Did Trump “Cause” the Insurrection and Riot? Ask Those Who Were There.
As the House Managers continue to present their evidence that Donald Trump incited the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, Trump’s attorneys are relying on a simple but strained defense: that Trump cannot be held responsible for his mere words at the “Stop the Steal” rally because the First Amendment absolutely protects his right to say them, and what might have ensued from them therefore cannot be laid on him.
I have written earlier on my Facebook page about why a First Amendment defense is a curious one, given that 1) the House Managers need not prove that Trump is criminally liable for incitement but rather only that his horrific rhetoric and behavior warrants his removal as president, and 2) in any event, dangerous words that actually incite a criminal act are not protected free speech.
But the question of whether Trump was in fact the cause of the riot is something his attorneys will harp on, so let’s explore it. One good way to look at causation is to ask the inverse: If Trump had not said and done the things he did, if he were not part of the equation, would the riot have happened anyway? To answer this we need to look beyond what Trump said on January 6th and review how he began radicalizing his followers using the lie of a stolen election, and how he very much intended for them to gather and for events to culminate in chaos on January 6 at the Capitol.
The best evidence may lie with the insurrectionists themselves. For weeks now, law enforcement has been busily apprehending and arresting people who took part in the riot at the Capitol. They tracked and located these individuals, often through their social media posts. And in example after example, in these posts and in interviews given after their arrests, the defendants cite Trump’s call to come to Washington as the reason they were there in the first place, and Trump’s exhortations as the reason they marched on and then violently seized the building. The House Managers pointed out in their arguments that Trump’s team was actively reviewing social media and was therefore aware of how riled up and on edge so many of Trump’s followers had become. They cited many examples, but here are a few to highlight:
Jacob Chansley, the QAnon Shaman, told authorities “he came as a part of a group effort, with other ‘patriots’ from Arizona, at the request of the President that all ‘patriots’ come to D.C. on January 6, 2021.” His attorney Al Watkins said in an interview with CNN, “He loved Trump, every word. He listened to him. He felt like he was answering the call of our president.” Watkins is now citing Trump’s lies about the election as the sole reason his client was there. “For people like Jake, for millions of Americans, they truly did hang on every word of their president, our president, the person that we permitted day-in, day-out to speak to us in ways and in fashions that simply weren't true.” He likened his client coming around to the truth about the election to being deprogrammed from a cult.
Jennifer Ryan, the real estate agent who flew on a private jet to D.C. to attend the riots, told a local news station that she had “answered the call of my president.” Just before the insurrection, Ryan had posted a video on Facebook in which she indicated she understood what the president expected, excitedly stating, “We’re gonna go down and storm the Capitol. They’re down there right now and that’s why we came, and so that’s what we are going to do. So wish me luck.”
Another rioter arrested, Larry Brock, aka “Torch,” who stood out for being in full combat gear while carrying zip-ties, told the New Yorker in an interview that “the president asked for his supporters to be here to attend, and I felt like it was important, because of how much I love this country, to actually be there.” Friends interviewed said that Brock recently had become increasingly extreme. “Torch got all in on Trump,” said one former colleague, who flew with Brock for a decade in the Air Force.
Trump spent $50 million on ads to promulgate the lie of a stolen election. True “patriots” would do anything they could, his reasoning went, to stop the country from being stolen away. As House Manager Eric Swalwell stated at the trial, “[Trump] had absolutely no support for his claims. But that wasn’t the point. He wanted to make his base angrier and angrier. And to make them angry, he was willing to say anything.”
The impact of Trump’s rhetoric was evident during the riot itself. As the insurrectionists breached the building, they were heard shouting “Fight for Trump!”—a call repeated constantly at his rallies and encouraged by him personally. As they smashed through barricades and doorways, they shouted “Stop the Steal!”—the very name of the rally Trump organized and the very action he implored them to undertake. Then, many searched for the Vice President while crying out, “Hang Mike Pence!” Trump had repeatedly bashed on Pence and even tweeted angrily about him while the insurrection was happening, further encouraging the rioters. Trump’s followers were incensed because Trump had advanced the bizarre theory that Pence could still deliver the election by acting in some extraconstitutional way—but was too cowardly to do so.
Now, let’s take Trump out of the equation. Very quickly, we have 1) no prominent national politician promoting the Big Lie that the election was actually stolen, 2) no head of a campaign funding and organizing the January 6 “Stop the Steal” rally, and 3) no one telling his tens of millions of followers or the tens of thousands gathered that day they have to “fight like hell” to put a stop to the count, or there would be no country left to fight for.
In short, take Trump out of the equation and we have no insurrection.
The answer to the question, “Did Trump cause the insurrection” is a clear and resounding yes. Just ask any of the defendants, who are the best and clearest evidence of the effect of Trump’s words. Ask them why they were there, and why they did what they did. They’ll be the first to tell you it was all for Trump.
The rally permit only allowed the group to be in the park for the speech. The rally permit gave NO permission to leave the park and go to the Capitol building to protest. Trump tells the crowd to go to the Capitol and fight like Hell. The crowd obeys. Case closed for me.
But the House Managers are definitely putting forth a strong case that Trump had always known his supporters would listen to him to be violent...since rallies in 2015. And that during the insurrection Trump did nothing to stop it and in fact his first actions were to call a congressman and urge him to add another objection to the certification. Also that when Trump finally did say to go home...they started going home. Proving he had the power to do that 4 hours earlier.
It makes me angry that he will almost certainly be acquitted in the face of this evidence.
As for format ideas:
1. Make the text font maybe 1 point larger.
2. Make the photo captions a little darker.
Some of us are old 😁
Otherwise, LOVE it!
He had indeed been grooming them for ages. Furthermore, I don’t think his ego would have survived without an injection of violence. “See, they love me so much they are willing to fight for me!”