KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The sight of the U.S. Capitol building being overrun by supporters of President Trump may have shocked many people, but not Patrick Miller.
Miller is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Kansas.
The educator said he was not surprised to see the federal building taken over by a mob while Congress certified ballots in the 2020 presidential election, making Joe Biden the president-elect.
"I had been fearing what would happen on this day, in particular, for a long time," Miller said. "But I look at a lot of different things. I look at in recent decades, I look at what appears to be a modest increase in political violence in the U.S."
Miller said there's a division in the country that has been growing for several years.
“I think of everything I’ve seen occurring in this country in the last 20 to 30 years that is increasingly tearing us apart politically. And we as average citizens participate in that," Miller said. "And think, for example, how popular partisan media is today. Not just Fox and MSNBC, but all of the internet websites on the left and the right that often quite frankly perpetuate lies."
Images of lawmakers hiding for safety, police officers fighting off rioters, and rioters making entry in congressional offices and the House and Senate chambers shocked people around the country and the world. However, Miller explained there's one group that may not be concerned by the bizarre images.
“I think that there are a lot of people in the politics industry — and I use that term intentionally, politics industry, because politics is a lot about theater. And there are people in that industry, politicians, paid party staffers and spokespeople, consultants, people in the media who get paid and they make money, they benefit by perpetuating this division," Miller said. "And perpetuating different realities. I don’t think those people are phased.”
The professor said he has seen surveys that point to a growing hate between Democrats and Republicans over their views. He said people have to choose to make democracy work on a daily basis to move forward.
