A Good Guy: 279 Hours

Pandemic Pressures

Stationed on a COVID-era military base, Abbate’s life was suffocatingly monotonous. With strict lockdowns in place, Marines were confined to their rooms, their social lives reduced to video games and an endless cycle of news coverage. For someone in the prime of his life, this isolation bred a simmering restlessness. Add the drumbeat of election fraud claims dominating conservative media, and it was a recipe for frustration boiling over into action.

When two fellow Marines texted Abbate about a trip to Washington, D.C., to hear then-President Donald Trump speak, he didn’t hesitate. The prospect of leaving the base and engaging in something larger than himself must have felt like an escape. But what began as a break from the grind would soon become a defining moment in his life.

Following the Crowd

Arriving late to Trump’s rally due to traffic, Abbate and his friends missed the speeches but found themselves swept up in a wave of people marching toward the Capitol. For Abbate, the situation didn’t seem threatening or even wrong. He later explained that as they entered the Capitol, they saw police officers standing by, which reinforced his belief that what they were doing was permitted.

This lack of perceived wrongdoing highlights a dangerous naivety. For Abbate, the mob wasn’t a violent insurrection but a collective expression of frustration, one he became a part of without fully understanding the implications.

A Young Marine’s Perspective

What sets Abbate’s story apart is its sheer ordinariness. He wasn’t a far-right extremist or a conspiracy theorist plotting to overthrow the government. Instead, he was a young Marine, frustrated by the constraints of the pandemic and influenced by a media landscape feeding his discontent. His involvement wasn’t premeditated—it was impulsive, driven by circumstance and a misunderstanding of the gravity of his actions.

The most startling revelation came later when Abbate applied for an internship with the National Security Agency. During a routine polygraph test, he mentioned his participation in January 6th as casually as one might recount a traffic violation. When asked about overthrowing the government, his reply—“It depends on how you look at it”—was chilling in its ambiguity.

The Bigger Picture

Abbate’s story isn’t unique. He’s one of more than 200 military personnel charged in connection with the January 6th events. His journey sheds light on how institutional failures, combined with personal disillusionment, can lead individuals down dangerous paths. For the military, it underscores the urgent need to address the vulnerabilities of young service members exposed to misinformation during periods of isolation.

For Abbate, his actions on that day are now a permanent part of his record, a stark reminder of how youthful impulsiveness can have lifelong consequences. His tale serves as both a cautionary note and a lens into the societal fractures that culminated in the Capitol riot—a moment where personal frustrations collided with national chaos.