Jan. 6 events nothing like 9/11

Two news-worthy incidents that occurred this month, while similar in nature, were reported very differently.

One item was the first anniversary of what the news media and many others have always referred to as “the deadly Insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.” One specific headline I saw read, “We're lucky more people weren't killed.”

While it is a fact that five people died that day, only one person was killed. That person was an unarmed Air Force veteran, shot by a Capitol police officer. This fact did not prevent Vice President Kamala Harris from comparing Jan. 6 to the attack on 9/11 with 2,977 killed.

What I can recall from my readings on accomplishing a successful insurrection or coup, some of the things that are not required are dressing in foolish costumes, stealing the speaker's podium and gavel and documenting your actions with thousands of selfies.

Journalist Glenn Greenwald, hardly a right-wing advocate, writing on Substack, notes that on January 6:

• The number of people killed by Trump supporters is zero,

• The number of Trump supporters who brandished guns or knives inside the Capitol is zero,

• The number of Americans charged with insurrection, sedition or treason is zero

Let's move now, from what many in the media continue to refer to as an insurrection or an attempted coup or as the gravest attack on American democracy since the Civil War, to what occurred in Kazakhstan.

In an AP article under Jim Heintz's byline the lead graph contains the following, “Kazakhstan's health ministry said Sunday that 164 people have been killed in protests that have rocked the country over the past week.” Heintz goes on to note that, “demonstrators seized government buildings and set some afire,” protesters took control of the airport in the country's largest city, more than 2,200 people sought medical treatment and finally, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev authorized police and the military to shoot to kill to restore order.

Remember, what happened here is described by The Associated Press as a protest or a demonstration.

A review of the two events leads me to believe that if the Kazakhs had dressed in animal skins and horned hats, tried to make off with their leading legislator's podium and gavel, taken thousands of selfies of themselves doing stupid things and limited the killings to one person, major media could have reported a full-blown insurrection rather than a protest or demonstration.

Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:

[email protected]