During the final day of the Trump administration, we’ve seen unfathomable images of the assault on our Capitol and a lot of talk about protecting our democracy. This article is a brief glossary of the words that are flying around so we can be better informed.
Insurrection and the Insurrection Act:
Insurrection: The word insurrection comes from the Latin word insurgere which means to rise up. Merriam Webster English Dictionary defines an insurrection as a (usually) violent attempt to take control of a government or a civil authority.
Other words or synonyms for insurrection are the words riot, rebellion, uprising, revolt, revolution, and mutiny. Knowing these words might help when trying to understand The Insurrection Act and why people keep talking about Martial Law.
The Insurrection Act(s)- The Insurrection Act is part of the U.S Code § 251 which give the President of the United State to take action wherever there is a riot, rebellion or insurrection in any state at the request of the state’s governor or legislation. It allows the President to activate the armed forces or called into Federal service state militia as he sees necessary to stop the insurrection.
Read: The Brooking Institute Reference Sheet on the Insurrection Act and Related Authority
Martial Law: (Often misspelled as “Marshall” Law) The fear of Trump invoking martial law has been ongoing for most of 2020 and into 2021. We first began to hear about martial law in regards to the Coronavirus lockdowns in March and April. Many of us received misinformation on social media or via text that we needed to stock up on groceries, toilet paper, and cash because the military was going to be activated to make sure we stayed home. Some mistakenly thought that the National Guard being activated to help distribute food was in our cities was the start of martial law but it was not.
The fact is that martial law has not been declared since 1941, hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. So what is martial law? Brittanica.com says martial law is “temporary rule by military authorities of a designated area in time of emergency when the civil authorities are deemed unable to function.” The effects “…generally involve a suspension of normal civil rights and the extension to the civilian population of summary military justice or of military law.”
read/watch: VERIFY: U.S. government unlikely to declare martial law in next two weeks
Learn More about Martial Law in Hawaii After Pearl Harbor from the History Channel
Treason: Trying to overthrow your country’s government or helping your country’s enemy during the war. Treason is spelled out in Article III of the Constitution and can only be assigned to two types of actions. Treasonous conduct is “(1) “levying war” against the United States; or (2) “adhering to [the] enemies [of the United States], giving them aid and comfort.”
Historic example- In 1807, charges of treason were brought after then Vice President, Aaron Burr tried to overthrow the government. He and two of his associates, Bollman and Swarthout were arrested and charged with Treason but the Supreme Court decided that the charges didn’t fit the statute of “levying war” because they were only “conspiring” had not had “actual assemblage of men for the purpose of executing a treasonable design.”
Photo from Hearken Twitter post. See the whole thread of words defined here
Sedition: People occasionally confuse sedition for treason, or think that treason and sedition are a single offense. According to a Hearken Twitter post, Sedition is the crime of saying, writing or doing something that encourages people to disobey their government. Merriam Webster’s Dictionary says sedition is the “incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority.” Simply put treason is the act of overthrowing the government, sedition is the encouraging of people to disobey the government or to commit treason
Terrorism- Lately we’ve been hearing this word as part of a discussion on “domestic terrorism.” But what is terrorism? Some people think it’s the act of bombing or blowing up something such as the events on 9/11 or the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. By definition, terrorism is the use of violence in order to frighten people in order to achieve a political goal.
Section 802 of The US Patriot Act (Pub. L. No. 107-52) expanded the definition of terrorism to “A person engages in domestic terrorism if they do an act “dangerous to human life” that is a violation of the criminal laws of a state or the United States, if the act appears to be intended to: (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.” Read more from the ACLU
While this topic may not have been uplifting nor offer any solutions to current events. It is our goal to keep you informed to help you ward off disinformation attacks, and misinformation messages shared by friends.