Trump launched his own coup against the results of the election or even tried to suspend the election.  What is the difference?

First, is an understanding of truth.  Trump and his followers based what they did on a huge lie, stated over and over that the election was fraudulent.  But the U.S. 2020 Presidential election was held with great transparency all across the country, and was certified by many witnesses.  Even Republican officials, such as in the State of Georgia which went for Biden, refused to go along with Trump’s claims.  The facts were there for all to see.  Milosovic tried to hide the results of the election and block transparency.  The movement against him used truth-telling as one of their major tools in their campaign.  Otpor developed trained poll watchers so they could tally the results quickly and make them public.  In our training we lift up the importance of Truth in what we do.  A movement based on lies will have rot at its core, whereas a movement that is open to truth and is transparent has a profound strength.

Second, the movement behind Trump had key connections to racist white supremacist groups who played a major role in the January 6th actions.  Building a broad coalition of people from minority groups and even with Republicans against Trump proved critical for the Biden/Harris campaign.  In Serbia the students made a major effort to bring together people of various perspectives, a broad coalition of Serbian society.  Exclusivist movements can win, but they have a permanent conflict at their foundation because they reject and deny people who are different.  Coalitions that try to bridge difference weave Peace into the way they engage.

Third, the movement behind Trump was violent.  3 police officers died on January 6th, and 140 were injured.  People were beaten with bats and flagstaffs.  They threatened to hang and kill various political leaders including Trump’s own Vice President who refused to go along with him.  In Serbia the students wore combat fatigues and used a fist symbol, but they talked again and again about nonviolence.  They maintained rigorous nonviolent discipline.  In the Serbian revolution only one person died, a protester who had a heart attack.  Nonviolent revolutions find their strength in truth (point 1) and the people (point 2).

Not every government is legitimate.  Sometimes nonviolent struggles are needed.  Not every nonviolent struggle succeeds.  Not every tyrannical movement fails.  The journey for justice and peace, for truth and mercy (see our tool based on Psalm 85) is an on-going one with some steps forward and some times when we slide back.  A peace warrior isn’t afraid of truth but rather demands it.  A peace warrior looks to build partnerships with many different people.  A peace warrior knows that peace isn’t just the end but also the means.  The revolutions we lift up are very different from the attempted insurrection on January 6.