# The Black Box: US Military & Law Enforcement Support for a Coup **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 18, 2021, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-box-us-military-law-enforcement-support-for-a-coup/956253 "2021-12-18T01:53:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-box-us-military-law-enforcement-support-for-a-coup/956253/41 "2021-12-31T01:38:24Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > now that the American Republicans are joined with Putin’s Russians and others in striving to make “democracy” a dirty word Wasn’t some Soviet Union flack, er, diplomat at the United Nations who said to a Greek diplomat, “You don’t know the meaning of _democracy_”? Or is that an apocryphal story? ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-box-us-military-law-enforcement-support-for-a-coup/956253/42 "2021-12-31T19:14:30Z")
I’ve started wondering if the lack of support among the officers is the only thing that prevented a coup. Had Trump started to think the military would support him, he may very well have mobilized them in support of the insurrectionists. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2022, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-box-us-military-law-enforcement-support-for-a-coup/956253/43 "2022-01-01T01:38:27Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Wasn’t some Soviet Union flack, er, diplomat at the United Nations who said to a Greek diplomat, “You don’t know the meaning of _democracy_ ”? Or is that an apocryphal story? I haven’t heard that, but it’s a good (funny) story. The old joke about Soviet educators teaching that all important things spring from Russia–resulting in a diplomat having no idea that the Greeks came up with the root word for democracy–was certainly widespread enough to make it into a _Star Trek_ movie (and into the show before that). (In ‘_substitute Klingons for Soviets_’ form, of course.) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HsCVuO1yeJc/maxresdefault.jpg "Shakespeare in the original Klingon") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsCVuO1yeJc) ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2022, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-box-us-military-law-enforcement-support-for-a-coup/956253/44 "2022-01-01T01:41:41Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I’ve started wondering if the lack of support among the officers is the only thing that prevented a coup. Had Trump started to think the military would support him, he may very well have mobilized them in support of the insurrectionists. - A lot of people think that’s a possibility. (And it could be that the 1/6 -investigation House committee will uncover some remarks or instructions Trump uttered on the day that would support such a scenario.) ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2022, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-box-us-military-law-enforcement-support-for-a-coup/956253/45 "2022-01-09T01:25:36Z")
The 1/6 committee is now looking at evidence of pre-insurrection activities of a right-wing extremist group that was present at the notorious Willard Hotel planning sessions: > [@](#): > > …it appears that a lesser-known and more recently organized “militia” group, their ranks similarly filled with law enforcement and military veterans, may have played a significant role as well. > > The 1st Amendment Praetorian (1AP), as the militia calls itself, first drew attention last summer by providing “security” for various far-right pro-Trump events. Now its role in the Capitol siege has come under the scrutiny of the House Jan. 6 committee, which has subpoenaed the organization’s leaders to answer questions about its participation in those events. > > The organization, founded in September 2020 by a former U.S. Army staff sergeant named Robert Patrick Lewis, takes its name from the Roman imperial guard—notorious for its violent role in ancient authoritarian politics—of the same name. Like the Oath Keepers, it has specifically recruited veterans from the ranks of the military and law enforcement … > > …1AP members appear to have been stationed outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, while its core members—including Lewis—were huddled with Trump’s “Command Center” inside the Willard Hotel, coordinating with administration insiders such as Michael Flynn and other “Stop the Steal” figures. These planning sessions appear to have been occurring at the Willard since at last Jan. 4, the day that 1AP’s Twitter account posted: “There may be some young National Guard captains facing some very, very tough choices in the next 48 hours.” … The confidence these extremist groups appear to have in the idea that many like-minded people are currently serving in military and law enforcement, is worth noting. > **[Yet another ‘Patriot’ paramilitary group may have played a key ‘insider’ role...](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/1/4/2072691/-Yet-another-Patriot-paramilitary-group-may-have-played-a-key-insider-role-in-Jan-6-insurrection)** > > We’ve known from early on in the investigation into the events of Jan. 6 that two “Patriot” movement paramilitary groups, the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, played major roles in the attack on the Capitol that day, particularly in conspiring to... ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-box-us-military-law-enforcement-support-for-a-coup/956253/46 "2022-01-10T17:42:01Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > > The organization, founded in September 2020 by a former U.S. Army staff sergeant named Robert Patrick Lewis, takes its name from the Roman imperial guard—notorious for its violent role in ancient authoritarian politics—of the same name. You know, I can understand why these guys want to have a “bad-assed Roman name” for their organization, but you’d think the politicians they’re “guarding” would take a second look at them because of this. I mean, how many Emperors were assassinated by their own Praetorian guards? And how many times did the Praetorians literally [sell the office to the highest bidder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didius_Julianus#Career_as_Emperor)? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-box-us-military-law-enforcement-support-for-a-coup/956253/47 "2022-01-10T23:53:40Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > You know, I can understand why these guys want to have a “bad-assed Roman name” for their organization, but you’d think the politicians they’re “guarding” would take a second look at them because of this. … Your point is excellent, but recall that any politician who’d consider hiring these questionable ‘guards’ is going to be a member of a party that despises knowledge and expertise. Their flagship propaganda channel just promoted to prime-time the guy who called for viewers to “ambush” a public-health official and “go in for the kill shot.” Of course these people never think that they themselves will be the target of violence. > **[Fauci calls on Fox News to fire host who urged 'kill shot' in 'ambush'...](https://www.npr.org/2021/12/22/1066956407/anthony-fauci-jesse-watters-fox-news-kill-shot-ambush-interviews)** > > Fox News host Jesse Watters is facing blowback for using violent rhetoric to explain how citizen journalists should confront Dr. Anthony Fauci in the hopes of going viral. > **[Jesse Watters is Fox News' new 7 p.m. Eastern host](https://apnews.com/article/business-arts-and-entertainment-media-anthony-fauci-news-media-8f08509aa1420e010becc3a65a77046f)** > > Fox News Channel has named Jesse Watters as host of a 7 p.m. Eastern opinion hour, leading in to its prime-time opinion lineup of Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-box-us-military-law-enforcement-support-for-a-coup/956253.md?page=2)