<em>The Atlantic Daily</em>: On the Capitol Rioters

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They wore Viking horns and animal pelts and conspiracy-theory paraphernalia; they carried Confederate flags—photographs searing their angry faces into history.

Law enforcement is still unraveling the specifics of who did what during the attack on the U.S. Capitol: Dozens are reportedly facing charges, with more to follow. But, more broadly speaking, what do we know about last week’s insurrectionists?

They weren’t “low class.”

“The belief that only impoverished people engage in political violence—particularly right-wing political violence—is a misconception often cultivated by the very elites who benefit from that violence,” my colleague Adam Serwer writes.

They just thought they could get away with it.

“The rioters were … imbued with the culture of impunity of the Trump era,” David A. Graham argues. “This is a moment when bad behavior goes unpunished.”

They used clothing to send a message.

“Why, during one of the scariest periods in recent national history, were hinterlander cosplayers parading through the Senate?” asks the reporter Luke Winkie. He spoke with a few experts.

One question, answered: Why are California’s hospitals so overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases?