The reason Trump started a riot in 2021 was because it worked in 2000
The
Brooks Brothers riot was a
demonstration led by
Republican staffers at a meeting of
election canvassers in
Miami-Dade County, Florida, on November 22, 2000, during a recount of votes made during the
2000 United States presidential election, with the goal of shutting down the recount. After demonstrations and acts of violence, local officials shut down the recount early.
The name referenced the protesters'
corporate attire; described by
Paul Gigot in an editorial for
The Wall Street Journal as "50-year-old white lawyers with cell phones and
Hermès ties", differentiating them from local citizens concerned about vote counting.
[1] Many of the demonstrators were Republican staffers.
[2] Both
Roger Stone and
Brad Blakeman take credit for managing the riot from a command post, although their accounts contradict each other.
[2] Republican New York Representative
John E. Sweeney gave the signal that started the riot,
[3] telling an aide to "shut it down".
And these weren't Florida Republicans. These were Republicans sent from DC.