There have been continuous attempts at a soft coup in the USA since the 2020 November election. On 2021-01-06, this turned into an attempt at a hard coup. Insurrectionists stormed the capitol, waiving flags of failed regimes from days gone by including both Confederate battle flag (which they flew in place of the US flag) and US flags with white nationalist slogans written on them. A gallows was also erected while armed men wandered the halls of congress carrying ziptie handcuffs.

Several people have asked “what can I do about this?” and there’s a general feeling of helplessness. Fortunately, we are not helpless, we can demand that our leaders hold Trump and his supporters accountable. Studies into resisting coups show that 3.5% of the population engaging in non-violent resistance is enough to stop a coup being successful. Trump has had several goes at this, we need to stand up and make sure that everyone involved, especially the leadership, is held accountable.

The most effective thing to do is call everyone who represents you at every level of government every day until Trump is removed from office. You can find your representatives here

Some expectations:

• 2021-01-11 through 2021-01-18: The house discusses and passes an impeachment bill
• 2021-01-19 or later: The senate tries president Trump and removes him from power
• Expect the Republican party to make a political calculus as to whether Pence and the cabinet have to use the 25th or whether they can wait it out. Given that the senate won’t reconvene until the 19th, unless we manage to convince them otherwise, it seems likely at this point that they will wait it out in order to avoid taking a stand against Trump.

Why is the impeachment unlikely to happen on the 11th? Unfortunately, the senate is in recess until the 19th and requires a unanimous vote to reconvene. As we know, there are at least a few supporters of the coup in the senate, so getting that unanimous vote is highly unlikely. I will be positively surprised if we can make it happen. Having said that we can, and must, demand it.

While phone calls and physical mail are the most effective ways to get the attention of your representatives, there are other ways you can get involved:

• Text SEDITION to 50409 or to @resistbot as a direct message on Twitter or Messenger. This will send an automated email to all your representatives.
• Write emails or fill in web forms for your representatives demanding action.
• Sign the NAACP petition to impeach Trump
• Read more on Choose Democracy

Specific Requests to Make

Federal:

• Trump impeachment today. Get the impeachment going immediately. The longer we wait, the harder it will be.
• Impeach or remove from office everyone who was involved and forbid them from ever holding office again.

Despite the attempted coup, some Republicans still voted against the certification of the results. Their votes are tantamount to explicit support for the coup and they must be held accountable. While there are others who have been vocally supporting the soft coup attempts, and they should be held accountable for that, those who continued down this path despite an attempted hard coup must be held accountable.

In particular, I think it’s important for the two most vocal supporters of the coup to be brought to justice, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama. While others went along with it, these two were upfront in leading.

State and local:

• At the state and local levels, the main request is that they are publicly and vocally supporting the removal of Trump and those who would support Trump over the constitution. Demand that they are pressuring their federal colleagues to take action.

Making the Request

Here’s a starting place if you’re looking for explicitly what to say. I suggest copying and pasting it into a document on your computer so that you can replace YOUR NAME with your actual name, YOUR CITY with your actual city and NAME OF REPRESENTATIVE with the name of the person you will be talking to. This makes it easier to read if you’re nervous, without accidentally reading the prompts.

Federal Representative

Hi, my name is YOUR NAME and I’m calling from YOUR CITY. I believe it’s imperative that we impeach Trump and do so immediately. I would also like to see all his privileges, including the ability to run for office in the future, removed. I see that Speaker Pelosi is encouraging the use of the 25th amendment and I believe that we must pursue impeachment in parallel and with utmost urgency. Can I count on the congressperson to push for an impeachment vote today?

If not supportive:

Trump attempted a coup on Wednesday. While it’s true that there are only a few days left in his presidency, he can still do a lot of damage. There are also reports of militias threatening to make another attempt before the 20th. As a constituent, I demand that the representative do everything in their power to impeach Trump by the end of tomorrow. Can I count on them to do so?

If supportive:

Thank you for your support. Can you please tell me where I can find a public statement declaring support of immediate impeachment?

How is the representative working to ensure that the impeachment is voted on today?

Can I count on the representative to demand that their partners in the senate return from recess and vote on the impeachment by the end of day tomorrow?

We also saw support of the coup from Senators Cruz and Tuberville, among others. What is the senator doing so that those who are loyal to Trump instead of the constitution can not harm our democratic values any further?

Federal Senator

Hi, my name is YOUR NAME and I’m calling from YOUR CITY. I believe it’s imperative that we impeach Trump and do so immediately. Can you please tell me the senators position on reconvening the senate early in order to vote on a Trump impeachment?

If not supportive:

Trump attempted a coup on Wednesday. While it’s true that there are only a few days left in his presidency, he can still do a lot of damage. There are also reports of militias threatening to make another attempt before the 20th. As a constituent, I demand that the senator do everything in their power to impeach Trump by the end of tomorrow.

If supportive:

Thank you for your support. Where can I find a public statement that the senator supports reconvening early in order to impeach Trump?

We also saw support of the coup from Senators Cruz and Tuberville, among others. What is the representative doing so that those who are loyal to Trump instead of the constitution can not harm our democratic values any further?

State and Local Levels

Hi, my name is YOUR NAME and I’m calling from YOUR CITY. I believe it’s imperative that we impeach Trump and do so immediately. Can you please tell me how NAME OF REPRESENTATIVE is applying pressure to their federal colleagues for the impeachment of President Trump?

If not supportive:

Trump attempted a coup on Wednesday. While it’s true that there are only a few days left in his presidency, he can still do a lot of damage. There are also reports of militias threatening to make another attempt before the 20th. As a constituent, I believe it’s imperative that all my representatives are doing everything they can to ensure that Trump is removed from office in the next 24 hours. How does NAME OF REPRESENTATIVE plan on helping us rid ourselves of this wannabe dictator?

If supportive:

Thank you for your support. Where can I find a public statement of their support for the immediate impeachment of President Trump?

We also saw support of the coup from Senators Cruz and Tuberville, among others. What is NAME OF REPRESENTATIVE doing so that those who are loyal to Trump instead of the constitution can not harm our democratic values any further?