A coup is when state actors illegally overthrow other state actors. Most coups are pulled off by militaries, e.g. how Pinochet got into power.

This would be an uprising; it's being called a "coup" because uprising sounds sympathetic.

I still think it's possible someone was attempting a coup but that the protestors were not in on it.

If so, I struggle to see what the desired outcome would have been at the capital.

But people need to be careful, because by saying it was a coup, it normalizes the concept for those who saw Wednesday as a good faith protest march, regardless of what it's now perceived as.

Changing/ shifting the definition of words has behavioral consequences.

I wouldn't be surprised if a few of them had some kind of underpants gnomes plan to snatch a Senator.

But, really, it was a protest. The point was to engage in drama and theatrics. Why break into the Capitol? Even more drama.

Now people are dead, it's managed to tar even Trump's public image, and they're going to get hit with federal charges.

Of course they were, they just didn't believe they'd see significant resistance because they believed the vast majority of people agreed with them.

They didn't think they had anything to hide because police organizations and state AGs helped incite the event. This is a typical characteristic of right-wing, white militants. They do not see their actions as vigilantism because they earnestly believe their actions carry the weight of law. Veterans and police officers were among the insurrectionists in the Capitol.