Is this the end of US democracy?

I can’t believe my eyes, the scenes taking place at Capitol Hill makes my jaw drop to the ground. Did democracy lose this time?

Trump-supporters armed to their teeth with AR-15 assault rifles, flags and whatever they come across has just stormed Capitol Hill. CNN, BBC, Al-Jazeera, Fox News and every other single news outlet are broadcasting it live.

Trumpists are standing at gunpoint with law enforcement agencies, they breached the very power-house and the beacon of light of democracy in this world.

Many of us laughed at Trump, some of us reacted to the quick and violent response against the demonstrations, few of us believed it would come to this. Yet it has and it reminds me of Moscow and Boris Yeltsin in 1993.

Many institutional buildings has been burned, demolished or taken over before. I never expected the US Capitol Building to be invaded by armed people in 2021, clearly incited by President Trump himself.

When watching this, I become scared. Seeing people with assault rifles taking over the building that is essentially the symbol of democracy in our world. I become scared when I see democracy being torn down so easily. Sir Winston Churchill once said “Those who don’t learn from history, are doomed to repeat it”.

Many people has repeated or cited him directly, in all their wisdom. Yet history repeats itself, this time fueled by Trump and a first-timer for the US – but nevertheless seen throughout the world in it’s darkest hours.

I have no idea who actually is behind this except Trump’s own instigations, but we have reached a point where democracy looks like it’s flawed and something that can be replaced by something better. Well, what is better then? Personally, I don’t wish to live in a society run by nepotism absolutism. Neither do I want to live under communist rule or a right-wing quasi-fascist rule such as under Augusto Pinochet.

The point is that this has gone far and beyond imagination. When the shift of power and madness just spiral, it makes other dubious leaders around the world look legitimate – like Putin, Bolsonaro or MBS.

Thus US democracy halted completely during this hard day.