Insurrection: the story of the 2020 election

On November 3rd, one of the most memorable and important elections in the history of our country took place. It was the most participated in election with over 159,000,000 Americans coming out to vote for their preferred candidate. Due to Covid-19, many voters used mail-in ballots to cast their vote, causing a longer wait for election results as poll workers worked diligently to make sure every vote was counted. On November 7th, we were finally given a winner; Joe Biden would become the 46th President of the United States of America. Little did we know that this was just the beginning.

On November 7th, President Trump tweeted,”I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!!”. This was followed by multiple tweets sharing false information, with some claiming that he was the true victor of the election and with others filled with accusations of voter fraud. Following these accusations of voter fraud, attorney Sydney Powell filed lawsuits against the election. These lawsuits became known as the “Kraken” and would become a popular hashtag on Twitter with #ReleaseTheKraken. These lawsuits would come to nothing. When they were released in late November, it became evident that they contained mainly conspiracy theories and other allegations that were already debunked.

However, this was not the last attempt to overrule the election. On December 11th, the state of Texas approached the Supreme Court. The state claimed that the elections in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia were unconstitutional. During this time, people on an app called “Parler,” were conspiring to storm the capitol in protest of the election results. Parler is a social media platform which is mainly used by Donald Trump supporters, conservatives, right-wing extremists, and conspiracy theorists. 

This all led up to the events of January 6th, the day the Senate was scheduled to confirm the electoral votes. However, this was halted as the aforementioned conspirators to storm the capitol acted out their plan. The domestic terrorists were able to break into the capitol, causing destruction and chaos throughout. There were five deaths caused by the acts of terror, four rioters and one police officer. Despite these events, the senate was able to confirm the electoral votes on January 7th.

The next day on the 8th, President Trump was banned from Twitter, as the social media giant stated that his tweets incited violence. Since then, many domestic terrorists at the capitol have either been arrested or have turned themselves in. As we all braced for President Biden’s inauguration, we also prepared for the worst. Thankfully, the day was clear of any complications as he was inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States of America.