in more sporadic, lone-actor or small-cell violence” against targets including “racial, ethnic, or religious minorities and institutions, law enforcement, and government officials and buildings.”[1] President Trump’s conduct on January 6 brought distinct extremist groups into ad hoc coalition with one another, which might strengthen their “willingness, capability, and motivation to attack and undermine” the government.[2] Further, the armed insurrection has been nothing short of a “propaganda coup … in fueling recruitment and violence for years to come.”[3] President Trump only made matters worse when he tweeted, in the evening, “Remember this day forever!”—a statement that armed extremists will indeed remember. (Sadly, it will be remembered too by the Members of Congress, their staffs, and the law enforcement officials who were attacked by the insurrectionist mob.) In all of these respects, President Trump made Americans less safe, particularly Americans who belong to communities targeted by right-wing extremist groups.
Finally, President Trump’s conduct tarnished the reputation of the United States abroad. Images of insurrectionists sacking the seat of American democracy—stirred to action by a President who said “we love you” during the assault—have been a propaganda bonanza for America’s adversaries, for whom “the sight of the U.S. Capitol shrouded in smoke and besieged by a mob whipped up by their unwillingly outgoing president” is “proof of the fallibility of Western democracy.”[4] This country’s reputation as a stable democracy has sustained a heavy blow. For
- ↑ Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Federal Authorities Warn That the Capitol Breach Will Be a ‘Significant Driver of Violence’, N.Y. Times (Jan. 13, 2021).
- ↑ Id.
- ↑ Neil MacFarquhar et al., Capitol Attack Could Fuel Extremist Recruitment for Years, Experts Warn, N.Y. Times (Jan. 16, 2021).
- ↑ Alexander Smith & Saphora Smith, U.S. Foes like China and Iran See Opportunity in the Chaos of Trump-Stoked Riot at Capitol, NBC News (Jan. 8, 2021).
