DC Unrest Megathread

[Torie]

The attack was openly planned on the internet for weeks, yet the police seemed as surprised as I that it happened. Heads will probably need to roll, and the protocols changed so that in connection with any large demonstration near the White House or Capitol, if it suddenly turns into an attack, it will have no chance of getting to first base, much less succeeding. And now we find that explosives were placed here and there.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/01/07/capitol-attack-was-planned-openly-online-for-weeks-police-still-werent-ready/?sh=5ee2ab7d76e2

[Torie]

The attack was openly planned on the internet for weeks, yet the police seemed as surprised as I that it happened. Heads will probably need to roll, and the protocols changed so that in connection with any large demonstration near the White House or Capitol, if it suddenly turns into an attack, it will have no chance of getting to first base, much less succeeding. And now we find that explosives were placed here and there.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/01/07/capitol-attack-was-planned-openly-online-for-weeks-police-still-werent-ready/?sh=5ee2ab7d76e2

I'm not a lawyer, but this smells like treason. Biden's Justice Dept should bring such charges forward.

Whatever you call it, serious crimes were committed here, that deserve serious time.

[Torie]

Footage that I have not seen before of the mob inside the Capitol is available at he below link. If it has been put up before my apologies. The mob is quite frightening to say the least.

https://www.itv.com/news/2020-08-06/will-trump-win-podcast-join-us-every-week-for-insight-and-exclusive-interviews-on-donald-trumps-battle-with-joe-biden

[Torie]

Lawmaker is an occupation, however long it is held, the same way dishwasher is an occupation.

Neither of these roles is what I would call an occupation, but that's not really germane to the original distinction between employer-employee relationships and others.

It's clear enough that this can't be explained to you, or Badger, or any of the others expectorating about it here. Your view of the world is so fundamentally impoverished that it has no meaning to you and your only response to different perspectives is to assert that they are wrong.

I wouldn't be so condescending about this if it were not such a distraction. There are better arguments for the metal detectors than the employment analogy. But you insist on not only pressing the point but also being nasty about it. Oh well, I tried.

Practically speaking, there are a couple congressman in there that could be possible murderers. Let the authorities get to the bottom of it before we do away with security measures. We can't just let a murder occur on the floor of the house or the senate merely days after it got stormed by a bunch of terrorists.

Yes, a few of the congresspersons themselves seem that they are potentially deranged and unstable. The idea that any of them could being a weapon into the capitol is disturbing and a risk that should not be taken.

[Torie]

A minute after Pence went through the door to an unmarked office, the rioters were in sight of that door. We now know that thanks to Trump, Pence was public enemy number one to the seditionists.


https://www.inquirer.com/politics/nation/mike-pence-capitol-riot-20210115.html

[Torie]

While the impeachment team should definitely cite the testimony of these rioting Trumpsters here as evidence of incitement to insurrection, the prosecution should not let them get away with saying that Trump made them do it:

They rioted at the Capitol for Trump. Now, many of those arrested say it’s his fault.

That is not a viable defense, obviously. Charles Manson "made" his cult followers kill, and they all went behind bars.

[Torie]

I don't think Trump faces much criminal exposure for the riot, absent additional evidence. Thus it is imperative that all relevant evidence that is out there be found.

[Torie]

I don't think Trump faces much criminal exposure for the riot, absent additional evidence. Thus it is imperative that all relevant evidence that is out there be found.

Possibly not, but I've seen some suggestions that he faces exposure to civil suits from the rioters and especially from the defenders who were injured.

Yes, the bar is far lower as to the level of certainty (50.00001% (more likely than not), rather than 98% certain (beyond a reasonable doubt), but you still have the First Amendment issue, as interpreted by SCOTUS, based on specific fact patterns to boot, which is the real hurdle here.