this post was submitted on 14 Jan 2026
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[–] TipsyMcGee@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 10 hours ago

While objectives like overturning the election and assassinating unaligned congress people failed, the riots accomplished a few things. In addition to being an example of such a high profile attack on the opposing political side that Trump's opponents are uncapable of, these include:

  • Triggering a constitutional crisis (loss of control over the country's legislature).

  • Revealing external (to the rioters) support for extreme measures.

  • Signaling willingness within their own ranks to face very big risks to achieve their goals. Arguably, leading Biden to take a softer and more concilliatory approach to dealing with an overt coup attenpt (!!!) to avoid further conflict and civil unrest.

  • Over all emboldening Trump aligned militants.

Essentially attained but not seized on

  • Gained access to massive amounts of (presumably) sensitive legislative documents

  • Opportunity to attempt a prolonged occupation of the legislature and disrupting legislative work.

Aftermath

The rioters have since ostensibly been proclaimed national heroes by the current regime. Following the riot, the movement's ultimate goal of another term for Trump was achieved. It's disingenious to argue that the riot directly led Trump's 2024 win, but it's hard to argue that an attempted coup in his name foiled his reelection efforts. Rather, he ran from an unprecedented position of power thanks to Supreme Court decisions declaring him largely immune from prosecution.

I think the case for the J6 riots having no material significance for the political development in the US in the following time, is thin.

That doesn't mean that I think it's a blueprint for resistance against Trump. Rather, there are many reasons why one would not want to take ones queues from Proud Boys. But the bottom line is this: while a lot of people are demanding that resistance should be fought in a matter consistent with winning, know that you can't win without fighting.

Fighting doesn't equate killing people or storming the Capitol. It can also mean severe disruption of normal operations of the government through mostly non-violent means, like targeted strikes, mass disobedience and sabotage. Big No Kings style protests and marches are also legit forms of fighting, if they don't insist on not being disruptive and following directions from law enforcement. Notably, not all of the above require millions to travel from afar.