The Mob

If you've arrived here from a link, you may want to read the context post I did yesterday, as, it provides some background to what I'm about to discuss.

Over this coming weekend, supposedly, a pro-trump mob plans to storm the 165 governmental locations in all 50 states. The question some are asking is; will they succeed? 

No.

Foremost of all, because even if they do storm and take over each and every one of those 165 buildings, that does not give them any power. 

Legislatures can meet wherever they damn well please. The only limit on this would be in a Constitution. Such a thing might limit the legislature to meeting in a particular city, for example. Federally, the US has no such limit, and the few state constitutions I've checked do not either. Even if one or two of them happen to, there are many places within a city a legislature could decide to meet. Occupying an empty building is simply a propaganda victory, and gives you little "real power". This is why the Jan 6th storming was of a a full congress. 

Legislators across the country know that this is a possibility, and that this is coming. They will not sit idle in the chamber as mobs storm it. Beyond that, many places have upped security. Congress has seen soldiers in fatigues sleeping on the floor, for example. 

Courts too can simply decide to end a session. While I'm not fully up-to-date on the technicalities of where a court may decide to meet, none of the state supreme courts are not going to sit idle and let themselves be stormed by a mob. 

That being said, some members of some legislatures might be quite willing to aid the mob. This is the first of the many things we could see over the coming days. A few (one, three, something like that) legislatures in states that are deep red, might decide that they mob is on their side. I can't see the mob on the floor of these legislatures, but allowing them to crowd into the gallery and chant, sure. I could even see the legislators making speeches to rile the mob up. 

That, however, depends on the mob forming in the first place. It's January, this means it is very cold in some places. Additionally, many legislatures are likely simply not in session. This means the chance of a mob storming any buildings, even willing ones, are quite low. 

In an ideal world, what we would see is video of arrests. Ringleaders in calling for violence in all 50 states being arrested and charged. I can't see much of that happening however. This will send the unintentional message that yes, yes the mob can use its weight to shove around the politicians. 

This is something that will remain a threat for the US for quite some time. Not just from Trump supporters, but from the left and the right. Any group with large numbers will start to think that they too could try to storm a legislature. We don't need a big show over the weekend to convince these people that 'mobocracy' can work; what happened on the 6th is enough. The 'better' the show the mob puts on this coming weekend, however, the worst things are going to be going forward.