The Truth About January 6
An unidentified person on the Capitol steps during the January 6th riot. Photo by Tyler Merbler from USA, CC BY 2.0
I hadn’t planned to write today, but I found that I couldn’t let the third anniversary of January 6 pass without speaking out. Social media is full of apologists with misinformation about the insurrection so I want to underscore the truth about what happened that day.
January 6 defendants are not political prisoners. The people who have been charged and convicted of crimes stemming from their actions on January 6 are not being persecuted for their political beliefs. They are being prosecuted for criminal acts that range from trespassing to sedition. Note that conservatives, Trump supporters, and Republicans who did not attack the Capitol are not being prosecuted.
It was not Antifa. The mob was not led by leftist moles as part of a red flag operation. The mob was assembled by Donald Trump, who then directed it toward the Capitol and set it in motion. The attack was one of the most well-documented crimes in history with clueless Trump supporters posting their own photos of themselves breaking the law on social media.
There was no entrapment. No one in law enforcement except Donald Trump encouraged the Stop the Steal attendees to attack the Capitol. If there was any entrapment, it was by Donald Trump. Keep in mind that the federal government on January 6 was headed by Donald Trump and his appointees. Any entrapment or instigation of the crowd was by Trump and his people. Failure to prepare the Capitol also rests with the Trump Administration, not Nancy Pelosi, who did not refuse or control the National Guard or Capitol Police. This argument is an attempt to shift the blame from the criminals. It’s personal accountability for thee but not for me.
Ray Epps was convicted. Ray Epps, a MAGA insurrectionist believed by many to be an FBI agent who incited the crowd, was not an FBI agent and pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of “disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted grounds.” He is one of the few people to be convicted on January 6 charges despite never having entered the Capitol. Epps is scheduled to be sentenced next week and prosecutors are seeking six months in jail. Epps says that conspiracy theories have ruined his life, presumably referring to both the stolen election conspiracies that brought him to Washington four years ago as well as the baseless accusations since. Epps has filed a defamation suit against Fox News.
Democrats did not give BLM rioters preferential treatment. Some complain that January 6 rioters were prosecuted while BLM rioters were set free, but records indicate that this claim is only partly true. The Associated Press pointed out that BLM riot prosecutions continued after Biden became president with some receiving harsher sentences than most January 6 insurrectionists. Many BLM charges were dropped but Newsweek points out that this was often for minor offenses and was due to lack of evidence rather than due to political sympathies.
There was an insurrection even though rioters have not been charged with the crime of insurrection. Federal law does prohibit insurrection, but the applicable statute does not define the term. For that reason, prosecutors likely took the path of least resistance and charged insurrectionists with crimes that are better defined and have more firm precedents. The struggle over whether Donald Trump engaged in insurrection and is subject to the 14th Amendment is a good example of why prosecutors took the more conservative route in charging most insurrectionists. Some leaders of the plot have been convicted of seditious conspiracy.
Weapons are not required for an insurrection. Some apologists argue that January 6 was not an insurrection because the crowd wasn’t armed. This is wrong on two counts. First, the crowd was armed, both with guns and other weapons such as clubs, knives, and bear spray. One rioter even used an American flag as a weapon to attack police.
Second, an insurrection does not require weapons. At its most basic, “insurrection” is simply defined as “a violent act of revolt or rebellion against a government or authority.” The applicable federal insurrection statute also does not specify that weapons must be present.
There was no massive election fraud. Donald Trump had many days in court. He and his lawyers repeatedly failed to bring proof of any widespread election fraud. Some lawsuits were dismissed for lack of standing but in many cases, Trump lost on the merits. Trump’s own appointees, including members of the Supreme Court, ruled against him because his claims were baseless and frivolous.
There was another recent chance to prove election fraud in Rudy Giuliani’s defense against defamation charges by two election workers. Instead, Giuliani “did not contest” that his election claims were lies. Likewise, Sidney Powell has admitted that her statements were not meant to be taken seriously, i.e. she was lying.
Donald Trump incited and protected the insurrectionists. The January 6 insurrection was the culmination of a months-long plot to overturn the election results. Trump considered shooting BLM rioters but delayed calling out the National Guard as his supporters overran the Capitol. If the mob had truly been composed of Antifa members, is there any real doubt that Trump would have acted swiftly and harshly?
Don’t believe Trump’s crocodile tears. When Trump drums up sympathy for the insurrectionists languishing in prison for their crimes, don’t forget that he had weeks to pardon them and yet did not. Trump thinks only of himself. He cares about the prisoners only as a means to return to power.
The truth is easy to see if you look for it. Donald Trump and MAGA were behind an attempted coup that would have overturned the results of the 2020 presidential election. Those who minimize and rationalize the unique and vicious attack on the Capitol on January 6 should not be trusted and the 14th Amendment should be invoked to keep such seditious traitors out of power.
As a conservative and constitutionalist, I have no use for the people who corrupted the Republican Party and led it down the path of violent rebellion or the spineless partisans who were too afraid to stand up to Trump and his MAGA minions and call them what they are.
Never forget January 6 and never let it be repeated.
Minor quibble. This is the third anniversary.Report
Unfortunately too many politicians remain in positions of power who aided and abetted. Most of the House leadership and every republican senator who did not vote to convict at his second impeachment were are are culpable. None has been kept off a ballot.Report
I do very much appreciate your plain, direct use of language here, David. It makes you a powerful writer.Report
Politically speaking, it would make my life quite a bit easier if Donald Trump is removed from the ballot, being ruled by the judiciary that he is ineligible for the office by virtue of the 14th Amendment.
That said, January 6 was not an insurrection and Donald Trump was not an insurrectionist. And frankly it’s bad faith argument to say otherwise.
Your own definition speaks to this clearly enough, but just for emphasis it’s important to speak clearly about what an insurrection is. An insurrection is a revolt against a previously established authority in some jurisdiction, by those who were previously subject to that authority (or others acting on behalf of those people).
What Donald Trump did, in its most serious purpose, was not to overthrow or in any way diminish the authority of the federal government or the Constitution in any way. It was to assert that he, Donald Trump was the legitimate agent or representative of that authority. That could very well still be a bad thing, but it is not an insurrection.
There may (or may not) be other reasons why Donald Trump did not lead an insurrection, or otherwise be eligible to be President by the 14th Amendment. But that is the most important one.Report
Bollocks. He sent a mob to prevent the certification of the election of his successor, by threatening and if necessary killing the very government officials performing that certification. He was revolting against a previously established authority ( The Electoral College and the Constitution underpinning it). As both US citizen and president he was – and still is – subject to that authority. And he demanded others join him and act on his behalf – as statements of the majority of those convicted in the attack so far attest to.
To a “reasonable and prudent person” that is indeed an insurrection.Report
Trump led a temper tantrum in a public area that devolved into a temper tantrum in a secure area. Trump has never truly planned anything. If the actions of the rioters had been more violent it could have delayed the tally by maybe a day, but it was never a threat to the system. If I’d been in charge I would have given the officers permission to shoot the rioters. Trump should never be reelected president. This wasn’t an insurrection by any adult definition.
That said, I also agree with your point that trying to work the system via novel legal theories doesn’t constitute insurrection. I think people get lazy and conflate the efforts to “win” the count with the riot, and you’re right to point out the difference.Report
Let’s propose a hypothetical. Suppose the Capitol policeman who led part of the mob away from congressman had been unsuccessful in his ruse and some members of Congress had gotten killed. At that point do we have an insurrection?Report
The most important thing to remember is that Jan 6 is not something in the past, but part of a continuing and future actions of the GOP to install themselves as a permanent minority ruling party.
Jan 6 wasn’t limited to a single actor or mob of powerless people. All the major figures in the GOP have either participated in it, or are now in the process of justifying it after the fact, and leaving the door open to further insurrections in any elections they lose. They are increasingly brazen about resorting to violence to impose their rule on the rest of the country.Report
Roger Stone Spoke With Cop Pal About Assassinating Eric Swalwell and Jerry Nadler
“It’s time to do it,” Stone told Greco. “Let’s go find Swalwell. It’s time to do it. Then we’ll see how brave the rest of them are. It’s time to do it. It’s either Nadler or Swalwell has to die before the election. They need to get the message. Let’s go find Swalwell and get this over with. I’m just not putting up with this [stuff] anymore.”
A source familiar with the discussion told Mediate they believed Stone’s remarks were serious. “It was definitely concerning that he was constantly planning violence with an NYPD officer and other militia groups,” the source said.
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/exclusive-roger-stone-spoke-with-cop-pal-about-assassinating-eric-swalwell-and-jerry-nadler/
This isn’t over. They haven’t learned any lessons, other than to try harder next time.Report
They have learned a lesson Chip – that too many people in the US – even conservatives – want someone else to “save them.” As long as Stone, and TFG and others can exploit that loophole, America won’t heal.Report
“…[Stone] was constantly planning violence with an NYPD officer and other militia groups,” the source said.
Not to derail too much, but notice how the quote identifies NYPD as one of many militia groups. This is probably unfair to NYPD officers, surely not all of whom are in militias.Report
Probably enough to constitute one.Report