for another 50 minutes, using highly inflammatory rhetoric—exactly the kind of language calculated to incite violence given what had been reported about the crowd. He declared, “we fight, we fight like hell,” because “if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.”[1]
Videos of the crowd eliminate any doubt that President Trump’s words in fact incited the crowd to commit violence. Immediately after President Trump told the crowd that “you’ll never take back our country with weakness,” and that “[y]ou have to show strength,” supporters can be heard loudly shouting “take the Capitol right now!” and “invade the Capitol building!”[2] At another point, the crowd interrupted him with chants of “Fight for Trump!” The President did not try to soothe their aggression, but instead smiled and responded, “Thank you.”[3] As many in the crowd instantly recognized, the tenor of his speech (and his repeated demand that they “fight like hell” and “show strength” to save their country) belied any desire for a peaceful demonstration.[4] Those who had come to the rally looking for a signal from their President found it in his remarks. Rather than quell the crowd, urge peaceful demonstration, or promise to carry on the fight over the years to come, the overwhelming thrust of President Trump’s remarks—delivered to an armed, angry crowd widely known to be prepared for violence on his behalf—was a militaristic demand that they must fight to stop what was occurring in the Capitol at that very moment.
President Trump ended his speech by again imploring supporters to march to the Capitol, shouting, “So let’s walk down Pennsylvania Avenue!”[5] Although President Trump ducked out and
- ↑ Id.
- ↑ Ryan Goodman & Justin Hendrix, “Fight for Trump”: Video Evidence of Incitement at the Capitol, Just Security (Jan. 25, 2021)
- ↑ Watch LIVE: Save America March at The Ellipse featuring President @realDonaldTrump, RSBN TV (Jan. 6, 2020).
- ↑ Julia Jacobo, This Is What Trump Told Supporters before Many Stormed Capitol Hill, ABC News (Jan. 7, 2021).
- ↑ Id.
