Speaking to supporters in the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C before a joint session of Congress was held to certify the Electoral College win of 78-year-old President-elect Joe Biden, 74-year-old President Donald Trump incited a riot. Trump spoke to angry protesters claiming the 2020 election was stolen from him, inciting the crowd to storm the Capitol where lawmakers of both House met to certify the Nov. 3 presidential election. Trump’s forceful insistence that the election was stolen from him, rigged by corrupt Democrat election officials, pushed the crowd over the edge, moving to Capitol Hill, eventually storming the Capitol Building. D.C. police have every right to go to a federal judge for a bench warrant to charge Trump with inciting a riot. Capitol Hill police looked helpless trying to contain thousands of Trump’s mob determined to disrupt the lawful proceedings in the Capitol.
Whatever Trump thinks about the Nov. 3 election, he couldn’t prove his case in any federal court in the country, losing some 50 lawsuits, filed claiming election fraud. Inciting a riot before a joint session of Congress heard all the arguments and certified Biden’s victory is an outrageous abuse of his presidential power but cannot be tolerated in any society built on law and order. Trump decried months of violent protests against racial injustice over the summer of 2020, demanding the National Guard be deployed in various cities besieged with riots, looting, arson and anarchy. Now the tables turned with Trump’s right wing protesters losing control, storming the Capitol, disrupting lawful business and vandalizing House and Senate offices. Trump’s protesters insisted they were invited by the president to demonstrate. When demonstration turned violent, Capitol Hill police looked helpless.
Giving some insights into protesters’ mindset, some expressed their views. “The president invited up here and were not leaving,” one protester shouted. “This is epic. We’re here taking the Capitol back,” said another protester, parroting back Trump’s message, saying the election was stolen from him. Listening to protesters, it’s clear that Trump gave the green light to protesters to take back their government under the specious proposition that it was stolen from them. Only Trump and his backers, after losing the Nov. 3 election, claim election fraud, when they couldn’t make their case in court. When it comes to law-and-order, Trump did exactly the opposite, encouraged the illegal trespass on the Capitiol resulting in the vandalism and malicious mischief. It’s only right that the one inciting the riot would be charged and answer to the rule of law, something he demanded of law enforcement for left-wing protesters.
Shots rang out on the Capitol when police shot an unarmed women in the chest, claiming Capitol Hills police were threatened by the anarchy. “We are calling on President Trump to demand that all protesters leave the U.S. Capitol and Capitol grounds immediately,” read a statement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority [soon to be Majority] Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). “I call on this mob to pull back and allow democracy to go forward,” said President-elect Biden. “I call on President Trump to go on national television no to fulfill his oath and defend the Constitution and demand an end to this siege. Trump issued a statement minutes later not condemning the anarchy to telling protesters “he understands their pain and to go home peacefully.” But D.C. police should immediately seek a bench warrant charging Trump with inciting a riot.
Trump’s statement gave more excuses for mob violence disrupting Capitol Hill business today certifying the Nov. 3 Electoral College vote for Biden. “I know your pain, I know your hurt . . ..” Trump told the crowd before storming the Capitol. “We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side,” Trump said, whipping the crowd up into the frenzy before the anarchy. “This was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people,” Trump said, asking his followers to stand down yet giving them reason to keep protesting. “We’re going to walk down and I’ll be there with you,” Trump said, leading his troops to battle. “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and we’re to cheer on our brave senators and congressman and women, and were probably not going to be cheering so much some of them,” Trump said.
Trump’s incitement of a riot on Capitol Hill demands an immediate criminal complaint, if, for no other reason, that the rule of law must apply to all, including the president. Trump words to the crowd clearly show that encouraged them to take back their government, as if an angry mob could reverse a national election. Like the months of violence and anarchy over the summer, Trump’s backers committed equally, if not worse, attacks on orderly society. Disrupting U.S. congress was an attack on the U.S. Constitution, the rule of law and 245 years of American democracy. No elected officials, certainly not the president, can be allowed to incite a riot on government property without consequences. Retreating back to the White House, Trump should surrender himself voluntarily and face charges of inciting a riot. Only then, can he understand the rule of law applies to everyone.
