Fans are pointing out parallels between the far-right riots on Capitol Hill and a recent episode of The Simpsons.
The 31st annual Halloween episode of the long-running animated series, which aired on 1 November and was titled "Treehouse of Horror", depicted an apocalyptic scene where fires burn across the Simpsons' hometown of Springfield, along with overturned vehicles and smashed windows on Inauguration Day 2021 after an undecided Homer Simpson fails to vote.
The imagery bears a striking similarity to Wednesday’s pro-Trump rioters breaking into the Capitol building, resulting in the deaths of four people and forcing lawmakers to barricade themselves in their offices.
"Again, The Simpsons saw it coming," a fan wrote on Twitter.
"Another predictive programming by the Simpsons!," wrote another fan.
This is hardly the first time The Simpsons appeared to be one step ahead of history. The show, which has been running for more than 30 years, has appeared to predict everything from the coronavirus and killer hornets (Season 4's "Marge in Chains") to Donald Trump becoming president (Season 11's "Bart to the Future").
The Simpsons even appeared to predict niche events in tech, science, and pop culture, like the ending of Game of Thrones (Season 29's fantasy episode "The Serfsons"), Disney buying FOX (Season 10's "When You Wish Upon a Star"), and when Homer predicts the mass of the Higgs Boson (Season 10's "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace").
