In a day that will go down as one of the darkest in American history, thousands of Donald Trump's supporters waved Confederate flags, hung nooses, and paraded white supremacist symbols as they violently breached the US Capitol on Wednesday.
Shrouded in racist and hateful imagery, the pro-Trump mob forced elected officials to flee as they were certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election in a terrifying insurrection that saw one woman fatally shot during the violence.
They made a noose from the camera cord and hung it from a tree.
A noose outside the Capitol building @WTRF7News #WashingtonDC #Washington #washingtonrally #DC #capitol (Getty IMages)
At least one of the rioters who stormed the building was pictured wearing a "Camp Auschwitz" sweatshirt in reference to the Nazi Germany–operated concentration camp where more than 1 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust.
That guy's hoodie says "Camp Auschwitz." https://t.co/I2hwHZ1MsD
Outside the Capitol, Trump supporters flashed the once-innocuous “OK” hand signal that has been adopted as a white power symbol and is now often used by pro-Trump and alt-right figures to troll the media.
Reuters stream focusing in on a rowdier crowd, some wearing helmets and vests. In the audio, they're talking about "treason" and "watering the tree of liberty with the blood of patriots." Also flashing white power hand signs. https://t.co/KeyuEPLNJH
Others donned Pepe the frog paraphernalia, another previously harmless meme character that has been co-opted by white nationalists as an anti-Semitic symbol.
This Trump supporter’s kit includes Pepe the Frog goggles
Trump supporters carried Confederate battle flags as they descended on the nation's capital and wore shirts describing the day's actions as a civil war.
I asked these guys if civil war was what they wanted. “Yes” they replied
Others flew a green and black banner known as the Kekistan flag, another symbol used by far-right white nationalist groups that was modeled after a German Nazi war flag.
That green, black, and white flag is known as the Kekistan flag. It signals support for far-right white nationalist terroristic violence. Via @madprofes
Rioters also left messages calling for violence against journalists, writing "murder the media" on a Capitol building door.