January 6, 2021, was not a riot. It was not a protest, an insurrection, or a (failed) coup—at least, not exclusively so. None of those terms capture the exact nature of premeditated violence done for psychological effect to achieve political ends that characterized the violence at the U.S. Capitol that day.
Paul D. Miller is a contributing writer for The Dispatch and professor of the practice of international affairs at Georgetown University. He previously served on the national security council staff under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. His most recent book is "Choosing Defeat: The Twenty-Year Saga of How America Lost Afghanistan."
