Yashi Ladhani
SOC 100 Unit 4 Paper
Define:
❖ Deviance: anything that deviates from what people generally accept as normal
❖ Social control: attempts by society to regulate people’s thoughts and behaviors in ways
that limit or punish deviance
❖ Collective action: purposeful political/social action
❖ Mobilization: the movement of people ( this can be when looking at protests, wealth, etc.)
❖ Framing: creating a structure to see how a certain group perceives the world
On January 6th, far-right pro-trump Americans barged the Capitol. The Capitol goes on
lockdown while they break down barriers during a debate on a GOP objection for electoral
college votes in Arizona. 1 I remember sitting in my living room watching CNN as they had
shown the events live. The January 6th insurrection showed that this was not an independent
event but had been planned for years in the making.
An article done by Southern Poverty Law Center shows how you can go back to
December 19, 2019, and see how it took a whole year of mobilization to get to this event. They
start with pressuring local governments in Virginia to become a “second amendment sanctuary”.2
Being less than 200 miles away from the nation’s capital, this puts Washington D.C. at risk. The
article continues to talk about how domestic terrorist groups started protests and group together
with hopes of pushing their agenda for a civil war. The article talks about how a cryptic message
1
2
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/10/politics/jan-6-us-capitol-riot-timeline/index.html
https://www.splcenter.org/news/2021/12/30/road-jan-6-year-extremist-mobilization
was sent on January 5th, 2022 to join a group chat to plan the insurrection, more than 60
members joined. Those that were at Capital were armed with weapons and it was very apparent
that they were not trying to have a peaceful protest. During the recent hearings, you hear the
head of homeland security talk about how different organizations unified to make sure they were
able to achieve their goal.3 They also talk about how Donald Trump never really openly said
what they were doing was wrong, he would post cryptic tweets or say things in his speeches that
showed he was not against what was happening.
Now there are multiple frames to the bargaining of The Capital. Some agree with them,
those who slightly do, and those who don’t. Those that agree with the intruders, see this as what
was needed to be done to ensure Biden was not elected as president. They view January 6th as a
crusade for fighting for our freedoms and what is true/just. Others agree that Trump should’ve
been president and may see validity in a few far-right beliefs but a violent protest is too far. They
see this day as a day they went “a little too far”. Lastly, there are some who not only disagree
with the far-right values, they disagree with being violent. They see the storming of the capital as
another way they can prove their side is better than the other. They will use this as an example of
how domestic terrorism is an issue and something we need to work on as a country.
Do I think the invaders succeed in their goals? No. In the end, Biden became our
president and they moved towards a hearing to persecute those who stormed the capital. I do feel
that they started a conversation about how domestic terrorism is an issue and understanding how
fast it is for these far-right organizations to band together.
3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc36eT7zC-A&ab_channel=PBSNewsHour