A theater of propaganda: The Capitol, cameras and selfies

Trump supporters use cellphones to take pictures of a man injured during a protest with police, on Jan 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. — AP

NEW YORK: One of the defining images of the Capitol siege was of a man dangling from the balcony of the Senate chamber. Clad in black and with a helmet over his head, he might have been hard to identify even after he paused to sit in a leather chair at the top of the Senate dais and hold up a fist.

But Josiah Colt made it easy. He posted a video to his Facebook page moments later, bragging about being the first to reach the chamber floor and sit in Nancy Pelosi’s chair (he was wrong). He used a slur to describe Pelosi and called her “a traitor”.