The January 6 assault on the United States Capitol carried the iconography of US empire. Camouflage-clad rioters, adorned with faux-military rucksacks, helmets, body armor, and badges, marched up the Capitol steps in “Ranger File” formation as fellow rioters took photos. Commentators quickly compared the physical violence and its aftermath to a military theater or battlefield. Some rioters, we now know, intended to annihilate those who stood in their path — carrying out a warlike maneuver with the hope of subverting an electoral outcome.

While many military personnel expressed shock and disgust at the events at the Capitol, roughly one in five of those arrested have a military record. Navy SEALs joined the mob, and an air force veteran was one of five who died in the attack, killed after she tried to force her way into the Speaker’s Lobby.

The far right clearly thrives on American militarism.