On January 6, 2021, a small portion (approx. 10-20) of the individuals present at the U.S. Capitol “wore near-identical lower-face masks depicting skeletal jaws contorted into…a ‘vicious Cheshire grin.’” These face coverings — known as Siege masks (named after James Mason’s book) — were first popularized by the neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division in 2016. The mask signifies adherence to accelerationism — a tactic of political violence taken to ‘accelerate’ the destruction of liberal democracy. Although accelerationism transcends a variety of extremist milieus, the neo-Nazi skull mask-wearers at the Capitol on January 6 were force amplifiers who seized an opportunity — created by former Pres. Trump — to generate chaos and promote violence that day.