# "You would actually think it was a normal tourist visit" \[Jan 6, 2021 Quote\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 14, 2021, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093 "2021-05-14T17:42:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/182 "2021-05-28T00:04:09Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > The video that sparked all this was an animation of cell phone data of people in the area marching towards it. There is a specific reason that particular cell phone data animation existed, but there is no real reason such a thing would have been collected and assembled for a prior normal day. ---
**Author:** ![StraightTalk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straighttalk/32/9982_2.png) [@StraightTalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StraightTalk)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/183 "2021-05-28T00:09:26Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > > [@enipla](#): > > > > No data of normal foot traffic is going to show the same thing > > But what would it look like, that’s literally all I’m asking. I have no idea why everyone is making a big thing out of it. > > > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > > > What are you curious about? > > I assume you didn’t read that part post, which you quoted, where I said, explicitly: > > > [@Joey\_P](#): > > > > I’m curious how that animation would look on a normal day. > > > [@enipla](#): > > > > And another 🙄 A parade is not ‘normal’ data to compare to unless you compare to other parades. > > > > An Insurrection is not normal unless you compare to other insurrections. Luckily, we have not had to normalize data for insurrections to be able to compare them. > > > > A parade, an insurrection or normal every day foot traffic is not going to compare. There is no reason to compare data because there is no data to compare. > > I’m not sure what you’re getting at here since none of that is what I was asking about. We have that animation from January 6. I’m simply curious, with no ulterior motive, what a similar animation would look like on a normal day. Not a parade, not a different insurrection, just a regular day. > > > [@enipla](#): > > > > Come on man, [did you see this?](https://int.nyt.com/data/videotape/finished/2021/02/location/washington-riots-desktop-for-web-900w.mp4) > > Why? Why exactly would you post that? How does that answer anything I asked about? How does doing that add to the conversation? A normal day doesn’t include streets being blocked by thousands marching from the ellipse to the capitol building. Normal is not being sprayed with bear spray, not being crushed in a door while the people outside “heave ho!” pressing without regard to the poor person being crushed. Normal doesn’t involve beating police officers with flag poles. Normal is not dragging a police officer out of the capitol, tazing him multiple times and shouting “Shoot him with his own gun!” Normal is not breaking doors and windows. Normal is not rifling through the desks of senators. Normal is not smearing feces on the wall. So much of that day was not normal. ---
**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:** [May 28, 2021, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/184 "2021-05-28T00:26:42Z")
In defense of Joey\_P, that’s who brought us _this_ information: > [@Joey\_P](#): > > … all those dots aren’t just random cellphones. They’re people cell phones with the Parler app installed. And, from what I can tell, it seems the data was pulled by a random person (referred to as a hacker) who noticed all the Parler data had GPS coordinates and collected as much of it as she could. > > > [@](#): > > > > Parler Users Breached Deep Inside U.S. Capitol Building, GPS Data Shows ][Parler Users Video GPS Data Shows Involvement in Capitol Attack](https://gizmodo.com/parler-users-breached-deep-inside-u-s-capitol-building-1846042905) > > > > At least several users of the far-right social network Parler appear to be among the hoard of rioters that managed to penetrate deep inside the U.S. Capitol building and into areas normally restricted to the public, according to GPS metadata. I don’t know how many registered users Parler had on January 6 2021, but that information is likely to be known. I would guess that as a percentage of (say) all people over 18 residing in the USA and owning cell phones, those with the Parler app on their phones would be a tiny, tiny number. The fact that so many with the app were gathered and marching to the Capitol–and entering the Capitol–is further proof that 1/6 was NOT a ‘normal day.’ ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/185 "2021-05-28T00:34:43Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > There is a specific reason that particular cell phone data animation existed, but there is no real reason such a thing would have been collected and assembled for a prior normal day. Which is exactly why I said it’d be nice to see a similar animation presented for a normal day. I didn’t request it, I didn’t ask anyone for a cite, I didn’t even suggest it existed. But for whatever reason, people seem determined to misunderstand “but I’d be curious to see what an actual ‘normal day’ looks like that when plotted out in a similar manner. IOW, it would be nice to have a control.” I didn’t think it was that confusing. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/186 "2021-05-28T01:31:02Z")
People are jumping all over @Joey_P as if he were somehow defending Trump or the assault on the capital. He’s not doing that, so maybe take a step back and a deep breath, internet warriors. Dude was just curious about an animation, ffs. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/187 "2021-05-28T01:43:33Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I didn’t think it was that confusing. I for one wasn’t confused. Thanks for your contributions to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/188 "2021-05-28T01:44:33Z")
Since that data is from parler and retrieved for a special occasion, similar data will not be available for other days. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/189 "2021-05-28T01:46:45Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Since that data is from parler and retrieved for a special occasion, similar data will not be available for other days. If only someone in this thread had already suggested that. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > Which is exactly why I said it’d be nice to see a similar animation presented for a normal day. I didn’t request it, I didn’t ask anyone for a cite, I didn’t even suggest it existed. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/190 "2021-05-28T02:34:57Z")
I don’t think he’s defending Trump or anything, it’s just sort of a WTF request, like asking to see video of a “normal” day at the World Trade Center complex when discussing 9/11. I just don’t get the point. I mean, the tech is cool and I’d like to see an animation of the traffic at my local Walmart, but that animation would have just as much relevance to Jan 6th as the one Joey wants to see. Besides, the Capitol had been closed to visitors for almost a year on Jan 6th, so the recent “normal” days probably had really sparse foot traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/191 "2021-05-28T03:46:19Z")
Right. Some people second-guessed [Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)’s motives incorrectly (though I would say, given the thread topic, that was understandable), and have now apologized. However, the situation now is that no-one, apart from [Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P), cares what the animation would look like on a normal day, so we can park this particular tangent. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/192 "2021-05-28T04:50:23Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I don’t think he’s defending Trump or anything, it’s just sort of a WTF request, like asking to see video of a “normal” day at the World Trade Center complex when discussing 9/11. I just don’t get the point. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/193 "2021-05-28T04:57:32Z")
I know a woman who, in 2016, was an usher at a large theater here in town that hosted a Trump event before he was formally nominated. She said it was far and away the scariest crowd she’d ever seen at an event there, and they reeked of cigarette smoke and she added, “I now know who those people are who watch the Kardashians and those jungle survival programs.” Since it was also on a weekday afternoon, that whole “But don’t they have jobs?” thing also came into account. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/194 "2021-05-28T05:14:14Z")
What is going on with Parler these days? Is it still a thing among conservatives? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/195 "2021-05-28T11:32:40Z")
Just a normal tourist visit… > **[Ohio man charged with assaulting officers in US Capitol riot](https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ohio-capitol-siege-6f2add5fb914b44326abb46b1e283520)** > > COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man was arrested Wednesday in Alabama for allegedly convening a caravan of people from Virginia to Washington D.C. on Jan. 6 and assaulting police officers on Capitol grounds. > [@](#): > > Kenneth Joseph Owen Thomas, 38, of East Liverpool, Ohio, was arrested in Huntsville, Alabama, on preliminary charges that include **assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement officers, obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and engaging in physical violence on U.S. Capitol grounds**. [bolding mine] And probably trespassing, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/196 "2021-05-28T13:16:23Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Some people second-guessed [Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)’s motives incorrectly (though I would say, given the thread topic, that was understandable), and have now apologized. Well, nobody has apologized, so I’m not sure where you’re getting that, but whatever. I don’t have a dog in this fight, and you’re right, it is a total tangent. And so I can include a comment on the actual topic of this thread: Congressman Clyde is a complete tool and there should be a life-size print of that photo of him panicked during the insurrection on display at every discussion/hearing/vote about the attack. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/197 "2021-05-28T13:21:20Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > Well, nobody has apologized, so I’m not sure where you’re getting that, but whatever. The clearest one was: > [@enipla](#): > > apologies if I miss [sic] understood you. Other posters acknowledged that your question was not necessarily rhetorical, which OK is not an apology as such, but at least withdrawing the complaint. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/198 "2021-05-28T13:43:59Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > your question Not my question. I was just trying to prevent an unnecessary dogpile on Joey P. Oy. I really will stop talking about this now. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/199 "2021-05-28T13:49:49Z")
[![](https://backdoorsliderdotcom1.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/img_5192.png) ](https://backdoorsliderdotcom1.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/img_5192.png) ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/200 "2021-05-28T17:45:06Z")
I don’t have time to watch the whole thing. Can you give me the time stamp of where they start beating up security guards and stealing stuff? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/201 "2021-05-28T21:18:37Z")
They actually made shirts with “MAGA Civil War, January 6th” on them. While yes, it is true that tourists do make special shirts, not with that logo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093.md?page=9)