Police in Washington, D.C., released a series of wanted posters in connection to the unrest Wednesday.They hope to identify the people responsible for the chaos and destruction at the capitol. Local experts are offering their perspective on what drives people to such violence.The University of Nebraska Omaha has a contract with the Department of Homeland Security studying exactly that.They said domestic terror groups overtook a mostly peaceful protest, causing that unrest.They believe distrust has been building for years, well before President Trump.“That is sacred ground, and it was desecrated yesterday,” said UNO Assistant Vice Chancellor Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado.There’s no shortage of condemnation for the actions at the capitol Wednesday.“It almost seemed like it was a wild pack of wolves that were let loose,” Benjamin-Alvarado said.Two UNO professors share their take on what led to the violence.From a political science perspective, Benjamin-Alvarado said rhetoric helped fuel the fire.“There’s been a push for quite some time to delegitimize what government does,” he said. “All of these were really efforts to kind of strip away any the honor and prestige that we had been giving to government for so many years.”Gina Ligon, director of UNO’s National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center believes radicalization is to blame. “We do know that there were at least three different known extremist groups who had planned to be there and had very specific operational plans on what they were going to do,” Ligon said. “These domestic extremist groups really infiltrated that protests and riled people who may not have been extremists into a frenzy.”Ligon has been studying extremist groups for years.“We do have a lot of knowledge and data about these groups. And, unfortunately, I don’t think they’re going away,” she said.She said posts on social media called for extreme actions.“I think that people, a lot of people that were there yesterday, were angry before Trump,” she said. “There’s this goal of overturning our government as it exists right now.”She believes the president’s speech, alleging a stolen election and encouraging protesters to go to the Capitol gave permission for people to act the way they did. However, she believes extremists are much to blame.“They really sort of instigated the rest of the group to take it beyond just a protest and really into acts of terrorism which is destruction of federal property,” she said.Her concern now is that those groups see their actions as right.“They perceive what happened to be a success and that they were able to stop the seal and stop government in that moment,” she said.Ligon said there are prevention efforts within the government to stop people from radicalizing. She hopes this mob scene serves as a warning to put even more resources into that effort.But it’s important to remember, Ligon said, these are our fellow Americans.“There are things that we need to help do to help them be heard and listened to, so that they don’t have to engage in violence to get attention.”
Police in Washington, D.C., released a series of wanted posters in connection to the unrest Wednesday.
They hope to identify the people responsible for the chaos and destruction at the capitol.
Local experts are offering their perspective on what drives people to such violence.
The University of Nebraska Omaha has a contract with the Department of Homeland Security studying exactly that.
They said domestic terror groups overtook a mostly peaceful protest, causing that unrest.
They believe distrust has been building for years, well before President Trump.
“That is sacred ground, and it was desecrated yesterday,” said UNO Assistant Vice Chancellor Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado.
There’s no shortage of condemnation for the actions at the capitol Wednesday.
“It almost seemed like it was a wild pack of wolves that were let loose,” Benjamin-Alvarado said.
Two UNO professors share their take on what led to the violence.
From a political science perspective, Benjamin-Alvarado said rhetoric helped fuel the fire.
“There’s been a push for quite some time to delegitimize what government does,” he said. “All of these were really efforts to kind of strip away any the honor and prestige that we had been giving to government for so many years.”
Gina Ligon, director of UNO’s National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center believes radicalization is to blame.
“We do know that there were at least three different known extremist groups who had planned to be there and had very specific operational plans on what they were going to do,” Ligon said.
“These domestic extremist groups really infiltrated that protests and riled people who may not have been extremists into a frenzy.”
Ligon has been studying extremist groups for years.
“We do have a lot of knowledge and data about these groups. And, unfortunately, I don’t think they’re going away,” she said.
She said posts on social media called for extreme actions.
“I think that people, a lot of people that were there yesterday, were angry before Trump,” she said. “There’s this goal of overturning our government as it exists right now.”
She believes the president’s speech, alleging a stolen election and encouraging protesters to go to the Capitol gave permission for people to act the way they did. However, she believes extremists are much to blame.
“They really sort of instigated the rest of the group to take it beyond just a protest and really into acts of terrorism which is destruction of federal property,” she said.
Her concern now is that those groups see their actions as right.
“They perceive what happened to be a success and that they were able to stop the seal and stop government in that moment,” she said.
Ligon said there are prevention efforts within the government to stop people from radicalizing. She hopes this mob scene serves as a warning to put even more resources into that effort.
But it’s important to remember, Ligon said, these are our fellow Americans.
“There are things that we need to help do to help them be heard and listened to, so that they don’t have to engage in violence to get attention.”
