Published 17:21 IST, January 7th 2021
'Simpsons' predicted US Capitol Hill siege, Twitterati share clips as proof
The unprecedented turn of events in the US on the day Congress convened to certify Joe Biden’s victory reminded many netizens of an episode from The Simpsons.
The unprecedented events in the United States on the day Congress convened to certify Joe Biden’s victory in presidential elections triggered Americans to talk about ‘Civil War 2021’. In just the first week of 2021 after a challenging 2020, US Capitol Hill building was stormed by Donald Trump’s supporters engulfing the city in chaos. This further led the netizens to note how The Simpsons predicted the civil war. The posts with stills from the fictional animated show quickly caught Twitterati's attention and went viral.
The clip is from episode 18 of The Simpsons called The Day the Violence Died from Season 7 of the series. The video shows characters', that are not depicted as people, swarming the capitol holding guns, and even bombs. On January 6 (local time), pro-Trump protesters broke into one of the most iconic American buildings, pounded on the doors, smashed glasses and ensued violence to disrupt the electoral certification process. However, the similarity with Simpsons led many to say ‘did they predict it too?’ while others said 'they did it again'.
US Capitol siege: ‘Dark day for America’
What should have been just the next step in the democratic process of US elections in the country turned out to be a ‘dark day for America’ with thousands of Trump supporters swarming inside the US Capitol. Both House and Senate had convened to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win. Even though the federal building has now been secured, at least four people have died, 52 have been arrested and over a dozen police officers have been injured in the violence.
The entire world watched when Trump supporters broke inside one of the most iconic American buildings engulfing the city in chaos. As per reports, it was shortly after 1 PM ET on January 6 that pro-Trump protesters pushed through the barriers set up along the building and some even called the officers “traitors” for doing their job. As per law enforcement officers’ account, nearly 90 minutes afterwards, the demonstrators got into the building. Following which house and Senate doors were blocked.
Further, an armed standoff even reportedly took place at the House front door around 3 PM ET, and police officers had their guns drawn at an individual who was trying to breach it. Police reportedly said that both law enforcement and Trump supporters had deployed chemical irritants during the hours-long occupation of the US Capitol building. DC police also said that two pipe bombs were recovered, one outside the Democratic National Committee and one outside the Republican National Committee.
Updated 17:21 IST, January 7th 2021