Confusion, revenge and the weirdest inauguration ever

The last time this many Maga hats descended on Washington DC, American democracy faced a mortal threat. Four years later, many believe little has changed, writes Richard Hall

- Richard Hall

Donald Trump’s supporters returned to the nation’s capital after four years of exile emboldened, celebratory, and expecting revenge – just like the incoming president himself.

It’s a sign of how everything and nothing has changed in the last four years that extremist Proud Boys were on the march again and 6 January protesters returned to the Capitol.

It was a day of absolution for Trump and everyone in his orbit. Virjilio Burciaga, a 48-year-old electrician from Anaheim, California, who took part in the protest that ended in the Capitol attack, was returning to the Capitol for the first time since he joined the protests there on 6 January 2021.

“At one point they were seeing us as insurrectionists,” he told The Independent as he braced against a bitter wind in front of the Capitol building. “Now it’s changed to we’re all going to get pardoned. That label has been lifted.” He and his wife Clara were back and, like Trump, redeemed. “All these real criminals are being pardoned by this administration and what happened to our J6ers?” Clara asked.

Across town, Proud Boys spewed conspiracy theories about the attack and waved flags with the words “The Proud Boys did nothing wrong.” Hours later the group’s leader, Enrique Tarrio, who received one of the harshest sentences for the Capitol attack after being convicted of seditious conspiracy, was in the process of being released.