Following the riot on the Capitol building two weeks ago, American citizens have flocked to social media to voice their varying concerns about the attempted insurrection. 

Among these concerns is the lack of police presence on Capitol grounds and their actions compared to the Black Lives Matter protests from last year, President Trump’s words and actions leading up to the riot, and social media companies’ place in suspending Trump’s social media accounts.

All of these issues have been highly debated and contested on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. So the Owl Post staff took to Instagram to hear from West students about their opinions about these issues.

Do you think Trump directly contributed to inciting the riot on the Capitol last week?

On Wednesday, Jan. 6, Trump held a rally in Washington D.C. and told his supporters to go protest the certification of the election results on Capitol Hill, which later turned into a riot and a movement to storm the Capitol.

Out of 85 students who responded to this poll, 58 voted yes Trump directly contributed to inciting the riot, while 27 voted no. 

Do you think Trump deserved to be impeached in the wake of the Capitol riots?

A week after the Capitol riot, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, moved forward with her plans to impeach President Trump on the basis of “willful incitement of insurrection.”. The impeachment passed, 232-197, with 10 Republicans voting yes for impeaching the president. This is the first time in history that a sitting president has been impeached twice.

Out of 90 students who responded to this poll, 58 voted yes, Trump deserved to be impeached following the Capitol riot, while 34 voted no.

Prior to last week, did you support the “Stop the Steal” movement?

The “Stop the Steal” movement was started by Trump supporters who believed the election to be false and rigged, despite all claims of illegal interference being disproved. 

Out of 51 students who responded to this poll, 16 students voted yes, they supported the stop the steal movement, while 35 voted no.

Do you still support the “Stop the Steal” movement?

Out of the 16 students who responded to this question, 11 students voted yes they still support the “Stop the Steal” movement, while one student voted no and four students who voted yes to the previous poll question did not respond to this poll question.

Do you think the police acted appropriately on the day of the riots?

Videos of the riots at the Capitol showed Trump supporters clashing with police to get into the building, while other videos show police inside the building taking selfies with the rioters.

Out of 65 students who responded to this poll, 18 voted yes, the police acted appropriately, while 47 voted no.

In the follow-up box, students pointed out a variety of perspectives including, “They were not properly prepared for the situation,” “They did what they are trained to do and to stop the people from destroying things,” and “If it was a Black Lives Matter protest, then no one would have gotten inside the Capitol.”

Do you think social media companies like Twitter and Facebook did the right thing by blocking Trump?

Following the Capitol riot, social media companies like Twitter and Facebook blocked President Trump on their platforms due to allegations of him inciting the Capitol riots.

Out of 82 students who responded to this poll, 51 voted yes, social media companies like Twitter and Facebook did the right thing, while 31 voted no.

By blocking accounts or taking down apps like Parler, have big tech companies gone too far in limiting free speech?

Controversy arose online over whether or not big tech companies are going too far and limiting freedom of speech. It should be noted here that while the first amendment does give freedom of speech as one of the five freedoms, it does not cover violent speech or speech that is meant to provoke lawless action under the 1969 supreme court case Brandenburg v. Ohio.

Out of 67 students who responded to this poll, 26 voted yes big tech companies went too far, while 41 voted no.