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Definition of insurrection
: an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government.
Definition of INSURRECTION
an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government… See the full definitionwww.merriam-webster.com
January 6th meets that standard.
From your link:
"REVOLT and INSURRECTION imply an armed uprising that quickly fails or succeeds"
Here's more info defining the scope of the term "insurrection" and whether a particular event is accurately characterized as such, from legal dictionaries that are recognized as authoritative by courts, and prevailing federal court cases on this point:
From Black's Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019)
- insurrection : "A violent revolt against an oppressive authority, usu. a government."
“Insurrection is distinguished from rout, riot, and offense connected with mob violence by the fact that in insurrection there is an organized and armed uprising against authority or operations of government[.]” 77 C.J.S. Riot; Insurrection § 29, at 579 (1994).
- insurgent n. : "Someone who, for political purposes, engages in armed hostility against an established government."
- armed adj. : "1. Equipped with a weapon <an armed robber>. 2. Involving the use of a weapon <armed robbery>"
Prevailing federal court cases defining "insurrection":
"[T]he word insurrection means ‘(1) a violent uprising by a group or movement (2) acting for the specific purpose of overthrowing the constituted government and seizing its powers." Pan Am. World Airways, Inc. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 505 F.2d 989, 1018 (2d Cir. 1974) (holding that armed offensive, destructive demonstrations and threats of violence by the fedayeen in Jordan was not an "insurrection" because there was no objective to violently overthrow the government and seize power, but rather, amounted to severe unrest intended to put pressure on King Hussein and the Jordanian government).
"To constitute an insurrection [] there must have been a movement accompanied by actions specifically intended to overthrow the constituted government and to take possession of the inherent powers thereof. As the insurrection develops into an affair of greater magnitude, so that the insurgents come into de facto control of a definite region of the country, the insurrection may be spoken of as a ‘rebellion’. If the insurrection or rebellion proceeds to the attainment of its objective, viz., the overthrow of the old constituted government and the establishment of a new one in its place, then the movement, retroactively, will be dignified by the characterization of a ‘revolution.’" Home Ins. Co. of New York v. Davila, 212 F.2d 731, 736 (1st Cir. 1954)
. . . . .
In sum, a brief incident of civil disorder that erupts spontaneously by certain members of a larger political gathering, consisting of people who are not armed or organized with the specific intent to violently overthrow the established government and seize its powers, does not meet the definition of an "insurrection." It may be a riot, to be sure, but not an insurrection. Otherwise, countless events would be treated as "insurrections" each year, particularly during the past couple of years.