If they start another insurrection, it may prove necessary to use the the national guard- which is a military force- to clear them out.
But your suggestion that we lose because of optics is absurd. We lose when the constitution is overthrown and lawful and orderly succession doesn’t happen.
At the point they’re breaking down barricades, the optics are already fucked.
It’s exactly this kind of luke warm bullshit that has allowed Trump to remain free and out of court for his myriad of crimes.