On January 6, PolitiFact published an article about the storming of the American Capitol and the unfounded accusations about the presidential election results that led to it. In the article, PolitiFact asked if it was accurate to call it a coup. But because the details of the day’s events PolitiFactre are still coming to light, PolitiFact did not draw a firm conclusion.
An academic center that was the main source for PolitiFact’s analysis – the Coup D’etat project at the University of Illinois’ Cline Center for Advanced Social Research – found that it had not yet been created when PolitiFact wrote the first article not. .
The group specifically decided that the events of January 6 do fit the definition of an ‘attempted dissident coup’ under the group’s taxonomy.
The storming of the Capitol ‘was an attempt at coup d’etat: an organized, illegal attempt to intervene in the presidential transition by displacing the power of Congress to confirm the election’, the center announced on 27 January .
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A coup is an abbreviation for ‘coup d’etat’, a French term meaning the overthrow of the government. The key element of a coup is that it is carried out outside the legal borders.
In 2013, the Cline Center specifically defined a coup as “the sudden and irregular (ie, illegal or illegitimate) removal or expulsion of the executive from an independent government.”
The group further divides coups into three categories. Coups that are planned but thwarted before they are tackled are coup plots. If steps are taken but are unsuccessful, it is considered an attempted coup. And if the coup achieves its goals, it is considered a successful coup.
Since the center drew up the definition, it has been working to document any coup, attempted coup and conspiracy anywhere in the world since 1945. The group’s database currently contains 426 coups, 336 coup attempts and 181 coup conspiracies.
The Jan. 6 incident at the U.S. Capitol qualifies as an attempted coup, the Cline Center has decided.
This is only the second entry for the United States in the Cline Center database. The previous entry was a conspiracy of a dissident coup in 1948, involving members of the United States Communist Party who wanted to overthrow the US government. Their convictions were upheld by the Supreme Court in 1951.
The determination was made by human analysts, rather than artificial intelligence algorithms, Scott Althaus, director of Cline Center, told PolitiFact.
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Althaus said the center has put together a team of six researchers familiar with the criteria that examined a range of information sources. The six researchers conducted independent reviews and then compared notes with each other. The determination requires unanimous consensus among all six researchers.
They conclude that the events of January 6 contain three other broad features of a coup.
First, the center said, one or more persons pose a credible threat to the power of the legislature to determine national policy. On January 6, thousands of people entered or entered the Capitol, a concern large enough for security that lawmakers would have to stop doing constitutional matters to evacuate the building.
Second, the attackers tried to change who controls the government. “The ‘Save America March’ march, which immediately preceded the attack on the US Capitol building, was thematically aimed at changing the outcome of the US presidential election in 2020,” the center wrote.
And third: the assault on the Capitol included at least some elements of pre-organization, the center concluded.
“Those who stormed the U.S. Capitol building, as well as those who merely participated in the peaceful protests that preceded it, included a diverse mix of groups and unaffiliated individuals,” the center wrote. “But one or more of the groups within the ranks of those who entered the Capitol building carefully planned, equipped and organized themselves for violent action.”
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After establishing that it was a coup attempt, the center further classified the events on January 6 as a ‘dissident coup’, because ‘the groups and individuals who organized and planned this coup are clearly in the category of ‘dissenters’ falls. . ‘”
Under the definition of the center, “dissidents” refers to a “small group of dissatisfaction that may include former government officials, religious leaders, business owners, or civilians.”
The center has opened up the possibility that additional revelations, such as those in court, could place a different classification on this “dissident” coup – one that includes incumbent government officials.
“If further investigation revealed clear evidence of involvement with the executive, the events of January 6 would also be seen as an attempt at automatic coup d’etat,” the center wrote.
The centre’s definition of an auto-coup is when ‘the current chief executive uses illegal or illicit means to seize extraordinary powers, seize the power of other branches of government or powerless other components of government such as the legislature or the judiciary make . “
University of Illinois Cline Center, “It was a coup attempt: the Cline Center’s coup project categorizes the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. capital,” January 27, 2021
Britannica.com, “Dennis v. United States”, consulted on January 29, 2021
PolitiFact, “Is this a coup? Here’s some history and context to help you decide,” January 6, 2021
Email Interview with Scott Althaus, Director of the Cline Center for Advanced Social Research of the University of Illinois, January 29, 2021