Also, the extreme reaction to this, essentially putting a standing army in Washington and surrounding the Capitol with fences and razor wire is so nutty I can only think of these reasons for it:
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To create an image of Republicans as being dangerous extremists to aid in the passage of their domestic extremism bill. If so, that’s reprehensible.
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Because they know they are about to pass a bunch of laws that will rile up enough people that they feel they need the protection. Also reprehensible.
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They truly believe there is some hidden cabal of militias or something just waiting for the moment to strike. That would fall into the ‘crazy as a loon’ category.
The Capitol has seen violence before, but it always came from the left. In 1983 the Senate was bombed by radical leftists belonging to the ‘Resistance Army’, a group actually dedicated to overthrowing the US government. They also plotted to kill Henry Kissinger, and had been involved in multiple bombings already. The group openly advocated for the overthrow of the U.S. government. They were actual armed insurrectionists.
Not only did the government not lock down the city over that, but the two women convicted and sent to jail for the bombing, Laura Whitehorn and Linda Evans (who was also convicted for illegally buying guns with a fake ID), became darlings of the left. Like their pals Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dorn, they wound up with cushy jobs in academia or the lecture circuit. They all belonged to groups affiliated with:
One of the co-conspirators, Susan Rosenberg, had been arrested for explosives possession and other charges relating to three other bombings and got a 58 year sentence on the explosives charges. The bombing charges were dropped after she turned on her companions in a plea deal.
All three women had their sentences commuted by Bill Clinton, and Rosenberg landed on her feet by getting a job teaching at a college. It seems American colleges just love violent terrorists so long as they are left-wing. Rosenberg went on to be vice-chair of ‘Thousand Currents’, a non-profit that raises money for left-wing causes, primarily Black Lives Matter.
So if you’re looking for actual insurrectionists, start there. But even though there were multiple bombings and other attacks on government by the left in the 70’s and 80’s, none of them ever triggered a response like this.
But you put a couple of hundred yahoos in the Capitol with funny costumes and no plan for what to do when they got there, and suddenly you need a standing army in the Capitol. It’s a disgrace, and looks terrible to the rest of the world.