I am reading ridiculous claims from Trump supporters that there was no difference between what happened in the BLM protests in many cities and particularly in Portland last fall, and this riot at the Capitol.

I think this is very wrong and very disturbing.

Look at the picture below. There are masked guys in camouflage, one carrying zip cuffs. These are the devices used to temporarily handcuff people. Who do you think they were planning on cuffing? They are on the Senate floor in this picture, but there are more pictures with them in other areas.

Here are the ballot boxes that were on the Senate floor just before the break-in.

If a Senate aide hadn’t had the presence of mind to take away these boxes and secure them, they would have remained on the Senate floor. What do you think the mob would have done with these boxes?

They would have been vandalized, destroyed or stolen. In any event, they would be gone.

The zip cuffs could have been used to tie up the Senators.

The electoral votes would be gone, and thus, all evidence of the election would be lost. It would have been chaos. Trump would have declared martial law. He would have decided that he would have to stay in office until “this was all resolved orderly” and it would have taken month or years to work it out.

The coup would have been successful.

Mission accomplished. The 2020 election would have been the last election in the history of the United States, and its results would have been wiped out.

Somebody give this Senate aide a medal!