The Christian Flag on January 6

The first public hearings regarding the January 6, 2021, insurrection were yesterday. Over the course of several hours of testimony and exhibits, the January 6 Committee began to make their case that what happened was a violent insurrection that sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to prevent President Biden from becoming the lawfully elected president.

Much of the footage shown had been previously public. It was difficult to watch and transported me back to the feelings of rage and powerlessness I felt watching the Capitol Building be the target of a domestic terror attack. At the end of the final video shown, the camera pans up and zooms in on two flags. One is a Trump 2020 flag, the other the Christian flag.

This image wasn’t the first time that the Christian imagery present on January 6 was reported on or testified to. Daniel Hodges, a DC police officer at the January 6 insurrection, testified to congress that “‘It was clear the terrorists perceived themselves to be Christians. I saw the Christian flag directly to my front.’” While January 6 wasn’t _just_ an event spurred by Christian Nationalism, it was most decidedly a factor in that day. It will be interesting to see what the future hearings make of the Christian Nationalism aspects of January 6.