A coup at the Capitol?

By strict legal definition, the people who breached the Capitol building and forced a delay in the certification of electors, committed sedition. However, sedition prosecutions are rare because 1st Amendment protections provide enormous latitude for political protest and freedom of expression (so far).

The Wisconsin capitol building was literally occupied by Democratic protesters, not for hours, but for weeks, hindering the functioning of the legislature. The most serious charge filed against protesters was disorderly conduct.

Of course, there are significant differences between what happened in Wisconsin and what just happened in D.C.. The mob that breached the Capitol in Washington vandalized, stole, and menaced, and the procedure they disrupted was the certification of the next president of the country.

There is no scenario in which their actions could have “overthrown” the government, and prosecutors would have a very hard time proving that this was even their intention. It is hyperbolic to characterize this incident as an attempted coup. The Trump protesters generally feel that a coup has been mounted against Trump, and their activism is motivated by a desire to “preserve democracy”, not to topple it. It is irrelevant whether you agree or disagree with this view, it is the view they have, and the case that would be made in their defense in court.

The actions of the individuals who breached the Capitol, in their minds, were undoubtedly undertaken as a protest against the certification of what they feel were illegitimately appointed electors from states where they believe election fraud took place. Meaning, their motive was to uphold, not overthrow the democratic process. They saw that legal remedies to address the allegations of fraud were closed without evidence being heard by the courts, rather than as a result of evidence being rejected as insufficient; leaving them with no recourse but to protest.

This is not to excuse the actions of the zealots who vandalized the Capitol building. What they did was criminal and they deserve to be prosecuted. But by no means was this a coup attempt.