Wyoming Responds: Was January 6 an Insurrection or an Inconvenience?

January 6, 2021. It is a day that will live in infamy for many, many years to come. On that day, thousands of people descended upon the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. to "stop the steal."

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The New York Times offered a detailed timeline of the events that occurred that day, beginning with former president Donald Trump speaking at a rally less than a mile away from the Capitol. In his speech, he encouraged his supporters to "stop the steal" and to "fight like hell."

"Our country has had enough," President Trump told his adoring crowd. "We will not take it anymore and that's what this is all about... We must stop the steal and then we must ensure that such outrageous election fraud never happens again, can never be allowed to happen again."

Trump then encouraged his supporters to embark on the Capitol to let their voices be heard.

"After this, we're going to walk down, and I'll be there with you, we're going to walk down, we're going to walk down...Anyone you want, but I think right here, we're going to walk down to the Capitol and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we're probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them.

Because you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong."

Advocates for Trump say that what he said next is key for his defense that he was not at fault for what occurred later in the day.

"I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard."

Trump then encouraged his supporters to "fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore."

Shortly before Trump's speech ended, thousands of his supporters descended on the Capitol while members of Congress were certifying the results of the 2020 election.

While Trump did encourage his followers to make their voices heard "peacefully and patriotically," many did not.

The events of that day left 5 people dead, including 35 year old Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, who has become something of a martyr for those who support former president Trump. Trump, himself, called Babbitt "an incredible person." She was fatally shot while trying to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door that led to the Speaker's Lobby inside of the Capitol.

Babbitt is just one of the casualties from that day. She did not deserve to die, but neither did anybody else. The situation escalated quickly and it doesn't matter whose fault it was. What matters is the events that led up to that fateful day. It was not one man's fault. It was nobody's fault and everybody's fault because the people who stormed the Capitol truly believed they were doing what was right for the country. It wasn't, clearly.

But the state that the country was, and is, in has reached a boiling point. Americans are turning against each other. Both sides of the political line are doing and saying things that are out of line. People are angry. People are scared. People feel unheard. And yes, politicians always add fuel to a fire that is destined to erupt.

That fire erupted on January 6. Americans have vastly differing views on what actually went down on January 6, and we took to Facebook and asked Wyoming to respond to this question: Was January 6 and Insurrection or an Inconvenience?

Unsurprisingly, Wyoming responded: