>Given what we've seen tonight, this could have easily turned into a putsch attempt
No, not really.
The US government isn't a dictatorship, and power is not held by a narrow few people. More importantly, the whole government is structured to prevent someone making themself king.
Let's say that the worst case scenario had happened, and the terrorists had taken members of congress hostage and used the situation to demand that Trump be retained in power indefinitely.
They wouldn't have any leverage beyond the ordinary because in the US, our political officials are easily replaced. In fact, the problem we usually have is that they aren't replaced often enough.
Holding the capital building and the entire congress hostage doesn't mean they have control of the US... it only means they control a building and some hostages.
That's the thing that so many anarchist/white supremacist/revolutionary plots in the US fail to consider... that you can't decapitate the US government and then just take the place of the people you killed, because the rest of the country will just refuse to follow you.
The only way a Germany-style takeover of the government is really possible is with years of slow changes... that has been happening, but hopefully now that it's out in the open we can do something about it.
Say they somehow successfully forced congress to hold their meeting and vote not to certify the elector vote; then, they would force them to hold a vote for the president and 'officially' nominate Donald Trump.
What would happen next? Who would cancel these acts of Congress? What if the Supreme Court (filled with partisan judges) decided to accept the results as well?
IANAL, but i think there's an argument to be made that a congressional vote held under duress (like any other contract) is invalid.
Ultimately, the question of who controls the US government (and its monopoly on the legitimate use of force) falls to "who can order the army to collect taxes from the states". In the absence (or ambiguity) of guidance from the representatives of the states, the decision would come down to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US armed forces, to decide whose orders he takes and to give the nuclear football to somebody.
No, not really.
The US government isn't a dictatorship, and power is not held by a narrow few people. More importantly, the whole government is structured to prevent someone making themself king.
Let's say that the worst case scenario had happened, and the terrorists had taken members of congress hostage and used the situation to demand that Trump be retained in power indefinitely.
They wouldn't have any leverage beyond the ordinary because in the US, our political officials are easily replaced. In fact, the problem we usually have is that they aren't replaced often enough.
Holding the capital building and the entire congress hostage doesn't mean they have control of the US... it only means they control a building and some hostages.
That's the thing that so many anarchist/white supremacist/revolutionary plots in the US fail to consider... that you can't decapitate the US government and then just take the place of the people you killed, because the rest of the country will just refuse to follow you.
The only way a Germany-style takeover of the government is really possible is with years of slow changes... that has been happening, but hopefully now that it's out in the open we can do something about it.