Worrying.
‘This is part of mainstream America’: Ordinariness of Illinois’ alleged Jan. 6 Capitol rioters shows growing threat of political violence
They came from the city, the suburbs and from deep Downstate. Some allegedly conducted themselves like brawlers, others wandered around like tourists. All have come under the federal hammer.
Nineteen people from Illinois have been charged so far for allegedly taking part in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Six have pleaded guilty. One has received a short jail sentence.
... The courts’ slow march could soon quicken — three more sentencing hearings of Illinois defendants are scheduled to take place by early March — but people continue to enter the system: The FBI website lists more than 1,000 images of those still wanted in connection with the riot.
... Robert Pape, a University of Chicago political scientist who just published an analysis of the more than 700 people charged in the incursion, said the variety of the Illinois defendants matches the national profile. His research found that those arrested are much closer to the average voter than they are to violent, right-wing extremists. [emphasis mine]
Such ordinariness, he said, is worrying.
“It shows us that this is not part of the fringe — this is part of mainstream America,” he said. “That means we have to be very concerned about the 2022 election season as a tinderbox. ... There’s a big change that’s happened, and that is that political violence is now coming from the mainstream.”
[The article goes on to list the 19 Illinoisans who have been charged in connection with the attempted coup, along with the charges against them.]
