Tag: Trump insurrection

Before the insurrection, Alex Jones told MAGAites Biden is a ‘slave of satan’ who ‘will be removed one way or another’

InfoWars’ Alex Jones, a notorious conspiracy theorist who has been kicked off multiple platforms for his extremism, was welcomed onto the stage at a Dec. 12 “prayer rally” organized by religious-right supporters of former President Donald Trump’s effort to stay in power as well as a Jan. 5 rally in Washington, D.C., the day before the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Jones was in sync with the rallies’ themes of Christian nationalism and rebellion intertwined with the persona and presidency of Donald Trump.

At the Dec. 12 “prayer rally,” Jones said that God had raised up Trump and that Joe Biden, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and other “miserable globalists” are “slaves of Satan.” Jones said he didn’t know who would be going to White House in January, but he did know this: “Joe Biden is a globalist, and Joe Biden will be removed one way or another.”

At the Jan. 5 rally on the eve of the insurrection, Jones said that God had sent Donald Trump as a “deliverer.” He said the following day would be “Waterloo” for the “globalists” he said were behind the election fraud. He concluded by screaming, “The globalists are in fear! The globalists want to play God! They are not God! And the answer to their 1984 tyranny is 1776! 1776! 1776! 1776!” Continue reading.

Impeachment trial: Research spanning decades shows language can incite violence

Senators, acting in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump that begins on Feb. 9, will soon have to decide whether to convict the former president for inciting a deadly, violent insurrection at the Capitol building on Jan. 6. 

A majority of House members, including 10 Republicans, took the first step in the two-step impeachment process in January. They voted to impeach Trump, for “incitement of insurrection.” Their resolution states that he “willfully made statements that, in context, encourage – and foreseeably resulted in – lawless action at the Capitol, such as: ‘if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.’” 

Impeachment proceedings that consider incitement to insurrection are rare in American history. Yet dozens of legislators – including some Republicans – say that Trump’s actions leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol contributed to an attempted insurrection against American democracy itself.  Continue reading.

Viral video shows Marjorie Taylor Greene on January 5 saying ‘get ready to fight for America tomorrow’

Less than 24 hours before thousands of Trump supporters would storm the U.S. Capitol in an armed and deadly insurrection Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) stood with that same building in the background and told MAGA adherents to “get ready to fight for America tomorrow.”

Greene, a racist and QAnon conspiracy theorist who has not stopped making incendiary remarks even after being stripped of her committee assignments last week, also told supporters, “Trump was re-elected for four more years,” which is a lie, part of the Big Lie Trump and his cult have been spreading since the November election.

The Congresswoman, who last week told her colleagues in the House that she was “allowed to believe” the QAnon cult claims to were real, also falsely claims the Electoral College vote was “stolen.” Continue reading.

Law Prof Cited By Trump Team Says They ‘Flat-Out Misrepresented’ His Work

In a legal brief submitted this week, one of the sources cited by former President Donald Trump’s impeachment lawyers is a 2001 article by Brian C. Kalt, a University of Michigan law professor. Attorneys Bruce Castor, David Schoen and Michael T. van der Veen use Kalt’s article to argue against Trump’s second impeachment — and according to a Twitter thread by Kalt, they have taken his arguments out of context “badly.”

Kalt’s 2001 article dealt with late impeachment. Trump, following the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building, was impeached late in his presidency for incitement to insurrection — too late, according to his impeachment lawyers. But Kalt, noting that the brief “cites my 2001 article on late impeachment a lot,” explains, “The article favored late impeachability, but it set out all the evidence I found on both sides — lots for them to use. But in several places, they misrepresent what I wrote quite badly.”

Kalt, in his 2001 article, never reached the conclusion that a late impeachment was unconstitutional. But Castor, Schoen and van der Veen, according to Kalt, strongly suggest he did argue for this conclusion. Continue reading.

Arrested Trump supporter threatened Mitch McConnell’s grandkids on Parler: DOJ

On Monday, George Washington University Program on Extremism analyst Seamus Hughes reported that the FBI has arrested Brad Houck, an Oklahoma Trump supporter who has made public death threats against a number of government officials on Facebook and alternative social-media site Parler.

According to the complaint, Houck targeted Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and his family, writing on Parler, “hey mitch, how are your grandkids doing?” He also went after Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, saying, “Hey justice Roberts, we are coming for you and your illegal adopted kids!! finished! they will get to watch you hang”

Houck also called for executing pharmaceutical executives “on the spot” and killing them “like animals” for “committing attempted murder for years,” saying that “slimy” politicians in both parties “are not going to make it,” and proclaiming that “WE MUST STORM THAT CAPITAL [sic] AND REMOVE THESE PEOPLE BY FORCE!” Continue reading.

The feds say he’s an extremist leader who directed rioters. He also had top-secret clearance and worked for the FBI, attorney says.

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Navy veteran Thomas Edward Caldwell led a band of the Oath Keepers extremist group to Washington on Jan. 6 to storm the U.S. Capitol, federal prosecutors allege, helping to mastermind a violent plot to stop lawmakers from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory.

But Caldwell’s attorney, Thomas K. Plofchan, says he isn’t just a retired lieutenant commander. Caldwell also had a top-secret security clearance and served as a section chief for the FBI after leaving the armed forces in 2009, Plofchan said.

Those details were revealed in a motion filed Monday asking a judge to release Caldwell from custody, citing his long military career and ability to pass vetting for the high-security clearance. His attorney also said that Caldwell has disabilities from his military service that would have prevented him from storming the Capitol. Continue reading.

5 takeaways from Day 2 of Trump’s impeachment trial

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Democratic House impeachment managers on Wednesday began formally laying out their case that President Donald Trump incited the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. They are allowed 16 hours, spread over two days, to make their arguments.

Below are some takeaways from Day 2 of the Senate impeachment trial.

1. The new video

Before Tuesday’s proceedings, the House impeachment team sent word that its presentation would include never-before-seen video. Continue reading.

Opinion: My fellow Republicans, convicting Trump is necessary to save America

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Adam Kinzinger, a Republican, represents Illinois’s 16th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Winston Churchill famously said, “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” All Americans, but especially my fellow Republicans, should remember this wisdom during the Senate’s trial of former president Donald Trump.

I say this as a lifelong Republican who voted to impeach Trump last month. Virtually all my colleagues on the right side of the aisle took the opposite path. Most felt it was a waste of time — political theater that distracted from bigger issues. The overwhelming majority of Senate Republicans appear to feel the same way about conviction.

But this isn’t a waste of time. It’s a matter of accountability. If the GOP doesn’t take a stand, the chaos of the past few months, and the past four years, could quickly return. The future of our party and our country depends on confronting what happened — so it doesn’t happen again. Continue reading.

‘Its Own Domestic Army’: How the G.O.P. Allied Itself With Militants

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Actions taken by paramilitary groups in Michigan last year, emboldened by President Donald J. Trump, signaled a profound shift in Republican politics and a national crisis in the making.

LANSING, Mich. — Dozens of heavily armed militiamen crowded into the Michigan Statehouse last April to protest a stay-at-home order by the Democratic governor to slow the pandemic. Chanting and stomping their feet, they halted legislative business, tried to force their way onto the floor and brandished rifles from the gallery over lawmakers below.

Initially, Republican leaders had some misgivings about their new allies. “The optics weren’t good. Next time tell them not to bring guns,” complained Mike Shirkey, the State Senate majority leader, according to one of the protest organizers. But Michigan’s highest-ranking Republican came around after the planners threatened to return with weapons and “militia guys signing autographs and passing out blow-up AR-15s to the kiddies on the Capitol lawn.”

“To his credit,” Jason Howland, the organizer, wrote in a social media post, Mr. Shirkey agreed to help the cause and “spoke at our next event.” Continue reading.

Lawyer for Rioter Accused of Pinning D.C. Cop With Shield Calls Trump ‘Un-Indicted Co-Conspirator’

He’s not the first alleged Capitol rioter to try the “Blame Trump” defense, but this Connecticut man might be the most aggressive yet.

Patrick Edward McCaughey III, 28, was charged last month with a slew of crimes, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, for his role in the siege. Specifically, he is accused of pinning a police officer against a doorway with a riot shield. But in a Monday motion for his release, his lawyers allege former President Donald Trump is “somewhat of a de facto un-indicted co-conspirator in this case” and thus his client should not be totally blamed for the violent incident. 

The motion adds that the 28-year-old came to the Capitol with his father to support Trump and “to implore his Representatives in Congress to investigate the many outstanding allegations of election fraud before they voted to certify the electors for President Biden.” Prosecutors allege McCaughey, who is being held in custody pending trial, is seen in photos and videos pinning an officer between a police riot shield and a Capitol door as he tried to storm the building—even as the cop cried out in pain. Continue reading.